Thursday Morning Links

by | Jun 10, 2021 | Daily Links | 413 comments

Everybody out. It’s curfew time!

Phoenix rolled over Denver again. The Islanders knocked Boston out of the playoffs. The Astros pounded the Red Sox. Nadal and Djoker will meet in the semis in Paris, where fans are treated like little children. Euro 2022 is only a day away. And I do believe that’s about it for sports.

::Looks at links::

Big birthdays today are: Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel, blues legend Howlin’ Wolf, outfielder Frank Demaree, novelist Saul Bellow, recently-deceased Prince Philip, actress Judy Garland, defense attorney F Lee Bailey, underrated actor Jurgen Prochnow, quarterback Dan Fouts, bassist Kim Deal, sexpot Elizabeth Hurley, comedian Bill Burr, politician Bobby Jindal, baseball player Pokey Reese, skater Tara Lipinski, and actress Leelee Sobieski.

Not. a lot of heavyweights today.  Oh well, on to…the links!

Asshole/egomaniac

These idiots just can’t leave the spotlight. Well too bad, assholes. We’ve already stopped listening to you. And now king idiot says that if you talk shit about him, you’re talking shit about science. That’s paraphrasing, obviously.

I’m still waiting on the last one. LOL, I’m joking. I never expect to see it. It got sent to an old address and the IRS phone number doesn’t go to a person so I can have them reissue it. Oh, and their offices are still closed.  Thanks a lot, taxman.

There’s too many errors in this story to point them all out. But the biggest problems I have with it are that they accept all her anecdotes without any evidence, and they act like people who oppose abortion shouldn’t be able to exercise their right to protest as it might create anxiety or stress for the people they’re trying to convince not to get one.

Right before Babbitt was murdered.

Wait, why the hell is this not already public information? They need to be held in contempt of court. Not that they’ll ever face justice for the killing of an unarmed woman who posed no legitimate threat whatsoever. Pigs.

A Columbia professor with some sense? Well now I’ve seen everything.

Well this seems to be going well. Jeez, I remember when he was just peeing on people. He seems to have gone even crazier.

Here’s some good news for San Franciscans. Well, at least the ones who like to pay to see titties.

Good news for Louisianans.  Well, until the Biden admin shuts it down. Which is probably a 50/50 proposition.

Some of these lyrics are problematic today. I don’t care. It’s a solid song. Enjoy it.

Now get out there and have a great day, friends!

About The Author

sloopyinca

sloopyinca

413 Comments

  1. PieInTheSky

    Phoenix rolled over Denver again – and here i bet 3 lei on denver in 5… what a waste

  2. PieInTheSky

    These idiots just can’t leave the spotlight. – to paraphrase chris rock a bureacrat does not want to go down in status

    • AlexinCT

      I think Rock also said some bureaucrats like to go down on statues…

  3. AlexinCT

    Wait, why the hell is this not already public information? They need to be held in contempt of court. Not that they’ll ever face justice for the killing of an unarmed woman who posed no legitimate threat whatsoever. Pigs.

    This is eerily familiar… Like that Vegas shooting… Something they want to hide and a narrative they need to keep…

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      It’s because we have a press that’s (by calculation) incurious to the point of retardation.

      • WTF

        Of course they’re only selectively incurious depending on how such curiosity might affect the approved agenda/narrative.

      • Nephilium

        There’s no narrative, I read in the media that that’s a false right wing conspiracy theory!

      • WTF

        If I’ve learned anything over the past year, it’s that anything the media labels a false right wing conspiracy theory is more likely than not actually the truth.

    • blackjack

      One of the cops at work was commenting on the day after the shooting and said there’s no way this could ever be considered a good shoot. He brought it up to me. From the article, it seems like they were unable to prove that the pussy was NOT acting to defend. I’m sure that’s the standard I’ll get if I ever shoot somebody.

      • sloopyinca

        Not sure how anybody could ever defend sticking your arm through a hole in a window and firing blindly. Better to stonewall and ignore than defend, I suppose.

      • Drake

        If the asshole had pulled the trigger a few seconds earlier or later, he would have plugged one of the cops behind her. Not wishing a cop wounded, but at least the media would be treating this better in that case.

      • Nephilium

        Nah, then they would be just adding another death caused by the “insurrectionist rioters” who so terrified the cop that he had to fire blindly so that he could get home safely.

      • Drake

        +1 Guy who had stroke the next day because they stressed him out.

      • ignoreLander

        so terrified the cop that he had to fire blindly so that he could get home safely

        Hey listen assho and listen good: Our brave boys in blue put their lives on the line every day for all of us, and they deserve to go home at night to their families.

      • DEG

        Those high capacity assault doughnuts are really dangerous. They’re doing the public a service by eating them all.

      • Rebel Scum

        it seems like they were unable to prove that the pussy was NOT acting to defend.

        He could have just pushed her back. And there were other cops around, specifically in the direction he shot.

    • sloopyinca

      Like that Vegas shooting

      What Vegas shooting?
      -the feds

    • Suthenboy

      Ditto on the Vegas shooting. The biggest mass shooting and it reeks to high heaven of cover up. As many as were killed and wounded no one is sueing? What the hell?

      • Bobarian LMD

        Massive class action and gag order on/by the soon to be new owners of the Mandalay Bay?

    • Suthenboy

      We haven’t heard a word of truth about the fake insurrection yet, why would anyone expect the govt to start telling it now?

  4. PieInTheSky

    I’m still waiting on the last one. I mean so am I

  5. UnCivilServant

    It got sent to an old address and the IRS phone number doesn’t go to a person so I can have them reissue it. Oh, and their offices are still closed. Thanks a lot, taxman.

    If you are eligable, but didn’t get it, you can claim a refundable credit on your regular taxes.

    • sloopyinca

      Yeah, sure I can. And get audited because the check was probably cashed by my old tenants (who were $11k behind on rent when we terminated their lease and made them leave). Hard pass.

      • Swiss Servator

        There is no waste or fraud in government spending! How dare you!

      • Not Adahn

        When the government spends it, it’s not waste or fraud.

        *replaces bookmark in The Means to Prosperity*

    • Rat on a train

      Related, I got a letter from the IRS stating I may be eligible to receive advance payments of the Child Tax Credit. Instructions on how to opt out will be available by the end of June.

      • db

        Something your wife isn’t telling you?

      • SDF-7

        No, I got one of those as well. IRS is apparently spamming them out instead of just sending a notice *with* the opt out and saving on postage like sane people.

        My initial impression was that if I was ineligible I wouldn’t have to do anything (including opt out), but given Herr Rat’s statement, I’m going to more carefully go over the opt out info when it shows up. Last thing I want is for the IRS to credit me something I’ll need to pay back and complicate the tax forms next year.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      I guess it’s possible, but how does Mr. Maserati qualify for a check anyway?

    • Suthenboy

      There are still IRS offices? We have none in this area. Both of them closed. I guess they figured out that people hate them so much they will end up on the end of a rope so they tucked tail and ran. Hell, I cant even get them on the phone.
      There is a reason tax collectors are cited in the Bible as the most despicable people.

      • DrOtto

        We have one, it has one employee and an armed guard. I have a customer who stopped by in an attempt to resolve an issue he was having. They said he must have an appointment. He said “No one is here now, can this be our appointment” Nope, it must be scheduled in advance. So he went out to his car to try and schedule it and the guard followed him out and asked him to leave. Without an appointment he was tresspassing.

  6. db

    I had some discussions with our HR department yesterday. Apparently they were unaware that there is a significant premium for engineer salaries in the Gulf Coast area.

    • Cy Esquire

      Are your bags packed yet?

      • db

        Haha, no it’s not for me; I’m trying to hire an engineer for a facility on the Gulf, and am running up against oddities of our pay structure.

      • Old Man With Candy

        We’re short of everyone. We need operators, compounders, engineers, purchasing, and there’s even two vacancies in my R&D group. Temp agencies won’t even return our calls.

        But it has nothing to do with government payments to sit on your ass at home. No way.

      • db

        I’d think at the higher levels of the pay scale, the free shit funding probably doesn’t play into it as much, though?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Don’t doubt the natural human state to do nothing for some free chedda.

      • waffles

        It’s also the perfect excuse. Who would doubt a resume gap in the covidian era?

      • invisible finger

        Not directly. The free shit did wonder’s for the stock market and probably allowed a few percent of engineers to retire sooner.

      • Mojeaux

        But it has nothing to do with government payments to sit on your ass at home.

        This is the rational thing to do.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      My wife’s job is requiring everyone go back to the office.

      She’s not having that shit. We found that her working from home makes our family’s life MUCH easier and better in many, many ways. Her productivity actually went up during work-from-home.

      So she started seeking and applying for a new job. In this search she discovered that jobs like hers are paying anywhere from 30-50% MORE than what she currently makes, plus the entire gig is remote work.

      • ignoreLander

        I wish to God I could do the same. I have such a good gig that I don’t want to risk it, and I’m almost certain I can’t do better, or even as well, elsewhere. But man, we figured out working from home was MUCH better for family life, and when they called us all back to the office last week, my quality of life went WAY down from where it was the past year. My balls are kind of in a sling, because I really love where I am and what I do, but now I know it comes at a cost that I wasn’t aware of my whole working career before….

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        I’d say look anyways and see what’s out there.

        My wife loves her job. But she’s not going to choose them over a drastic lifestyle improvement and significantly more money.

  7. waffles

    Ok, I’m gonna have a great day!

    • sloopyinca

      Glad I’m having a positive influence on somebody here.

  8. Rat on a train

    Exxon is investing in a refinery? The new board will cancel.

    • invisible finger

      Not if it’s solar powered.

      • Swiss Servator

        “We run the refinery with solar powered windmills”

      • Tonio

        [golf clap]

      • DEG

        /joins applause

  9. The Late P Brooks

    Who’s our resident herpetologist? Evilsheldon? He’d be proud of me. Last evening, I was peacefully drinking beer outside as it was cooling down. I went inside to get another beer, and when I came back outside, I had a “What the fuck is that?” moment. A rattlesnake about two feet long was stretched out in my driveway soaking up heat from the rocks, I assume.

    I didn’t even go in and grab the shovel and kill it. I hope it doesn’t come back to bite me.

    • db

      Glad you weren’t too rattled by the experience.

    • waffles

      I don’t know if I could resist a good rattlesnake killing.

      • prolefeed

        Seems like trying to kill a rattlesnake with a shovel is asking to get bitten. It’s in the driveway – seems like getting in your car or truck and running it over would be safer.

      • prolefeed

        Or just leaving it alone, like you did. I recently pulled up one of those green plastic covers for the sprinkler system, and found a coral snake curled up in there.

        My first thought wasn’t, “Let’s pick a fight with this deadly animal that’s minding it’s own bidness.” I carefully nudged the cover back over the snake, and vowed to not open one of those covers ever again.

      • Swiss Servator

        So now you have passed title to your house to the snake.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        My first thought wasn’t, “Let’s pick a fight with this deadly animal that’s minding it’s own bidness.”

        Having kids makes for a more, erm, proactive stance when it comes to deadly animals.

        Harmless critters get shuffled off into an inconspicuous place where it won’t be harassed by the kiddos. Deadly ones get killed and disposed of.

      • Rat on a train

        Fortunately, nothing too dangerous in my area. In the past decade I’ve killed one black widow and a neighbor killed a copperhead.

      • invisible finger

        150 years ago a sentence like that would usually come from a Ku Kluxer.

      • Rat on a train

        From what I’ve heard you are either BLM or KKK, so …

      • invisible finger

        It’s not minding its own business if it’s trespassing on my property.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Snek is violating NAP! 😉

      • waffles

        Leaving it alone is almost definitely the right move. In fact, over 90% of my interactions with snakes go that way.

      • Cy Esquire

        Coral snakes, while technically deadly, have only killed 6 people in recorded history. Not a single person has died to one in Texas, ever. They’re exceptionally docile. Really cool to find too.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        You pretty much have to handle them to get them to bite or so I’ve heard.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Their mouths don’t open wide enough to get a proper bite on most parts of a human, so actual bites tend to happen in places like the web of the hand.

        Their venom is a lot more powerful than rattlesnake, though.

      • Fourscore

        12 gauge

    • Cy Esquire

      I wouldn’t worry about it. The standard recommendation is to go get your water hose and spray it until it leaves. That’s if it’s bothering you. Most people think they have a snake problem when they see one, but really they have a rodent problem and the snake is there for the free meals.

      • Drake

        I would welcome some hungry snakes in the yard to consume the annoying rodents. The same happy welcome I give to visiting hawks.

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      I do think we have a hard-wired aversion to snakes. However, I have recently reached the conclusion that snakes, particularly the snakes in North America are a little threat to me, even rattlers. They 100% do not want to bite you and will do everything they can to avoid it. In a fight with a 150-pound human, a 5-pound snake loses every time. They may get a bite in, but if you have it in your mind to kill them, they are going to end up dead. So they are going to avoid that fight at all costs.

      • EvilSheldon

        Exactly this.

        Snakes can’t effectively run away or fight back* – even a bite from an extremely venomous snake wouldn’t keep me from making Snake Pate out of it. So they tend to do a lot of bluffing and threat display. It’s pretty interesting when you learn to recognize the behavior.

        * – Against people, anyway. I have some awesome pictures of hawks who thought they were gonna get a snake for lunch, and ended up tied into a pretzel with that, “Holy shit what just happened?” expression.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Except for King Cobras, those sumbitches are big, fast, extremely venomous, and very aggressive. But seeing as how I have no plans to visit the Subcontinent any time soon, I think I will be allright.

      • EvilSheldon

        There’s a dude on YouTube, LouB747, who does field herping both here in the ‘States, and in Japan and Southeast Asia. He has some awesome King Cobra videos, you should check them out.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        I will check him out. There is a guy, ClintsReptiles who assesses reptiles and other unusual critters for their suitability as pets. He did one on King Cobras, part of his schtick is asking, “Is [whatever critter] the right pet for you?” For the King Cobra, his answer was, “Almost certainly not.” I found a little bit amusing. He also did one for human children and they got his lowest score.

      • Swiss Servator

        And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

    • Ted S.

      My dog and I came across a black snake on our walk yesterday. Damn dog was as curious as ever, until the snake was finally able to slither away.

    • EvilSheldon

      I don’t know about resident herpetologist, but I do have a soft spot for snakes. Especially rattlesnakes.

      And yeah, you’re much more likely to get bitten by trying to kill the snake then by just leaving it alone. If you really need the snake to move, a quick squirt with the garden hose will get him going.

      So, thanks for not just killing the snake out of hand. But take pics next time!

      • Suthenboy

        I have a photo. A damned chicken snake about 6 feet long tried to get in the house recently. The dogs went nuts and alerted me. It coiled up, raised its head and opened it’s mouth, hissing. It was trying to look fierce and scare me away. The poor thing is actually harmless.I snickered, tossed a blanket over it and carried outside the fence away from the dogs.
        Then I started cussing and searched all of my cabinets and pantry looking for signs of mice. *wiped forehead in releif* No signs found.
        I dont know what he was after. Snakes dont scare me but if my wife saw a 6 foot snake in the house she would have a heart attack. She has a completely over-the-top fear of any snake. They dont bother me at all.

        I will upload the photo. Give me a bit.

        Here you go Sheldon…I recently stopped my car and carried one of these off of a road to keep it from being run over. Dummy wouldn’t get out of the road even with me poking at it so I had to carry it.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_pinesnake

      • EvilSheldon

        He was in your chicken coop? He was after eggs. Rat Snakes (Chicken Snake is a common local nickname) LOVE eggs. I know some folks who have chickens, who will leave an egg or two for the local rat snake, in the hopes that they’ll hang around and discourage mice and other vermin.

      • EvilSheldon

        N/M. Dunno why I saw ‘chicken coop’ instead of ‘house’.

        And yeah, Pine Snakes will put on quite a show. They frequently vibrate their tail, just like a rattlesnake, despite lacking rattles.

      • Cy Esquire

        I was reading the theory on this is to have their opposition look at their tail and not their head. Allegedly it was developed pre-rattlesnake. If a predator strikes, there’s a higher chance it’ll be at their tail and it would be a more survivable injury should they get one.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Some non-venomous snakes will flutter their tail to imitate a rattler to try and make a threat go away.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Had a big, fat bull snake in my driveway a few years back; made me almost crap my pants when he notified me of his presence by rattling.

  10. Stinky Wizzleteats

    “Kelly is charged in Brooklyn with racketeering. His indictment there alleges he led an “enterprise” made up of his managers, bodyguards, drivers and other employees who helped him recruit women and girls for sex.”

    Except for the “girls” part, how is that different from any other popular celebrity with a healthy bank account, a paid entourage, and a libido?

    • prolefeed

      Depends. Sex with R. Kelly, or sex with johns? The former seems to be finding dates, not racketeering.

    • Tonio

      So, every rock band on tour?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Arrest Jimmy Page.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Don’t tell them about the story behind GnR’s Spaghetti Incident.

  11. AlexinCT

    “Here’s some good news for San Franciscans. Well, at least the ones who like to pay to see titties.

    So women? Cause someone once told me all dudes in San Fran were all about cock….

    What category do the homeless fall under?

    • Ted S.

      Cool link, bro.

      • AlexinCT

        Damn.

  12. invisible finger

    Some idiots are worried that anxiety or stress might cause a miscarriage?

    Must be the same idiots who believe natural immunity is inferior to government-injected immunity.

    • PieInTheSky

      I remember the Jimmy Carr joke:

      My girlfriend said I wish I look as good as Elizabeth Hurley in my 50s.

      You don’t look that good now. What do you think is going to happen?

    • Tonio

      She does look remarkably good for a woman that age. With some help from her photographer, of course.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I take solace in the fact she’s probably batshit crazy.

        I just keep telling myself that.

      • DEG

        Consider this: Her son takes many of her pictures.

  13. Tundra

    Good morning, Sloop!

    The number of people allowed in the 15,000-seat main stadium was limited to 1,000 for each of the first 10 days of the tournament because of pandemic-related restrictions, but that limit was raised to 5,000 on Wednesday.

    Follow the science, motherfuckers.

    Great song! I love the bizarre video, too.

    • Ted S.

      And all those fans suddenly, magically became more dangerous at 11:00 PM yesterday (or 9:00 PM every other day of the tournament).

      • sloopyinca

        Listen, buddy: they had to corral them all to the exits at the same time so they could herd to public transportation together. That’s a lot safer than them all sitting apart at a large, outdoor venue. Don’t you even science?

  14. The Late P Brooks

    The DOJ found that “the investigation revealed no evidence to establish that, at the time the officer fired a single shot at Ms. Babbitt, the officer did not reasonably believe that it was necessary to do so in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber.”

    Okay, then. Case closed.

    • prolefeed

      To play Devil’s Advocate: the defendant has the legal presumption of innocence. The prosecutor would have to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had no reason to shoot her. Hard bar to clear in the absence of witnesses or video recordings.

      Even cops deserve due process.

      • sloopyinca

        Hard bar to clear in the absence of witnesses or video recordings.

        Uh, there were a shitload of witnesses and videos of the incident though.

      • db

        Seems to me like there were other officers on the opposite side of the wall, in close proximity to the protesters, who would have had more reason to fear for their safety.

        Also, those other officers didn’t discharge their weapons into a crowd of people.

        Also, it seems that the shooter fired from behind his/her fellow officers, risking their safety as well.

        I haven’t watched the video, only seen some stills (I don’t care to watch people die), so perhaps I’m missing something.

      • sloopyinca

        You’re not. The cop put his arm through the hole in the window and fired blindly into a crowd of people who were behind a door and a row of cops on the other side of that door.

      • Ownbestenemy

        That was a the biggest thing for me was the video that showed officers making their way from the rear through the crowd, not looking scared, and then Deputy Dan pops the girl from through the door/window.

        It was a miracle that wasn’t a bloodbath at that point.

      • db

        Since I haven’t watched any videos of the event, I was unaware that the officers at the front had moved through the crowd from the rear. In that case that makes the shooter’s actions simply egregious.

      • Agent Cooper

        “It was a miracle that wasn’t a bloodbath at that point.”

        It almost has the feeling that it was all staged. (Adjusts tin-foil hat. See comment below)

      • Agent Cooper

        “The cop put his arm through the hole in the window”

        He did not breach the window. Babbit did. Note, this is not to support the shooting. I am just being pedantic about it.

        There’s a great Tin Foil Hat Video on GitHub documenting how the entire thing was faked. It’s actually quite convincing in parts.

    • ignoreLander

      Okay, then. Case closed.

      In other words, we weren’t able to prove a negative, which is a logical impossibility, so, NO CHARGES! BACK OUR BOIS IN BLUUUUU!

  15. PieInTheSky

    so if a coffee shop has a tip char and you put a tip but the barista does not see you doing it does it count as tipping?

    • Sean

      Was she hot?

    • invisible finger

      I make sure the barista hears the coins going in. Usually pennies.

      • Nephilium

        So you make it rain?

        (Went for more obscure artist rather then the obvious Prima)

    • SDF-7

      Only if you’re tipping for your avocado toast or the barista has over-roasted your coffee beans. Otherwise, use the tip jar instead.

    • sloopyinca

      This was a Seinfeld episode. DOn’t take the tip back out in hopes of replacing it when she’s looking.

      • AlexinCT

        Kramer or Costanza? My bet was it was the later…

      • sloopyinca

        It was George. He was getting a calzone for Steinbrenner.

      • AlexinCT

        At least it was not a big salad…

    • db

      You have to wave it under their noses and pull it away a couple of times like you’re taking it back so they understand you’re giving them a gift in honor of the professionalism and dignity with which they served you.

      • Bobarian LMD

        An honorarium in recognition of their PhD.

    • Old Man With Candy

      This is why the proper way to tip is to shove the bill(s) down her bra. There will be no chance that she’ll miss that you’re tipping.

    • Agent Cooper

      Was it just the tip?

    • The Gunslinger

      Nope. Iconic curves.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Hobbit.

  16. The Late P Brooks

    The electoral college is not fair

    It’s hard to make an intellectual argument in favor of the Electoral College. Most people feel that the person who gets the most votes should become president.

    Guess what, NPR. Most people are idiots.

    • Rat on a train

      The person receiving a majority of the Electoral College votes does become president.

    • invisible finger

      Intellectual arguments are hard by definition. If they were simple, they wouldn’t be intellectual.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Your snark hits on the primary problem with a democracy and the primary reason we’re a republic. Thank Christ we aren’t ruled only by the majority will of the people.

      • AlexinCT

        But that’s exactly what they want, just until they get their way, at which point they will be quite content to abolish the system they now advocate for, because the only reason they want it – for now – is to use it to deny people the ability to ever again have a say.

      • Gustave Lytton

        “One man, one vote, one time!”

      • ignoreLander

        the only reason they want it – for now – is to use it to deny people the ability to ever again have a say

        Bingo. Unfortunately, they figured out how to game the system with the last presidential election, and not a single conspirator was held to account, so, as far as denying people the ability to ever again have a say, well I think we’re already there.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      “Its hard to make an intellectual argument… most people feel…”

      If that ain’t a glaring statement of the issues of our times.

      • prolefeed

        Apparently it’s either hard for this * intellectual * to do an internet search for “why was the electoral college set up” and read the history behind why the Revolutionary War was fought. Or if they did so, it was hard for him to recognize “an all powerful central government is a bad idea, and considerable power should be retained by the states as a check on that” IS an intellectual argument. Maybe not one they agree with, but if they really mean, “you can easily make an intellectual argument for the Electoral College, but it’s hard for me to understand or else accept that argument”, then fucking admit you’re an idiot or a partisan hack or both.

      • leon

        ^^^ this. As malice says: saying “I’ve never heard an argument for it” isn’t an indictment on the validity of the proposal, but rather an indictment on your intellectual curiosity.

    • prolefeed

      Most people probably also believe that the politicians of their favored political party, once in power, should be able to do whatever they want to.

      Thankfully we have some written rules prohibiting that. Rules which most people want to be rid of. Democracy aka mob rule is a bad idea.

      • waffles

        Democracy is terrible. It’s really disconcerting how much the current administration harps on democracy this and our democracy that. It’s newspeaky and I hate it.

      • AlexinCT

        These people read “1984”, “Brave New World”, “Fahrenheit 451” and other such dystopian novels, and interpreted them as “How To” manuals…

      • ignoreLander

        Every time I hear someone, politician or otherwise, talk about “our democracy” it makes my skin crawl. How hard is it to understand that not only do we NOT have a democracy, but that the Founders actually loathed the idea of democracy?

    • SDF-7

      This says much more about the crap education in history and/or civics “most people” get. It isn’t hard to make an intellectual argument in favor of the EC when you remember that we’re a federal republic formed from a union of states.

    • db

      Guess what, NPR. There are plenty of intellectual arguments in favor of the Electoral College; you simply refuse to even consider them.

      • Tonio

        Firs the electoral college, then the US Senate. We were orginally a confederation of thirteen separate, newly independent sovereign states that banded together for the common defense. We have so lost sight of that.

      • Bobarian LMD

        ^^^Look, everybody! Confederate Sympathizer!

        /s

    • leon

      resorting to ” most people think” is by definition, not an intellectual argument.

      • db

        That’s probably the best response.

      • Spartacus

        They didn’t even get that far. Theirs is based on how most people feel.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Consensus is SCIENCE, shitlord.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Also, “most people” do not “think”.

    • Spartacus

      Suppose there are 5 candidates and 10 voters.
      A gets 3 votes, B, C, and D each get 2, and E gets 1.
      So I guess NPR thinks that A has the mandate of the people and should win?

      Plus, making critical process decisions based on “most people feel” is probably the lamest way ever to decide anything.

      • Mad Scientist

        At least this had some honesty to it. “Most people feel” is way more accurate than “most people think.”

    • Rebel Scum

      It’s hard to make an intellectual argument in favor of the Electoral College.

      The US is a federation of political entities known as states that have delegated certain powers that mostly deal with foreign policy to a common government among them. Said states hold separate elections to elect the head of the executive branch of said common government via s system that acknowledges state boundaries and populations via the weight of state delegations that are sent to the bicameral legislature of their common government.

      What do I win?

      • Bobarian LMD

        That’s not an argument!

    • Count Potato

      “At least 30 people have died and hundreds more have been injured by PIT maneuvers since 2016, The Washington Post reported, adding that 18 of those deaths occurred after police tried to stop a driver for speeding or other minor traffic violations.”

    • WTF

      What a fucking moron. And the assholes keep saying she was “fleeing”, when she clearly wasn’t.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      If that had been my wife, let’s just say that cop wouldn’t be anywhere to be found right now.

    • Necron 99

      Arkansas DMV handbook is 91 pages long, but on page 3 it details what to do when pulled over by police.

      “1. Pull over to the right side of the road – activate your turn signal or emergency flasher to indicate to the officer that you are seeking a safe place to stop.”

      “3. Pull to the nearest / safest spot out of the traffic land (Do not stop on bridges or overpasses).”

      Seems to me she did everything correctly; cop is asshole.

  17. PieInTheSky

    Una Ragazza per il Cinema Finale Regionale 2020-Teolo PD

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tqJ5IQf6x0

    I still think these Italian bikini beauty shows look like hooker auctions. Though these one seem slightly hotter than average

    • UnCivilServant

      Romanians auction off hookers?

      Odd way to do that transaction. Seems like it might scare some customers away.

      • PieInTheSky

        the pimps not the customers. This is why pimpin aint easy.

      • AlexinCT

        But it is necessary, right?

      • PieInTheSky

        honest pimping has it’s purpose I suppose

      • AlexinCT

        That’s got to be because the love of a pimp is so much different from that of a square, bro…

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Being packed into that small room makes it look kind of sleazy.

  18. AlexinCT

    I seriously believe shit like this is fruitless. I plan to leave “The People’s Republic of Connecticut” in the next couple of years as the whole fallout of no longer having to go into the office as an IT professional after Kung Flu pandemic WFH proved the old idea of going into the office was bunk. I will not be telling the morons here anything when I leave. Precisely because I feel it is a waste of time. These people are not making the decisions they make because they are smart or logical, but because they are driven by the basest and nattiest of emotions: envy/jealousy and a feeling of superiority because they think their marxist tendencies make them the more intelligent.

    These are the morons that get angry when you point out that CRT and the way the left is currently going about politics is eerily reminiscent of the whole Chinese Cultural revolution where you replace class with race. These are the morons that tell you they are evil fighting fascism – another socialist ideology that they managed successfully to use as a means to deflect from the fact marxism is the real and most evil ideology foisted on humanity in its entire history – by accusing anyone not to the left of Mao of being a fascist. These are the fucking retards that see evil in everyone else – a pure projection BTW – and feel they have to fight these people on whom they foist their own Pandora’s box of deficiencies. Telling them to stop being stupid is like telling Charles Manson that he should be kind.

    • prolefeed

      Shorter, Texas style: “You can’t fix stupid, bless their hearts.”

      • AlexinCT

        Well said.

    • Bobarian LMD

      shit like this is fruitless

      I had something for this, but grape jokes are never funny.

    • ignoreLander

      a feeling of superiority because they think their marxist tendencies make them the more intelligent.

      That part burns me up more than anything. They truly believe that way of thinking makes them “enlightened” and that anyone who doesn’t follow their brand of religion is paleolithic. And there’s no convincing them otherwise. And the truth is, they are some of the dumbest people on the planet.

      Those “bubba-redneck folk” they look down their noses at? You know, the ones who actually think for themselves and don’t blindly follow an ideology? Yeah, chardonnay Karen, they’re smarter than you are.

  19. Count Potato

    “The acting head of the White House budget office has refused to rule out sending more US money to the Wuhan lab COVID-19 is feared to have leaked from.

    Acting Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young said she would ‘never make that commitment’ to cut all future funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.

    Young faced questions from lawmakers about Joe Biden’s budget proposal during a Budget Committee hearing Wednesday, including pointed questions over the sending of federal funds to the Chinese lab.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9670381/Acting-OMB-director-REFUSES-rule-sending-money-Wuhan-virus-leak-lab.html

    CWAA

    • sloopyinca

      I see his point. If only we’d have properly funded the bioweapons lab the Chinese Communist Party operates in secrecy, the chance of a lab leak would have been much lower.

      Wait, what?

    • SDF-7

      Wait, what? Did the lawmakers forget they make the budget, not the executive branch?

      I’d love to see Congress actually defund the Exec branch for misappropriate of funds at some point to regain some of their powers — but I’d bet you dimes to donuts, that the Exec would “emergency appropriate” funding direct from the Fed or some garbage — and Penaltax would okay it because the spice must flow ^w^w^w government needs to function.

      What me? Cynical?

    • ignoreLander

      “The acting head of the White House budget office has refused to rule out sending more US money to the Wuhan lab COVID-19 is feared to have leaked from.

      Also, CWAA

  20. PieInTheSky

    Another philosophical question:

    Does breakfast cereal with milk count as a kind of soup?

      • PieInTheSky

        Why not? It is food with a bunch of liquid.

      • invisible finger

        Yup, like mashed potatoes and gravy.

      • UnCivilServant

        soups involve the food being cooked in the liquid for the purposes of flavoring said liquid and the food.

        Your definition would call a corona a soup if someone stuck a lime wedge in it.

      • invisible finger

        Define “cooking”.

      • PieInTheSky

        gazpacho is soup and it is not cooked

      • UnCivilServant

        gazpacho is a broad category of liquid dishes, some of which are soups, some of which are pounded vegetables.

      • db

        I was going to make a joke here, but I think it might be beyond the pale. I think most of you can figure it out.

      • Agent Cooper

        Is pounding vegetables a crime? I mean, can they give consent?

      • Nephilium

        And some salsa could be considered fruit salad.

      • PieInTheSky

        Pico de gallo is a soup.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I am confident you never had proper pico de gallo.

      • Nephilium

        Ownbestenemy:

        Tomatoes and peppers are both technically fruits.

      • Ownbestenemy

        We are just misfiring on each other’s comments. That was meant for Pie’s comment that it is a soup.

      • sloopyinca

        In a sense it is. The acids “cook” it the same was a ceviche cooks. Heat isn’t absolutely necessary for something to be cooked.

      • AlexinCT

        That’s what I tell the reluctant ladies…

      • Not Adahn

        Is oatmeal a soup? Polenta?

      • PieInTheSky

        polenta is Demi Rose thick so no not soupy enough

    • db

      Cream of Cheerios

    • Old Man With Candy

      A proper breakfast has Scotch over the cereal. You Romanians are uncivilized.

      • Rat on a train

        A complete breakfast is anything you eat with milk, fruit and toast.

      • db

        *Anything*?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Thinks back to your withheld comment about pounded vegetables….

  21. The Late P Brooks

    “In 2020, despite the 7 million-vote victory that Joe Biden won in the popular vote, people overlook the fact that 45,000 votes switch in the three key battleground states, and you’re looking at a second term of Donald Trump,” he said. “I mean, the fact that you could have the entire outcome of the election ride on 45,000 votes in three random states is, you know, just a huge, glaring vulnerability for any republic.”

    That vulnerability was on full display on Jan. 6, when Trump and the violent insurrectionists pressed Congress to overturn Biden’s Electoral College win. Without the Electoral College, it would have been much harder for them to have asked Congress to overturn the will of 7 million voters. Instead, Trump asked Congress to throw out the electoral votes from just a handful of battleground states.

    And, of course, they completely ignore the likelihood that the Democrats were also fully aware of this “vulnerability” to small swings and acted accordingly, sending out a blizzard of unverifiable absentee ballots.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Yep, hence the truthlie of no widespread voter fraud, dependent upon one’s definition of widespread of course.

      • AlexinCT

        It’s all in the word manipulation…

        Widespread fraud is not needed to steal, erm I mean, fortify an election. And the consistent and constant attempts by the very people that spent 4 years lying about Russians stealing an election for the guy that managed to win the election they had rigged for their crook, only to ban anyone from saying otherwise about the election they then fortified to make sure this time it would go the way they wanted it, to keep or get voting and transparency into vote counting from happening is a serious tell…

    • leon

      Close elections are a vulnerability to a democracy. Clearly we need a system where the winner wins with 99% of the vote.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Long live Saddam!

        Remember when CNN covered the Iraqi ‘re-election’ of Saddam as if it wasn’t the kabuki show it clearly was?

        Pepperidge Farms remembers.

    • Rebel Scum

      7 million-vote victory that Joe Biden won in the popular vot

      Irrelevant.

      just a huge, glaring vulnerability for any republic.

      We wouldn’t have a republic if the president was decided by popular vote.

    • Agent Cooper

      ” you know, just a huge, glaring vulnerability for any republic.””

      No, it isn’t.

    • Agent Cooper

      We are a federation of states, dumbasses.

  22. Rebel Scum

    “For those who are unvaccinated, they are increasingly at risk as more and more variants develop,” Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Wednesday, specifically citing the B.1.617.2, or Delta variant, first identified in India.

    Fuck. Off. You. Cunte.

    • UnCivilServant

      If the current vaccine stops these variants, then the current natural immunities stop these variants, which means they are no more likely to reach anyone than the initial variant.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      The vast majority in the US at this point that remain unvaccinated do so by choice and are willing to accept the risks. I’m fine with that.

    • invisible finger

      My Body. My Choice.

      • prolefeed

        You win one internet, sir.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Is he the same one that was screaming at the clouds that DOOOOM was impending in a manner of days back in April or was that a CDC hack?

      Either way, they can go suck it.

      • Agent Cooper

        That was the CDC lady. I would have fired her on the spot for a lack of professionalism.

    • UnCivilServant

      Just like all the old trials which showed if you give it to people who aren’t terminal and don’t use severe overdoses it improves zinc uptakes which helps fight off virii.

    • Tundra

      Dude, you can’t make money on that shit.

      Like Ivermectin.

      I mean, come on. How can you expect modern docs to use boomer drugs that have been off patent for 20 years? Better to use fucking remdesivir at $3K a pop.

      Do docs work on commission? Because they should.

      • invisible finger

        Remdesivir also requires a hospital stay. So even more $$$.

      • Tundra

        A friend’s dad ended up on a ventilator, remdesivir, the works. He died. I have not shared any of this information with her, because white-hot rage is not healthy.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        If there’s an established effective treatment for a disease it disallows an emergency use authorization for vaccines as our law is written now is my understanding. Whether that’s true or not, who the hell knows?

      • Tundra

        You are correct. None of the vaccines should have been approved, which is why Fauci and his merry men worked so hard to stifle any discussion of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.

        Not to mention that there are many non-pharma interventions that should have been promoted (Vit D, Zinc, etc).

        Nope, this is mass murder.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        ???

        I can’t characterize it any other way.

        Fauci and the vast swath of medical professionals who actively torpedoed ivermectin and HCQ should be hanging from lampposts rotting in prison.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        It seems like they could have just waived the law in this instance and given people the choice of vax or meds but, as you say, where’s the money in that?

      • Tundra

        Informed consent is a real thing. We haven’t been told shit about the vaccines, except that they are “safe and effective” and that the manufacturers have been relieved of any liability.

        I mean, seriously, how the fuck can you believe anything these assholes say?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        When the Vioxx scandal blew up, I gave Merck some leeway primarily because Vioxx helped so many people with debilitating pain. The FDA has a habit of taking drugs off the market without giving people the opportunity to decide if the risks are worth it.

        Now I’m not feeling so charitable about any of the drug companies.

      • invisible finger

        Yup, Dr. Fauci’s Medicine Show.

    • Agent Cooper

      A protocol for successful HCQ use was established relatively early, but then torpedoed by the MSM (with an assist from Fauci) to hurt Trump.

  23. Rebel Scum

    The IRS said it is continuing to distribute federal stimulus checks to eligible Americans, with another 2.3 million payments issued on Wednesday. Some of those payments include “plus-up” adjustments for people who received less money than they were entitled to in earlier checks.

    I’ll need the cash to wipe my ass when toilet paper becomes the default currency.

    • Rebel Scum

      Sounds dotarded to me.

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      ‘ronry, I’m so ‘ronry

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      I like that the Cambodian commies are one of the two replies.

      • R.J.

        That whole thread is creepy.

    • Agent Cooper

      None of those kids in the photo are laughing. In fact, a lot of them are crying.

  24. Rebel Scum

    Outside Mississippi’s only abortion clinic, a Black activist ensures women are not alone

    When Asia Brown was a teenager, Mississippi passed the strictest abortion ban in the nation. Now she escorts patients past confrontations and protests.

    Margret Sanger approves.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      You know who else escorted the undesirables to their deaths despite protests and confrontation?

  25. Rebel Scum

    Not that they’ll ever face justice for the killing of an unarmed woman who posed no legitimate threat whatsoever.

    But muh insurrection, dood.

  26. Pope Jimbo

    Well at least the Feds are consistent. They are also not releasing the names of the cops who shot Winston “Boogie” Smith in Minneapolis.

    The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said Wednesday that it is not releasing the names of the sheriff’s deputies who shot and killed a man last Thursday because the officers were working undercover.

    Deputies working on the U.S. Marshals Service’s North Star Fugitive Task Force killed 32-year-old Winston Smith in an Uptown Minneapolis parking ramp while trying to arrest him on a firearms warrant.

    State investigators said last week that Smith shot from inside his vehicle, and that Hennepin and Ramsey County deputies fired their guns. It’s not clear who fired first.

    We’ll see if they can keep those names hidden from the public for as long as Ashli Babbit’s killer.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Speaking of the Marshals service and their fugitive task forces, some good news.

      Another three local law enforcement departments said Tuesday they will withdraw from a federal fugitive task force in Minnesota until their officers are able to wear body cameras.

      The Minnesota Department of Corrections, which had one full-time officer assigned, and Anoka and Hennepin County sheriff’s offices, each with one deputy, will suspend participation in the U.S. Marshals Service North Star Fugitive Task Force. Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher announced Monday that he pulled five deputies from the task force until the body camera issue is resolved

      Two task force members — Ramsey and Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies — fatally shot Winston Boogie Smith Jr., of St. Paul, while trying to arrest him on a Ramsey County weapons warrant in Minneapolis on Thursday. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety announced Friday that there was no body camera footage of the shooting.

      • Pope Jimbo

        My praise might have been more effusive if the story hadn’t also contained this gem…

        Last October, the Justice Department formalized a new policy to allow local officers to wear body cameras during joint operations, which was a policy reversal.

        In February, the Marshals Service, which has a network of fugitive task forces nationwide with local law enforcement, sent guidance to state and local officials about how they could equip their officers with cameras and the necessary paperwork allowing the footage, according to a Justice Department official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The process, though, can take months to train officers on federal policy and because of the variety of cameras used by police departments in the U.S. and the complexity of data collection.

        For a bunch of TOP MEN, they sure seem to have troubles coping with minor stuff.

    • Rebel Scum

      Living Blue In The Lone Star State
      @DebStoryteller

      Wow, nice to have a FLOTUS again that actually works!

      Rachel Holmberg
      @touchofglitzmn

      So proud to have a hard working FLOTUS. Grateful for your heart and mind

      I must have missed where she was elected/appointed or that first spouse is in any way an authoritative position with power in the government.

      • PieInTheSky

        This reminds me of bill Burr’s michele obama bit

      • Pope Jimbo

        To be fair to DR Jill Biden, she was instrumental to Joe being elected. A less woke wife would have told her husband that his brain and health was slipping and he should stay home to enjoy his final years.

        The Doc, though, she helped prop Joe’s ass up and got him into the White House.

        Seriously, there are going to be some great books out 10 years from now about the epic fights for power that are going on now behind the scenes between Susan Rice, Jill Biden and Kamala (and a bunch of others that I have no idea of).

      • Ownbestenemy

        Look at Mr. Optimism that thinks there will be books written in a negative light about what is going on there behind the scenes.

      • Pope Jimbo

        They will throw Joe and his administration under the bus when shit gets real bad. It won’t be the policies that were bad, it will be because the Progressives were lied to and backed a senile old man and a cabal of crypto-capitalists.

      • Tundra

        Kamala is already being prepped for an exit. I assumed it would be Joe to leave first, but now I’m not so sure.

        She’s a trainwreck.

      • Ownbestenemy

        There were rumors she was getting these “assignments” because they were no-win situations.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Which would suggest that there is an anti-Harris faction in the executive branch.

        I wonder who the competition is? Because Biden isn’t going to last that long.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Well if she steps down (and I do not think she will at all) then currently Nancy Pelosi becomes VP?

      • UnCivilServant

        No.

        If there is a sitting president, they nominate someone, who then has to be confirmed.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ah ya…president of the senate and all.

        So Jill Biden it will be.

      • DEG

        I feel like a Kremlinologist trying to keep up with all the speculation about what is really going on in the White House.

      • mrfamous

        Why would there be an anti-Harris faction? She only called Biden a racist and sexual abuser.

      • Bobarian LMD

        The real question is why was there ever a pro-Harris faction?

      • UnCivilServant

        One person can be a faction. I mean did she support herself?

      • Pope Jimbo

        Joe likes trains.

        Who’d a thunk that choosing a VP solely on their genitalia and skin color wasn’t a good idea?

      • invisible finger

        And we get Hilary Ford-Clinton in her place?

      • Akira

        Seriously, there are going to be some great books out 10 years from now

        I think it would make a good movie along the lines of The Madness of King George… The head of the most powerful empire in the world suffering from mental illness and the struggles of his inner circle to hide his malady from the public and seize some power for themselves?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Hey, being the string worker for the Joe marionette probably is hard work. Give her her due.

    • WTF

      Oh my God, the fucking ass-kicking replies. What the fuck is wrong with people practically worshipping someone like Jill Biden?

      • WTF

        “ass-kissing”

      • Ownbestenemy

        They long for the days of having kings and queens is my only guess I could come up with.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        In the absence of god most people have to worship something.

      • wdalasio

        What the fuck is wrong with people practically worshipping someone like Jill Biden?

        I think, whatever a lot of people might say, a large portion of humanity is fundamentally disposed to monarchy more than representative government. I guess I can’t really blame people. A few million years of evolution of mammals organizing in packs or herds probably predisposes us to it. And the problem with that is Joe Biden is definitely king or great man material. Hell, his candidacy (his “normalcy” or his “moderation”) was fundamentally premised on his status as a non-threatening mediocrity. To compensate, people are transferring the adulation to Jill Biden.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Good advice

    Sen. John Kennedy warned White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci to “cut the crap” Wednesday night after Fauci described criticism of him as “attacks on science.”

    “I know Dr. Fauci, I like Dr. Fauci, I respect Dr. Fauci,” Kennedy (R-La.) told Fox News’ “Hannity.” “But Dr. Fauci needs to cut the crap. This isn’t about Dr. Fauci. It’s not about his feelings, and I’m sorry if his feelings were hurt. You know, maybe he ought to buy an emotional support pony.

    “But we’re not debating dance moves on TikTok here,” the colorful senator continued. “We’re talking about millions of human lives.”

    Fauci has been criticized in recent days on a number of issues related to the coronavirus pandemic following the release of thousands of his emails, including his changed stance on the effectiveness of masks and his early dismissal of the possibility that the virus accidentally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan.

    Maybe you should tell your good friend Foochy it’s time to go.

    • prolefeed

      SF’d link?

  28. Pope Jimbo

    I’m no great legal mind, but I think that even I would have thought this was a bad way to manage an office. I guess the guy was a bankruptcy law guy so maybe the intricacies of employment law were too much for him.

    A St. Cloud law firm is in turmoil after a round of firings that began with its leader going after employees he believed were supporters of former President Donald Trump, according to a lawsuit filed in Stearns County District Court.

    In the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, when Trump supporters violently stormed the building to prevent congressional certification of Joe Biden’s election as president, the suit alleges that Wesley Scott sought to fire employees he believed had made pro-Trump posts on social media.

    According to the complaint, Scott was disturbed by the Capitol riot and sent an e-mail in April to all the firm’s lawyers, saying that the “traitors on Jan. 6” should have been shot.

    He then told the firm’s operations manager to fire two employees he labeled “racist” because they had pro-Trump and pro-police posts on their social media accounts.

    When she refused to fire the employees, Scott fired her, according to the complaint. Scott then fired an additional employee and threatened to fire another.

    The three partners confronted Scott, according to court documents, and told him that firing an employee for political beliefs is against state law. Scott then fired them and called St. Cloud police to remove Quarberg, claiming she was trespassing and physically threatening him.

    • UnCivilServant

      Then he got sued for trademark violation for overuse of “You’re Fired”?

      • Pope Jimbo

        Someone should let the Bad Orange Man know about this, because that is the way he trolls.

        He’d definitely sue just for the fun of it.

    • WTF

      No joke, I sincerely believe leftism is a form of mental illness. What else could explain people behaving like this?

      • Mad Scientist

        Not just leftism. Any -ism that allows people to become unthinking animals.

      • ignoreLander

        No joke, I sincerely believe leftism is a form of mental illness. What else could explain people behaving like this?

        It actually is. It’s a cliche to use that phrase, but the fact is, the need to be a part of something like that is a mis-wire in the brain. It goes for conservative cultists too, but the very nature of the difference in those philosophies means there aren’t as many of a conservative bent who feel an attraction to groupthink.

    • Not Adahn

      I didn’t even realize partners could be fired. Wouldn’t they still get a cut of the company earnings?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      LOL. He’s a bankruptcy attorney. Looks like he may get some more personal experience in it before it’s over.

    • db

      Wait, I didn’t think that political views were a protected thing as far as at will employees go.

      • Ownbestenemy

        They aren’t but that goes beyond political views if the story is to be believed.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Haven’t you heard though? It transitory and is good for the American people! Yeah they both can suck my sack.

      • invisible finger

        The other ignorant comment is that this “new, free money wipes out debt”. In aggregate it does no such thing – people just leverage the new money and get further into debt. Every one of my living siblings and their children has bought either a new car or a house in the last 12 months, adding to their total debt.

        (Most of the reason is that they inherited a nice chunk of money from my brother – but the point still stands. It’s new money to them, and they increased their total debt rather than reduce it. When they talk to me about what I am doing with the money, I tell them I invested it so I can retire four years earlier. To each his own.)

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yep. We reduced as much as we could minus business credit and mortgage. No large purchases for us right now like the renovation on the house we want to do (though we could outright pay for it).

      • invisible finger

        In my yougnest sibling’s case, two house sales/purchases fell through over the last two years (it’s Illinois, it’s fucked up) so one could argue the “new debt” was planned before knowing of the inheritance.

    • leon

      Yeah. Inflation is getting insane.

  29. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Stangel-Plowe said Head of School Rodney De Jarnett told the entire faculty that he would fire everyone if he could to replace them with people of color

    Notably, Meissuer Rodney De Fuckstick is a white dude. Why hasn’t he voluntarily quit and ceded his position to a less melanin-challenged individual?

  30. Rebel Scum

    I wish I could forget.

    “At ease,” President Biden says while speaking to soldiers at the Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the UK, “I keep forgetting I’m president.”

    • Ownbestenemy

      My uncle that has all but lost his mind makes stupid fucking jokes like that.

  31. Festus

    Gah. I need to do something about the wibbly-wobbly state of my lower extremities. I Hate Hate Hate visiting a Doctor. It’s probably MS, it’s always MS…

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      The good news is that it is never Lupus.

      • Festus

        The fun part is that there is no cure so they can keep pushing nostrums and notions on we, the idiots.

    • db

      There are some effective treatments for MS. I have a relative who has it, and she has good days and bad days, but far fewer bad days with her treatments.

      • invisible finger

        A close friend was diagnosed with MS 30 years ago. Two years ago he stopped all treatment and says he feels better now than he did the prior ten years. Not feeling great, but feeling better. It’s a strange disease.

    • Tulip

      Please go to the doctor. There are many treatments, and it may improve your life.

    • mrfamous

      My mom was diagnosed with MS back in the early 90s. She’s still here and it wasn’t MS, it was Lyme Disease. I suggest going to the doctor.

    • PieInTheSky

      Nono report rape against white males, even when it may not have happened. When there are minority males involved it is a problem. Though I don’t see how as it was previously established that cishet black males are the white p[people of black people, aka privileged.

      • AlexinCT

        Minorities can’t be racist.. So maybe the next logical leap is that they can’t be rapists either, even when they rape, and especially if they rape white bitchez….

      • Akira

        Minorities can’t be racist.. So maybe the next logical leap is that they can’t be rapists either

        Non-Western cultures may have different ideas of what constitutes rape. It’s very unwoke and colonialist of you to push your white notions of “consent” on black and brown bodies.

        /sarc, but probably not too far off

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      I do wonder how much of the male feminist sexual abuser trope is due to the fact that they hang around with feminists that are more likely to perceive any given interaction as sexual assault.

  32. PieInTheSky

    Uni academics remove ‘racist see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ monkeys

    https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/22/york-uni-pulls-image-of-three-wise-monkeys-it-deemed-racist-13948590/

    Academics at the University of York have removed an image of the three wise monkeys from their website after deciding it ‘exploits racist stereotypes’.

    The animals, a cultural symbol originating in Japan which represents the ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ proverb, were depicted on a online poster about an upcoming art history conference.

    The organisers of the conference worried the image of a monkey could offend people from ethnic minority backgrounds in its context.

    Is it just me or are the people who saw a classic Japanese sculpture and though of minority people in fact the racists?

    • WTF

      Is it just me or are the people who saw a classic Japanese sculpture and though of minority people in fact the racists?

      Yup. If you hear the dog whistle, you’re the dog.

    • ignoreLander

      So, these people saw statues of monkeys, and thought “black people”. Tell me again who the racists are?

  33. Certified Public Asshat

    Yet Another Media Tale — Trump Tear-Gassed Protesters For a Church Photo Op — Collapses

    The IG’s conclusion could not be clearer: the media narrative was false from start to finish. Namely, he said, “the evidence did not support a finding that the [U.S. Park Police] cleared the park on June 1, 2020, so that then President Trump could enter the park.” Instead — exactly as Hemingway’s widely-mocked-by-liberal-outlets article reported — “the evidence we reviewed showed that the USPP cleared the park to allow a contractor to safely install anti-scale fencing in response to destruction of Federal property and injury to officers that occurred on May 30 and May 31.” Crucially, “the evidence established that relevant USPP officials had made those decisions and had begun implementing the operational plan several hours before they knew of a potential Presidential visit to the park, which occurred later that day.”

  34. The Late P Brooks

    You are correct. None of the vaccines should have been approved, which is why Fauci and his merry men worked so hard to stifle any discussion of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.

    Not to mention that there are many non-pharma interventions that should have been promoted (Vit D, Zinc, etc).

    Nope, this is mass murder.

    It seems as if they went out of their way to stifle research into treatment options, in favor of “prevention”.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Fauci has had a hard-on for mRNA vaccines for a long time. He promoted vaccines for HIV which failed utterly as a treatment.

      As far as I can tell, he’s one of those types that wants to promote a particular solution to the problem primarily because of his association with it. The glory of being a savior is too attractive. I’ve seen it with engineers that latch onto overly complicated custom solutions in favor of simple ones that already exist because utilizing the simple solution doesn’t help their resumes.

      • invisible finger

        He’s also the asshole who was pushing PCR as a diagnostic tool during the “AIDS Crisis”. It was shit then just like it is shit now.

      • Akira

        Didn’t the inventor (or one of the integral developers) of PCR testing speak out and say that it’s not meant to be used for diagnosing diseases?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Kary Mullis, recently deceased (as of late ’19) acid-taking surfer.

    • Surly Knott

      That’s been a Fauci hallmark since AIDS.

  35. Pope Jimbo

    Who says today’s youngsters are bad? Some of them are going great things.

    Three young Minnesotans are suing for the right to legally carry handguns in public, alleging that the state’s minimum permitting age of 21 is discriminatory.

    The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, argues that even though U.S. citizens who are 18 years old are considered adults “for almost all purposes,” the state unconstitutionally bans them from carrying handguns outside their homes or automobiles for self-defense.

    “There is simply no legal or constitutional justification that an entire class of adult citizens in Minnesota should be completely denied their fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms,” said Bryan Strawser, chairman of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, which is also part of the lawsuit.

    • Rebel Scum

      no legal or constitutional justification

      How quaint.

    • EvilSheldon

      MGOC is one of the best of the state-level pro-2A advocacy groups. If you’re in MN or even nearby, check them out.

    • Akira

      I’m surprised there’s pushback from the Left to 18 year olds owning guns… After all, many 18-21 year olds are females living on college campuses, and you’d think they’d want some protection in light of the 5 out of 4 women who get gang-raped every single day.

      • Nephilium

        But gun owners are more likely to have their guns taken away from them and have them used against them to be raped at gunpoint, which would make it worse of course.

  36. LJW

    In order to go back to the office mask free we are required to self report our vaccination status to the company. The form just asks whether we are fully vaccinated, what vaccine and when. It doesn’t ask for proof… So what’s keeping people from lying? I’m guessing this is a CYA legal thing.

    • AlexinCT

      NONYA… that’s the right answer…

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      If they’re asking a question about something they don’t have a right to know, then you have no moral obligation to provide them with the truth.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Does anything prohibit them from asking for that proof in the future though? This policy of theirs could be a set up (signed form, you lied to your employer, bye bye).

      • Akira

        My employer asks about vaccination status too for the stupid daily form we have to fill out before entering the office (have you been coughing, have you travelled out of the country, have you been around a COVID-positive person, blah blah blah).

        I could just lie and say I’ve had the vaccine, but that confers no benefit to me since everyone still has to wear masks in the office. Honestly though, I’m kind of glad that’s the policy because if they let the vaxxed people go without masks, the masks would be a visual marker of who hasn’t had it, and the company would probably start pressuring them to get it (and I’m a stubborn-ass; when I’m being pressured or forced to do something that I have every right not to do, I just dig my heels in deeper). I’d rather deal with wearing the masks at work for a bit longer than still have to wear it and deal with ostracism.

        I wonder if some people are bribing doctors to set up the appointment and do all the paperwork saying the vax has been administered but just throwing the dose away. I’m sure there are some skeezy doctors who would do that for a quick buck.

        Not that I would ever condone this; I Follow The Science™ and believe that all vaccines are perfect and that every single person should be mandated to get them under penalty of death.

    • AlexinCT

      they forgot to put the words “rape and pillage” in there as to what the intent of the government is…

    • LJW

      “The House bill would, in part, offset any revenue loss by requiring all catch-up contributions to be made post-tax.”

      Why bother investing catch up contributions into your 401k then?

      • invisible finger

        Aren’t you required to? It’s post-tax, not post-cashing-the-check.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I give it 50/50 odds that they introduce language to require a certain percentage of 401k/IRA funds to be invested in t-bills before they’re done with it.

      • DEG

        Yep.

        The government won’t outright confiscate retirement account (401K/IRA) money. Yes, I know folks have floated the idea. It won’t go anywhere. Too many people have too much to lose.

        Instead, the government will go through the backdoor by requiring investments into Treasuries for 401K/IRAs.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      The House bill would require employers to automatically enroll employees in their 401(k) plan at a rate of at least 3% and then increase it each year until the worker is contributing 10% of their pay. Businesses with 10 or fewer employees and new companies (under 3 years old) are among those that would be excluded from the mandate.

      The Senate bill does not require auto-enrollment, although it includes incentives to encourage companies to implement that feature.

      Again, not a bad idea except for being a government edict.

    • Rat on a train

      Both the House and Senate measures would enable employers to make contributions to 401(k) plans (and similar workplace plans) on behalf of employees who are making student loan payments instead of contributing to their retirement plan.

      Can I get the same provision for people making home loan payments? I would love if my employer put in my share so I can have more money.

  37. Pope Jimbo

    Just like the kids, I might also have been too hard on light rail. Turns out it might be a lot more fun than I thought.

    Metro Transit light rail trains and platforms have become hotspots for illegal drug use and overdoses, according to a 5 INVESTIGATES review of police reports and videos over an 18-month period.

    Advocates and operators say conditions on and around the trains are part of an ongoing public health crisis — a complex problem that leaders have promised to address and could debate again during a public forum on transit safety later this week.

    On New Year’s Eve in 2019, two officers said they observed a woman and two men appear to be in the process of injecting drugs at the Franklin station platform.

    One officer started to search the group but became concerned he could injure himself “due to the fact that they appeared to be ready to inject with a needle,” he later wrote in his report.

    The officers’ concerns are echoed by transit riders, platform workers and train operators.

    I wonder if they will name that cop, because he might have set a record in the “Go Home Safely” department.

    • creech

      SEPTA, in Philly, finally had to shut down several stations on the Market-Frankford Elevated line in order to clean up the debris (human and otherwise) that made it unsafe for riders to use the stations.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Appropriate acronym

      • wdalasio

        I’ve always believed they should change their name to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Infrastructure Corporation.

      • Pope Jimbo

        One of the reasons I hated using O’Hare when flying into Chicago was having to use the Blue Line. That line operates 24/7 so the bums would camp out in the cars on cold nights. Getting on the Blue Line at 5am in the morning at O’Hare would mean that it was you and 3 passed out smelly assholes.

        The Orange Line out of Midway closed each night so those trains never had homeless on them early in the morning.

    • wdalasio

      The gun grabbers have always had a sort-of racist context about minorities. I recall a couple of years ago, seeing them try to float the claim, “If black people started becoming gun owners en masse, we’d see how quickly the gun nuts would embrace gun control”. Well, a lot of blacks have. And the response from gun owners has mostly been “Hey, cool, welcome to the club, guys!”.

      The claim that the second amendment is racist seems like a desperation ploy. Widespread black gun ownership would be a problem for the Democratic coalition. Because gun owners tend to vote gun rights pretty hard. And if that started including a large portion of black voters, the Dems would have to decide which voting block is more important.

      • db

        Perhaps they should consider how the text of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment interacts with the rest of the Constitution, specifically the Second Amendment.

      • AlexinCT

        When I renewed my permit about 10 or 15 years ago (you have to renew every 5 years in TPRoC, and I was also helping my kid get his) I had to do an interview with a town issuer. It was some old lady that definitely was a leftist lifelong bureaucrat that had never done a day of real work in her life and loved her power. During the conversation to allow her to inquire why we needed the permit renewal for me and a permit for my son I pointed out that this seemed like some real crazy amount of shit, and quite expensive too, to go through for something that is constitutionally allowed. Her response was that the state felt it was necessary to keep certain people from being able to get legally armed. I was flabbergasted and asked what she meant, and she promptly told me that they didn’t want the “not nice clean people, those unlike myself or my son, but you know, the minority types and people with tattoos, piercings and shaved heads” to be allowed to get a permit. I was fucking floored… My kid kicked me under the desk knowing I was about to blow up at her, and I kept my calm.

        I am sure I would have been added to her list of people that should not be allowed to carry had I pointed out how fucked up what she believed was…

      • EvilSheldon

        Boy, the times you wish you had the recording app on your phone running…

    • Pope Jimbo

      Don’t know about that Alex. Machetes seems like cultural appropriation to me. I think it would be safer to stick to something home grown like an AR-15.

      • AlexinCT

        I was actually referring to the fact the people fought back and the cops actually backed them and not the marxists… In the US we should obviously do it with guns. Nobody should bring a knife, not even a big one like a machete, to a gun fight…

      • db

        I have to admit, I “borrowed” it from a friend who texted it to me (a link to a different story).

      • Ownbestenemy

        Not that we need further confirmation, but when that shows up it will just solidify the rumors that ‘one’ of us moonlights for them.

    • Rebel Scum

      France sending 1/16 scale Statue of Liberty to US

      Surprised to discover this is not the Bee.

      We have to conserve and defend our friendship.

      “We need you to fund and provide our defense.”

  38. Festus

    Signing out now if my pins will carry me. Judi bought me a “Baconater” from Wendy’s and I had to cut it in half. Apparently not a real man.

    • Agent Cooper

      You’re fine. I can’t eat that shit either. At McDonald’s, I get like 1 or 2 regular hamburgers and that’s it.

  39. DEG

    PA Senate wants to negotiate with Wolf

    Senate leaders postponed a possible vote on the full termination resolution passed by the state House Tuesday, and reset negotiations with the Wolf administration on a more limited measure closer to one initially proposed by the House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre County.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Pussies, the lot of them.

    • db

      They should start out with “here are the articles of impeachment we have drafted…”

  40. DEG

    “For those who are unvaccinated, they are increasingly at risk as more and more variants develop,” Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Wednesday, specifically citing the B.1.617.2, or Delta variant, first identified in India.

    Go fuck yourself.

  41. DEG

    That’s prompting some lawmakers to call for a fourth stimulus check. More than 20 senators — all Democrats — signed a March 30 letter to President Joe Biden in support of recurring stimulus payments, pointing out that the $1,400 payment being distributed by the IRS won’t tide people over for long.

    That money printer is getting a workout.

  42. Count Potato

    “I really want to encourage people again to watch @BostWiki
    ‘s well-researched and probing journalistic video (linked above) revealing the systemic deceit, manipulation & bullying used by a key front-page NYT reporter.

    Particularly disturbing is how she exploits young teens”

    https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1402976457580855300

    Remember when people were upset with Tucker Carlson just for mentioning her name?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Heh, somewhere on that page

      “Husband: You haven’t been to the grocery store.

      Me: And I haven’t been to Europe. I don’t understand the point you’re making.”

    • PieInTheSky

      That is not well camouflaged. Evolution is bullshit.

      • UnCivilServant

        I donno, the diamond pattern matches the rug.

      • Ownbestenemy

        *polite clap*

    • Pope Jimbo

      Not for Sir Charles?

    • EvilSheldon

      Oh yeah, he mad!

      Beautiful Grey Rat Snake, Pantherophis Spiloides.

      • Cy Esquire

        *Oh shit! He’s gonna eat me!*

        *puff up*

        *puff up!*

      • Suthenboy

        Yes, it was terrified, poor thing. The dogs had harassed it a bit but not touched or harmed it. When I let it loose in the thick underbrush outside the fence it relaxed and off it went. I am confident that even a reptile, after that experience, can figure out the boundaries. I doubt it will be back.

      • Not Adahn

        Pantherophis Spiloides

        Exploding panther-lover?

      • UnCivilServant

        Have you ever seen an exploding panther? They are majestic kamikaze kats.

        For some reason, the species is endangered.

    • Sean

      How’d he get inside?

      • Suthenboy

        It didnt. That photo was taken about 6 inches outside my back door. The dogs alerted when they saw him poking around the edges of the door.

      • EvilSheldon

        Snakes get places. Especially rat snakes – they’re very curious and are insanely good climbers.

        There’s a joke in the field herping community that goes, “If you see a snake and think, ‘How the hell did you get up there?’, it’s probably a rat snake.”

  43. The Late P Brooks

    I donno, the diamond pattern matches the rug.

    That snake really ties the room together.

    • Gender Traitor

      :: genuine LOL & enthusiastic applause::

  44. Count Potato

    “This week’s guilty pleasure: watching @RepJayapal
    go down the list to expose phony corporate #Pride rebrands with how much money they’ve given to fund anti-LGBT+ politicians Relieved face

    Remember: just because a company slapped on a rainbowRainbow doesn’t mean they support the LGBT+ community”

    https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1402723736457994245

    stopped clock

    • Certified Public Asshat

      What about phony politicians and how they fund abuelas?

  45. The Late P Brooks

    VICTORY!

    The developer of the Keystone XL pipeline announced Wednesday it is pulling the plug on the controversial project after the Biden administration revoked its permit in January.

    TC Energy, the Canadian company behind the project, said it decided to terminate the project after a comprehensive review of its options and consulting with the government of Alberta, Canada. The company said it would coordinate with regulators, stakeholders and Indigenous groups to ensure a safe exit from the project.
    The cancellation ends more than a decade of controversy over the pipeline and marks a big win for environmentalists who argued the project threatened the environment and would only worsen the climate crisis.

    The project aimed to carry oil from the tar sands of Canada into the United States, and it has been a political football for years.

    On his first day in the White House, President Joe Biden revoked the permit his predecessor granted to Keystone XL, and also moved to re-enter the United States in the Paris climate agreement. TC Energy warned at the time that the decision by Biden would “directly lead to the layoff of thousands of union workers.”

    ——-

    “The cancellation of Keystone XL is a reminder that this project was never needed and never in the public interest, and that it is time for the fossil fuel era to rapidly come to a close,” David Turnbull, strategic communications director with Oil Change International, said in a statement.

    Ten minutes ago, I had no idea such a thing as David Turnbull existed. Now I want to seek him out and beat him with a sock full of nickels.

    • Rebel Scum

      decade of controversy

      “controversy”, “unhinged, ill-informed political activism”. “Tomayto”, “tomahto”.

      is a reminder that this project was never needed and never in the public interest

      It is a reminder to me that leftists and government are asshoe. Enjoy your ever increasing energy costs, dumbass.

  46. UnCivilServant

    I hate perl.

    It’s written only people who already know it inside and out. Let me roll back to no install attempts and start over without sticking to the stupid default of local::lib which does exactly the wrong thing for what I need. I’m tempted to ask for the whole server to be wiped and restored from backup. But that would be too much hassle. So I’m digging around the configuration to get it to actually install the modules for all users like I originally wanted.

    • leon

      “It’s written only people who already know it inside and out. ”

      You pretty much nailed it. Everyone who I’ve worked with that pushes Perl knows it super well and leaves us in the dust.

      • db

        Job security for now+30 years.

    • Ted S.

      Can’t you just write a regex to find what you need in the configuration? 🙂

      • UnCivilServant

        Nope, I used a wildcard:

        rm -rf *

  47. The Late P Brooks

    “The termination of this zombie pipeline sets precedent for President Biden and polluters to stop Line 3, Dakota Access, and all fossil fuel projects,” Kendall Mackey, campaign manager of 350.org’s Keep It in the Ground campaign, said in a statement.

    You’re next, Kendall.

    • Rebel Scum

      Keep It in the Ground campaign

      I read that is “Make People Poor and Destitute” campaign.

      • leon

        Starving the poor out of existence is the preferred progressive program for dealing with poverty.

  48. Rebel Scum

    Would.

    This speech at the #loudouncounty school board meeting was absolute ??? #alldayeveryday #mustseetv

    • DEG

      Countdown until she gets fired…..

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I think I’m in love.

  49. Sean

    Gun Glibs:

    Anyone using GunBroker Pay? Any downsides or problems?

    • DEG

      I have a vague memory of using it to buy some surplus ammo, either .303 or GP-11 (7.5mm Swiss). I remember no problems.

  50. Suthenboy

    “Enjoy your ever increasing energy costs, dumbass.”

    I bought a Kubota riding mower some years back because they had the reputation for being the best. Unfortunately it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. It had some design flaws and required more maintenance than I expected. It recently died and I was tired of fucking with it. I decided to get a John Deere as a replacement. I looked the Deeres over and thought that was a good choice. When I looked at the stock at the local sellers I found they had none at all. When I called the specialty dealers they had none either. The salesman informed me that the factories were presently producing none at all and that they could not even order any until maybe late July…maybe. I asked why and he informed me, with obvious anger in his voice and probably spit coming out….the cootie bug insanity. Parts suppliers shut down, Deere factory shut down etc.
    I cant buy a lawn mower.

    Foreseeable consequences are not unintended. I expect this will happen across the board, not just lawn tractors.

    Keep your powder dry people. We are in for a rough ride.

    • db

      We have had issues purchasing manufactured process equipment–the manufacturers are having difficulty getting both raw materials and finished parts for their machines. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that multiple parts of Deere’s supply chain have broken down, at least temporarily.

      • db

        In fact, I’d bet that used equipment resellers and auctioneers are having a grand time of it. There’s a chemical production facility down the road from one of ours, and they had had some old surplus jacketed CSTRs sitting out in their yard for a couple of years. They are gone now, probably sold to Aaron Equipment or similar for a pretty penny.

  51. The Late P Brooks

    What a heaping helping of slobbery nonsense

    Joe Biden’s first foreign trip as President comes at a unique moment.

    No US President has ever left the nation’s shores with democratic values under attack as broadly and systemically at home as they are abroad. This extraordinary reality will complicate his mission to purge the trauma of the Donald Trump era and convince both foes and friends that the US is reclaiming its global leadership role for good.

    Take your meds, dude.

    • Rebel Scum

      democratic values

      I do not care for Democracy or Democratic values.

  52. Rebel Scum

    What?

    This is so on brand for this country. Record number of black voters show up to save this democracy, only for white supremacy to be upheld by a cowardly, power-hungry white dude.
    @Sen_JoeManchin is a clown.

  53. The Late P Brooks

    For Biden, democracy is not just some abstract concept from civics class that Americans experience only when they enter the voting booth every few years.
    It is a system, a way of life and a set of rules and norms that made the United States the strongest and richest country in history. The free, prosperous nations the US rebuilt and protected after World War II faced down communist tyranny in the form of the Soviet Union and underwrote 70 years of peace. This web of open, like-minded countries is also the key to America’s global power. If democracy ebbs abroad, so does US influence.
    But now it is all under threat.

    Under threat by whom, Shirley?

    Take a hard look around.

  54. Rebel Scum

    Everything I want to do is progress.

    U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) stand in the way of justice, freedom and democracy, and pose a threat to the lives of Black people. …

    Manchin and Sinema view themselves as moderates who uphold bipartisan civility. In reality, they seek compromise with Republicans who have shown themselves consistently as bad faith actors 100% committed to blocking progress and stopping the Biden agenda.

    Alternatively they are representing their respective states like senators are supposed to. Additionally, I am wholly in favor of standing in the way of Democracy.

  55. The Late P Brooks

    But the most extraordinary feature of Biden’s trip is that he’s not an American President going out to confront tyranny abroad — that’s happened before. He’s huddling with US allies at a moment when the greatest threat to democracy comes from within the United States.
    The world looked on, horrified, at the insurrection against the US Capitol orchestrated by Trump in January. Since then, the ex-President has poisoned millions of Americans against democracy with his false electoral-fraud claims. Republican state lawmakers are quickly passing bills that make it harder for all but their own supporters to vote and make it easier to steal elections. The principle that voters have the right to pick their own leaders is under threat.
    Trump’s method of undermining elections, weaponizing propagandistic news coverage, creating false realities, promoting cronyism and stigmatizing immigrants was painfully familiar to Europeans because of their own history and as autocracy again takes root in the former Eastern bloc.

    Good grief. The world inside Collinson’s head is a strange, surreal, terrifying place.

    • The Other Kevin

      Wow, that person lives in a completely different reality than mine.

    • Rebel Scum

      horrified, at the insurrection

      Didn’t happen.

      orchestrated by Trump

      He explicitly stated for people to be “peaceful and patriotic”.

      Republican state lawmakers are quickly passing bills that … make it easier to steal elections.

      Projecting so hard you should have ‘Casio’ tattooed to your forehead.

      The principle that voters have the right to pick their own leaders is under threat.

      Correct but not how you mean.

      undermining elections, weaponizing propagandistic news coverage, creating false realities, promoting cronyism

      But enough about leftists/Dems.

    • Suthenboy

      Goddamned, that is some weapons grade projection.

  56. Certified Public Asshat

    And if you're mad at Blackrock and want to artificially prevent them from buying single-family homes, I'd like for you to explain to those who currently own the homes why you're taking money out of their pocket.— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 10, 2021

    Is this really a case of, don’t hate the player?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      It’s about hating the Fed that’s fucking over savers.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Yes, but there is room to hate Blackrock too. They have the free money, so we just shrug and let them hoover up all of the property?

      • kinnath

        Blackrock is protecting its interests. They are doing the rational thing.

        Hate the Fed. That’s where the blame belongs.

      • sloopyinca

        Hate the Fed. That’s where the blame belongs.

        I’m copying this so I can paste it in basically every story.

      • kinnath

        Awesome

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Oh, they’re absolutely opportunists, but the Fed is the culprit.

  57. wdalasio

    Wow, that person lives in a completely different reality than mine.

    Yup. They’re the screaming blue-hairs in nicer suits.

    I really am convinced that the U.S. is a country that incorporates two entirely distinct peoples. And no, it’s not racial. I’m not even sure it’s entirely political, at this point. I think, at this point, you have a country with two different worldviews, two different value systems, and two different realities for all intents and purposes. And, at this point, I don’t even hate the other people. I just can’t see living together with them as one nation. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the media is just captured by a small segment of utter lunatics who don’t really speak for anybody. But, I look at the young lady cited above, I realize that she’s in the same district as the school board head demanding everyone use “jazz hands” and I think that Loudon county must be some sort of weird border town.

    I think the two peoples can coexist. But, I think they can only do so independently. Otherwise, I see no way for the two to be reconciled under one government, short of a bloody and attrition-oriented civil war.

    • ignoreLander

      I think, at this point, you have a country with two different worldviews, two different value systems, and two different realities for all intents and purposes

      So, once again I’ll ask, what’s the problem with a peaceful, consensual divorce? I wouldn’t mind having statist as my neighbors, I just don’t want them anywhere near my governance.