Joemala: Episode 51

by | Dec 15, 2021 | Joemala | 227 comments

 

“So this is Kentucky?” Joe asked Finnegan as she maneuvered him through piles of rubble.

“Yes, Grandpa,” she whispered over the faint muttering of the captive press corps.

“What happened? Is it always this messy?”

“There was a tornado, Grandpa.”

He pulled her closer and she stumbled over a sodden photograph album. “Did any of these people vote for me?” he asked.

“I doubt it,” Finnegan said.

“You not helping him right,” Dr. Jill Biden growled and pushed Finnegan away.

“I’ve got you,” Dr. Jill Biden said, crushing Joe’s arthritic fingers, the swollen joints creaking. She pulled him toward the press corps.

“Walk like you’re the President,” Dr. Jill Biden hissed, trying to pull him out of his stiff-legged stagger.

“W-w-why…” Joe started to ask.

“Because you are the President.”

“I know that, dammit!’ Joe said.

“Don’t get upset,” Dr. Jill Biden said. She felt around in her coat pockets and popped a tasty Biden Treat into his gaping mouth.

“We’re going to need a minute,” Dr. Jill Biden told the press corps. They pointed their cameras at the ground and stopped their iPhones recording. They turned around and those with both hands free plugged their ears.

“They hate it when they have to do that,” Finnegan said, behind Joe and Dr. First Lady.

“As long as they do it, I don’t care!” Dr. Jill Biden snapped, loudly enough for a few of the reporters to flinch like whipped dogs.

“W-w-why…” Joe started again before Dr. Wife Biden popped another treat in his mouth.

“Tornado, Grandpa,” Finnegan said. She pointed at a field of rubble. “That used to be a candle factory.”

“I-I-If,” Joe said, his face bunched and red, “If they voted for Donald, then why did he d-d-do this to them?”

“Donald Trump doesn’t control the weather, dear,” Jillden M.D. whispered.

Joe’s protracted fart rumbled like distant thunder.

About The Author

SugarFree

SugarFree

Your Resident Narcissistic Misogynist Rape-Culture Apologist

227 Comments

  1. Tres Cool

    Is a Biden Treat like a Scooby Snack, only fortified with Geritol, Flomax, and dopamine ?

    • Not Adahn

      Something else too — notice the relationship between the snack administration and the jillpresentations.

      • juris imprudent

        “Why don’t you pass some time by playing solitaire?”

    • Rebel Scum

      Wherther’s.

      • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

        Succretts.

  2. juris imprudent

    …the reporters to flinch like whipped dogs.

    Stetler must’ve not been present, he’d be begging for more.

  3. CPRM

    Joe’s protracted fart rumbled like distant thunder.

    Simpsons CPRM did it.

    • Fourscore

      That’s a great closing. Perfect, SF, now I will hear those sounds when Joe walks away from the press.

  4. juris imprudent

    Sorry to go OT so soon, but I’m sitting an overview of a thing called TinyPulse. It seems pretty stupid – anyone have any experience with it?

    • slumbrew

      “TINYpulse is employee engagement software…”

      Hard pass.

      • juris imprudent

        I am getting dumber listening to this. But dropping out of the zoom is probably noticeable.

      • Bobarian LMD

        There’s a solution to every problem.

      • juris imprudent

        Merciful god, it was scheduled for an hour but is now over.

    • SDF-7

      My manager’s manager used it for some surveys from time to time a couple of years back. It seemed harmless enough, no further data.

  5. db

    “Jillden, M.D.”

    • Tonio

      Darn your nimble fingers.

  6. invisible finger

    “Joe’s protracted fart rumbled like distant thunder.”

    Another destructive storm brewing.

    • Bobarian LMD

      “It’s gonna be a wet one!”

  7. Not Adahn

    “Donald Trump doesn’t control the weather, dear,” Jillden M.D. whispered.

    You sure? I thought at least one of his kids, was… (((you know)))

  8. Ozymandias

    Poor Joe….but given how close this is to reality, it kinda does make me think that Joe having Herr Doktor Jill push him out in front of the public is exactly what that piece of shit deserves.
    He finally got to be President on his fourth try (with some fortification) and now the American public gets what it deserves by watching him shit himself in meetings with foreign powers, tell people that they need to get vaccinated in the event of a tornado, etc.
    Everybody gets what they deserve…except those of us who just want to be left alone.

    • Rebel Scum

      except those of us who just want to be left alone.

      Wanting to be left alone is white-supreme terrorism.

      • juris imprudent

        Infliction of violence on those we aren’t busy serving even.

    • ron73440

      Like someone here said in reply to “I feel sorry for him.”

      “I don’t, I feel sorry for us.”

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Like my new avatar, fellow kids? Stole it from a WSJ commenter.

      • kinnath

        Can’t read it.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Crap. “Libertarians: diligently plotting to take over the world and leave you alone.”

      • Trigger Hippie

        Diligently plotting to take over the world and leave you alone.

      • Trigger Hippie

        refresh, TH.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Dilute! Wet skin well! OK!

      • DEG

        🙂

  9. Tundra

    Poignant with a healthy dose of schadenfreude.

    FJB.

  10. Timeloose

    This Joemala made feel bad for the POS from Scranton. On second thought, I had to take a left exit off the interstate with this asshole’s name on it last week, so I over feeling bad for him again.

    He appears to be what they claimed Regan was during the last year or so of his presidency.

    https://vimeo.com/540800315

    • kinnath

      Ronnie was never as bad as Brandon is on a good day.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        “Princess David” in ’85 was not a high point.

      • Drake

        He wasn’t that bad until at least 2 years after he left the Presidency – and when it got to that point, he stopped appearing in public.

      • Ted S.

        I think his last appearance was at the ’92 convention.

  11. Not Adahn

    GHS training. For some reason they tell me I’m required to evacuate during a fire drill. And these stock images are decades out of date. 4″ wafers and class 10k cleanrooms at best.

    • Not Adahn

      And I’mma giggling at the fact that the global standards are defined in whole degrees Fahrenheit/fractional degrees Celsius. But go ahead and believe that the world is based on metric.

    • UnCivilServant

      Our fire evacuation training video is almost funny, though not intentionally.

    • db

      Our CEO issued a video presentation of the state of the company. Pretty well produced overall, but they used stock footage of a bunch of people in European-style work and safety gear, none of whom are actual employees in our European facilities, as backing when he was talking about manufacturing. It was sort of disconcerting. If you’re doing an internal presentation, use footage of actual employees. We actually know each other.

      • UnCivilServant

        “A factory is a factory, innit?”

        /Professional CEO

      • creech

        It hardly matters because “you didn’t build that.”

      • db

        hmmm, in many cases, I *have* actually built that.

    • Timeloose

      Did they tell you to avoid smoking in the clean room and to use the on site smoking lounge?

    • Timeloose

      Our training for the clean room protocol still has the guy eating a banana in his bunny suit….. It is not acceptable to eat in the clean room!!!

      The requirement to re-take this shit every year is infuriating. Same stuff for the last 20 years. Sexual harassment, unsafe work place, IP protection, and other yearly training is a waste of everyone’s time. Once you take it at orientation there should be no requirement to take it again unless the laws change.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Nuisance litigation / vexatious litigants for ya.

      • R C Dean

        For some reason, that reminded me of the time I had to go to the transplant department and tell the staff that under no circumstances were they to put their lunches in the refrigerator we use for organs.

      • Nephilium

        Was it after that kid from Colorado got a baked potato put in his chest instead of the heart transplant he needed?

      • slumbrew

        I LOL’d.

        Because that would only happen in Idaho, of course.

      • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

        Yeah, but he would be Orida in the end!

      • slumbrew

        Puns like that will make Swiss start to spudder.

      • Necron 99

        “Why does my urine smell like Manwich?”

      • Animal

        I’m reminded of a practical joke I once saw pulled involving a sample container, some apple juice, salt and a microwave.

    • Nephilium

      I always like the WFH safety/distraction training we used to need to do once a year.

      No. I do not have a radio or television in my work area. But I do have the internet, multiple monitors, and if worse comes to worse, my cell phone.

      • db

        My workshop doubles as my home office, so I’m surrounded by sharp and heavy things, things that can make extremely loud noises, potential of extreme temperatures, tripping hazards, sharp corners, head-knockers, cutting tools, rotating machinery, and electrical hazards.

  12. Tonio

    Jillden, M.D. — a new name, a new title. This portends something, but what? Stay tuned for next week’s taint-tingling episode.

    • Bobarian LMD

      Does a taint tingle after it has been repeatedly punched?

      • Tres Cool

        “Ill turn your taint into a t’isnt !”

    • Not Adahn

      Dr. Jill Biden
      Dr. First Lady
      Dr. Wife Biden
      Jillden M.D.

      It’s a progressiondegradation.

      • creech

        You retards, it is DOCTOR (all caps). Don’t forget it.

    • pistoffnick

      I like my taint withered, thank you very much.

      /misses those guys

  13. Penguin

    Dr. Jill Biden growled and pushed Finnegan away.

    I could see this happening.

    • Timeloose

      I like how she controlled him with pain by crushing his fingers.

      • Penguin

        Yeah, and then gave him a Bidey treat when he behaved.

      • db

        Riden Reats! Ranks, Roctor Rill!

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        Biden Bites is the street name for Ritalin.

        Ok, I made that up, but it could be true.

      • db

        I like it.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      “I’m smiling I’m smiling I’m smiling I’m happy I’m happy I’m happy….”

    • Tundra

      TFW you get the negative STD test.

  14. Swiss Servator

    “As long as they do it, I don’t care!” Dr. Jill Biden snapped, loudly enough for a few of the reporters to flinch like whipped dogs.

    All too real.

  15. ron73440

    That one got my wife asking “what’s so funny?”

    So I showed her, she said “Sounds right.”

  16. Fourscore

    Serious question

    Any known distilleries or breweries destroyed in the recent tornadoes?

    Asking for concerned Glibs

    • SugarFree

      Not that I’ve heard, but very little distilling happens on that end of the state.

      • Tres Cool

        Correction- very little LEGAL distilling happens in that end of the state.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Hope Dooley’s OK.

    • Nephilium

      Nothing hit my newsfeed regarding breweries, and it’s local-ish to the algorithm (which also seems to think I care about new breweries opening in California)..

  17. Tundra

    OT:

    Crime hits the tony suburbs.

    After two years of stupid BLM signs in the front yards of manicured estates, the rich people find out that criminals suck.

    • kinnath

      Can’t get that link to work

    • Tres Cool

      Your flag decal wont get you into heaven any more.

  18. Sean
    • Tundra

      Bravo!

      • Nephilium

        That’s so insensitive. You need to be aware of the Boss-Eyed.

      • Tres Cool

        I was expecting Wall-Eye from Hot Shots!

    • Gustave Lytton

      Too soon! Had regular eye appt yesterday to get a current scrip for new lens in my glasses. Eye doc progressively did more examination, sent me back to the initial exam room for another machine, and now have a peripheral vision test scheduled for next month. And additional scrip for reading glasses. Turns out looking at porn is making me go blind.

      • Sensei

        Kanji…

  19. Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

    and those with both hands free

    Giggle

    • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

      Giggle Giggity.

      FTFY.

  20. juris imprudent

    So this is two weeks in a row without any retch-inducing SF prose – he’s up to something, just softening us up, isn’t he?

    • slumbrew

      It’s been quiet.

      Too quiet…

  21. Ownbestenemy

    db – if you still around, I sent you a DM on the forum. I uh…aimed high for an idea we haven’t even gotten off the ground level yet.

      • db

        That better be Yes. I can’t watch right now because I’m in a meeting.

    • db

      OBE, I’ll check it out.

    • db

      I sent a reply; if you’re on the Zoom tonight maybe we can talk on that… Very interesting opportunity.

  22. Sean

    Occupy Cheesecake Factory.

    On one hand it’s kinda dumb and private property and what not.

    On the other hand, they are fighting against draconian covid decrees.

    I’m conflicted on this one.

    Maybe I should just hate everyone involved…

    • Rebel Scum

      just hate everyone involved

      Standard operating procedure.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Don’t hate the lettuce wraps!

    • Drake

      Almost 30 years ago the wife and I would occasionally go to one of the original Cheesecake Factory locations on the beach in Marina del Rey. Thought it was great.

      Last time we went to one in a mall in Jersey it just seemed like an expensive diner.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Something for everyone (so good for large and/or awkward groups). Also, a reliable source for salad in areas that don’t prioritize roughage.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        And I remember when they had ads in their menus. Get your dog off my lawn…

    • creech

      I noticed the rabbi’s comment that the protestors were comparing the Holocaust to not being able to eat in CCF. No, they were calling the cops “nazis” and the good rabbi might recall that the nazis didn’t start off putting Jews in death camps either. It is a long slippery slope and must be defended long before one hits bottom.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The copyright to the Holocaust is guarded jealously.

    • rhywun

      If CCF were smart, they wouldn’t be pushing these rules except for being forced to do by The State.

      Perfectly OK to support this protest IMHO.

      Otherwise it will never go away. You have to start somewhere. Etc. etc.

    • Rebel Scum

      That’s one saucy Aussie.

      • Penguin

        She has a better one (IMO), but it was OT –

        “Drink Eggnog, Fight Commies”

        And since I’m pimping female YouTubers’ merch, here’s Bridget Phetasy’s Vax Passport T-shirt once again. Love that one.

  23. Rebel Scum

    Let’s go, Brandon.

    Biden on 2022: “I want to tell my Republican friends, get ready bal, you’re in for a problem”

    • Ownbestenemy

      Love the first reply that he speaks like an iphone autocorrect.

    • slumbrew

      “we need to stay unified”

      Uniter in Chief.

      • Ownbestenemy

        At least now he is just specifically talking about his party and not the country. It is refreshing to hear the truth every now and then.

    • kinnath

      Max Headroom made more sense that Brandon.

  24. DEG

    He pulled her closer and she stumbled over a sodden photograph album. “Did any of these people vote for me?” he asked.

    “I doubt it,” Finnegan said.

    “You not helping him right,” Dr. Jill Biden growled and pushed Finnegan away.

    This made me laugh.

    “We’re going to need a minute,” Dr. Jill Biden told the press corps. They pointed their cameras at the ground and stopped their iPhones recording. They turned around and those with both hands free plugged their ears.

    “They hate it when they have to do that,” Finnegan said, behind Joe and Dr. First Lady.

    “As long as they do it, I don’t care!” Dr. Jill Biden snapped, loudly enough for a few of the reporters to flinch like whipped dogs.

    Beautiful.

    “I-I-If,” Joe said, his face bunched and red, “If they voted for Donald, then why did he d-d-do this to them?”

    “Donald Trump doesn’t control the weather, dear,” Jillden M.D. whispered.

    Jillden?

    And who does control the weather?

    I like the Biden Treats.

  25. TARDis

    Jillden sounds too sexy.

    • Sean

      Easy there, Hunter.

  26. Tundra

    Poor Fruit Sushi.

    He gets dunked on for pretty much every take now.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Does he mean immunized?

      I had hope for him for a short while. Oh well.

    • slumbrew

      I’ll defend Robby – there’s no inherent libertarian position w.r.t. the vaccines in and of themselves. “you’re going to wish you had gotten it” isn’t un-libertarian. “Everyone should be mandated to get vaccinated” would be, but that’s not what he wrote.

      • Ownbestenemy

        But he is insinuating that being unvaccinated is an absolute danger. At least how I read it.

      • slumbrew

        I read it more as “you’re going to regret it” vs. “it’s going to kill you” but it’s semantically ambiguous.

        Either way, there’s nothing un-libertarian about that statement.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ill allow it. Just cause you are you and I am me.

      • slumbrew

        If expressing “you people are fools if you don’t do X” is un-libertarian, I think I have to turn in my membership card. 🙂

      • Tundra

        I burned mine.

      • slumbrew

        Relevant 😀

      • Ownbestenemy

        I agree, that stance isn’t libertarian or democratic or anything. It is opinion but is using the weight of his chops to push it.

      • ron73440

        I won’t join any club that would have me as a member.

        If it was possible to die of embarrassment, me telling this to the VFW guy outside Tractor Supply would have killed her.

      • Tundra

        Oh, fuck yeah!

      • slumbrew

        It is opinion but is using the weight of his chops to push it.

        You saying Robby has chops might be the nicest thing ever written about him on this site.

      • DEG

        I agree with this take.

        I had Covid. I had bacterial pneumonia on top of Covid, which I hadn’t factored into my “Do I get the vaccine or not?” calculations. I think I still would have chosen to not get the vaccine as bacterial pneumonia can be treated.

        Interestingly…. I think I got Covid at FreedomFest where I met Robby and offered to teach him how to change a tire. Note: I did not intend that offer as an insult, and told him as much. I wanted to help him out since I liked some of the work he did, especially that on the UVA non-rape case.

      • invisible finger

        “bacterial pneumonia can be treated”

        Here’s a little secret: covid pneumonia can be treated too.

  27. Ownbestenemy

    FAA finally has stated they will request documentation for reasonable accommodation requests starting Jan 3rd. Dragging their feet? Or getting their ducks in order to do their firings….time will tell. At least my holiday season is secure.

    • UnCivilServant

      There’s rumors that Gov Kathy is going to change the current NY mandate from “vax or test” to “shot or sacked”

      I’m looking at my finances and trying to figure out where I can best find a new job when that comes down.

      • Ownbestenemy

        GlibIT Global

      • UnCivilServant

        Where do I send a resume?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Well, I did mention that I aim big. If you build it, they will come.

      • rhywun

        Bye-Bye Bill already has a jab-or-fired order in place for Dec. 27.

        Businesses were complaining about it in the paper today, his response was “Look at the website. The details are there.”

        Needless to say, I will not comply.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m debating whether I should go on a tirade at the agency on my way out.

        Or if there is any value in the high road in convincing people.

    • Tundra

      They are trying to run out the clock. I think this bodes well for you guys.

    • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

      “U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak said on Tuesday it will temporarily suspend a vaccine mandate for employees and now no longer expects to be forced to cut some service in January. In a memo seen by Reuters, Amtrak Chief Executive Bill Flynn said the railroad would allow employees who were not vaccinated to get tested.

      Currently, fewer than 500 active Amtrak employees are not in compliance. Last week, the railroad told Congress it anticipated “proactively needing to temporarily reduce some train frequencies across our network” because of the mandate.

      Flynn said 95.7% of Amtrak’s 17,000 employees are either fully vaccinated or have an accommodation — and including employees with one dose 97.3% of employees are in compliance.

      Amtrak cited a U.S. district court decision that halted the enforcement of President Joe Biden’s executive order mandating vaccines for federal contractors by January. “This caused the company to reevaluate our policy and to address the uncertainty about the federal requirements that apply to Amtrak,” the memo said.”

      https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-passenger-railroad-amtrak-suspends-vaccine-mandate-employees-2021-12-14/

      I am starting to think that the tide is turning. Far too many groups are moving away from Vax mandates.

      • Ownbestenemy

        They love to toss this into their compliance …”and including employees with one dose 97.3% of employees are in compliance.” So they are not in compliance…you lying fucks.

      • ron73440

        Aren’t they also counting if an exemption has been applied for, that person is “in compliance”?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yep.

      • rhywun

        It’s almost like the numbers are being pumped up for show.

        Nah.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Guess this, MF. (Yeah, that makes no sense either.)

    • UnCivilServant

      If it’s not a big deal Joe, stop trying to force people to take it.

    • Ownbestenemy

      No clue

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      This is part of why I dropped the traditional insurance (Obamacare plan).

      I expect that they are going to try to use the subsidies as a lever to force vaccinations. Get the clotshot or lose your subsidy. And given how expensive those plans are without the subsidies, that can easily be a $25k tax hit.

    • creech

      We aren’t far from seeing a complete change of attitude to “These so-called vaccines that Trump developed are worthless in protecting Americans from covid-19. Yet another fraud perpetrated on the American public by Trump. President Biden and Vice President Harris are working diligently to bring real vaccines to the American people by Oct. 2022.”

      • Sean

        They’d have to suicide Fauci first.

      • UnCivilServant

        Like it would be difficult with that odius little gnome.

      • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

        So, we should nuggie him to death?

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        Like it would be difficult with that odious little gnome.

        Really. There’s probably people out there that would turn his head into a fine pink mist from about 400 yards out in exchange for a bag of chips and a Pepsi.

      • Penguin

        No need. He’s what? 75? Time will do that soon enough. I just hope whenever it comes, it comes as a side effect of a COVID booster.

      • rhywun

        80. Spry fucker.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        I can’t understand why he’s still working. I punched out first chance I got at age 42.

      • hayeksplosives

        It’s about power with Fauci. He could have retired at 65 (or earlier) but he really is obsessed with power and controlling people and leaving a “legacy.”

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        I had COVID Fatigue in April 2020. I cracked early and ran away to SC in May 2020.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I wonder whether it’s waning immunity or the fact that they were developed with too much specificity and now the variants are getting around them. Keying in on the spike protein only seemed like a bad idea then and it seems like a bad idea now.

      • Tundra

        I am intrigued with how much Omicron mutated. There is some speculation that these little nasties have been circulating for a lot longer than two years.

        But yeah. Get ready for the deluge of super expensive therapeutics.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Theraflu, some select vitamins, liquids and some rest will probably be what 99% of the people need.

      • Tundra

        Sure, but Pfizer and Moderna are in the 1%.

      • Ozymandias

        It’s not speculation – unless the drift rate (i.e. gene mutations) is now “speculation” when it’s contra the narrative.

      • juris imprudent

        Science is never allowed to trump the narrative. EVER.

      • Sean

        Or the vaccines wrecked a lot of people’s immune systems.

      • Tundra

        Is it possible that the same shit that made people susceptible to the bug makes them susceptible to the bug-simulating

        I know the shots are nasty, but I still know more people personally who have OD’d than died of either the ‘vid or the shot.

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        It’s not going to be “President Biden and Vice President Harris are working diligently to bring real vaccines to the American people” it will be the repackaged Ivermectin treatments that we keep hearing about. COVID vaccines and all the strident pro-vaxxers will act like they never were.

      • DEG

        This.

      • R.J.

        I don’t know why that hasn’t been tried already, says double negative R.J. That would at least give them some kind of win.

    • rhywun

      Are they still pretending that it’s not mostly sick-already old people? Because the media seem to have quite carefully omitted that from all of their reporting over the last ten months or so.

  28. ron73440

    OT- just saw a YouTube commercial for Reno 911: The hunt for Quanon.

    It had a bunch of american flag wearing people on a cruise ship. None of the jokes were funny, but the best part?

    Patton’s Oswald is in it!

    Can’t wait to see it.

    Oh man, it’s on the Paramount streaming network, so I guess I’ll miss it.

    • Rebel Scum

      Qanon is so 2020.

    • slumbrew

      *sigh*

      I love the Reno 911 / State people. I’ll be sad if they went totally woke.

      • ron73440

        #metoo

        I skipped as soon as Patton’s fat face showed up, but the stuff before that didn’t look promising.

      • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

        Patton is in A/P Bio, and he is not bad.

        I don’t think it went wolk.

      • kinnath

        Oswalt was pretty good in the last season of Justified.

      • slumbrew

        I was just about to mention that. Playing something of a sad-sack is up his alley.

      • kinnath

        The scene where he kept insulting the crook that was beating him up was great.

      • ron73440

        Some of his stuff is funny, but I’ve heard to many of his opinions, so him in a Quanon show is 99% guaranteed to be retarded.

  29. Sensei

    Ex-McKinsey partner pleads guilty to insider trading in Goldman Sachs fintech deal

    I have worked with many ex-McKinsey people. Some are good friends and some were the perfect example of book smart only.

    He was accused of using information gained in his role advising Goldman on the deal to place out-of-the money call option bets two days before the acquisition was announced, netting more than $450,000 in gains.

    The various exchanges and the SEC monitor this stuff closely. And writing calls two days before an acquisition is definitely going to be reviewed.

    • Sensei

      I’m 50/50 on Bowie. Half his stuff I really like and the other half I essentially have no interest listening to.

      That doesn’t take away from his influence or talent and I’ve got like 8 or so of his albums.

      • Tundra

        People who take risks often miss the mark.

        GBV puts out an album a week. Some is brilliant, some I will never listen to again.

        Still, you can build some amazing playlists!

      • Tundra

        That and Ziggy are amazing albums.

      • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

        This is my take also. But, my wife is a HUGE fan, so I have heard most of his work over the years.

      • Gustave Lytton

        His live show was the best I’ve ever been to, but my concert going is limited.

      • Penguin

        Wow. Cocaine is a helluva drug. Good song and all, but they were playing it at about 125% normal speed.

  30. Rebel Scum

    No, no, no. It is Drumpfler that is fascist.

    David Brody: Is there a word that describes what American society is today under this Biden regime? How do you see society today under his administration?

    Rudy Giuliani: I really hesitate to say this. I hate to say it. I don’t want to say it. And it will make me feel very bad saying it but we’re a fascist country at this point. The administration is using and has been for some time fascist tactics.

    • ron73440

      Why hesitate to speak an obvious truth?

      I understand hating to say it.

      I hate to say, but this is textbook facism.

      • Gender Traitor

        Whereas a prog’s definition of fascism is the same as a child’s definition of “not fair,” i.e. “anything I don’t like.”

      • rhywun

        Not to say we haven’t been under fascism-lite for decades, but what Biden is doing and proposing is the real deal.

      • Penguin

        ron, GT and rhywun are right: It’s not only the combining of the state with favored businesses, the really worrisome part is that the government is getting “private” businesses to perform quasi-governmental tasks. The government is blocked by laws from doing something? No problem. They simply get the vast majority of businesses to kowtow to their preferences, enforcing vaccine mandates, forcing credit/debit card issuers to withhold payments for those who espouse wrong think, etc., etc. Then, the left squeals that “they’re private businesses! They can do what they want!” conveniently ignoring the permeation of government throughout the entire apparatus.

  31. Not Adahn

    I spent a few years working for this guy:

    https://www.angelsword.com/about/the-artisans/

    He dead now.

    He was a huckster, a showman, a self-promoter, a scam artist, and legitimately talented. He was a cult leader in the Tiger King sense, preying on the outcast to get them to work for him for slave “wages” and making them dependent on him via company store tactics.

    He was not a good man. He owes me $5000. I will miss him. I met my dearest and truest friends in his orbit. It is remarkable how such an asshole could draw such good people to him.

    • The Other Kevin

      Two jobs ago, I met some of my dearest and longest-lasting friends. It was a small company, the owner was shady and a swindler and was cheating on his wife with the secretary. There was a question of missing 401(k) money. But the people I worked with were top-notch, very smart and just great individuals. I often thought of what amazing things we could have done if we had good leadership. Sometimes adversity will create great friendships.

      • Not Adahn

        I think that the trick in this case is he drew the notice of people who wanted to believe and had.. faith? risk tolerance? to take a chance. Some of the people never figured out what he was and ended badly. Others bailed out right away. And some of us were self-sufficient enough to not rely on him but stuck around because of the company of our fellow seekers.

        I probably should have specified, he died last night — one of the friends I made back in 2003 who lives on social media reached out to me.

    • EvilSheldon

      The knife community is full of that kind of stuff, sadly.

      The late, lamented Dr. William Aprill once told me, “Knife people are pretty much the ‘gun people’ of gun people.”

      • Not Adahn

        Lol yes they are. There’s a guy, William… something that keeps popping up under different names/DBAs. Absolute fraud. But charismatic. Not as skilled as Dan.

      • db

        The levels of shadiness in the NFA collecting/dealing community in the 1980s/1990s is legendary. Selling products that didn’t exist, taking customer’s money up front and then never delivering, screwing business partners, etc., seemed to be the order of the day in the past. It probably still goes on today, but the sheer size of the firearms business serves to cover the really shady back corners.

    • R C Dean

      He owes me $5000.

      You might have more luck getting that from his estate, if you’ve got paper to back it up.

      • Not Adahn

        I don’t know if my documents are sufficient. I honestly don’t know what is estate is going to be worth. I think he divorced his fourth wife a few years ago. He’s got a few kids, some estranged. I can’t imagine that his sales have been good since covid.

      • R C Dean

        Debts get paid before heirs. You might think about pulling together what paper you have, finding out who his executor is, and sending it in.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        And if his estate’s got any assets.

      • Not Adahn

        It’s got non-liquid assets. Inventory, machinery, a decent house on unproductive acreage that hasn’t yet been expanded out to to be worth anything (Driftwood TX).

        Now, how many loans he’s taken out against those…

  32. hayeksplosives

    Mark Steyn mentions this short story written in 1909 called “The Machine Stops” in which people live in their own little underground hexagonal room with a chair and a small table, and their ever need is taken care of by The Machine. They communicate with other humans through “instant messaging” and have access to all info they need through the Machine.

    They are only allowed to leave briefly if they apply for a pass and get issued a respirator so they can breathe above ground.

    Rather a forward thinking story in some ways, and not a happy one. A little close to Lockdowns for comfort.

    Here’s the wiki if you just want to read the plot summary instead of the whole thing.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops

    And Steyn’s article: https://www.steynonline.com/10285/respirators-and-egression-permits