314 Comments

  1. Ownbestenemy

    What is the positives that came out of yesterday’s Twitter freakout? Outright claims it is their job to control what people think.

    • R C Dean

      Some of those ice queen types, I have the impression they could be a wild ride once you popped their cork.

      Mika is not one of those.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I picture her smoking a cigarette, drinking a martini, and rolling her eyes in boredom mid coitus. A turn on for some guys to be sure but not my cup of tea.

      • Drake

        She seems to have Joe on a short leash.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        Probably somewhere around 4, mebbe 5 inches?

      • Ownbestenemy

        I will have to admit…uh… that’s from 2017 so not exactly a new mask coming off.

      • Zwak,The Baddest Johnny on the Apple Cart

        Wood. Extreme prejudice.

    • TARDis

      All 28 CNN viewers nod in agreement.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I was going to correct you…but it works. I will allow it.

    • Tonio

      OMG, she actually did say that. I guess they’ve stopped trying to hide it.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        They’re so far gone that they are believing their own bullshit now.

      • Count Potato

        Now?

    • Mustang

      That video is five years old.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I owned up to it above after I caught it. Geesh dad.

      • Mustang

        What, now I’m supposed to read replies in addition to the links?! What is this, work?!

      • Tonio

        Guy thinks he’s our supervisor, or somethin…

      • Ownbestenemy

        Damn straight I do!

  2. Yusef rides a Bike

    Unintentional conflict is unintentional,
    Idiots!

  3. TARDis

    Now I have the urge to play Fallout 4 again.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Im on a heavily modded run right now.

      • TARDis

        The additional radio stations and music mods are excellent.

        I’ll wait for when I can get another VR setup though.

    • SDF-7

      4? I always think of 3 with that one.

      • TARDis

        Does that even run anymore? I thought NV was as far back as you could go.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I can run 3, but you have to get some mods like the 4gb deal and such I think.

    • Sean

      I think Piper & I will cause some trouble in Far Harbor tonight.

      • Ownbestenemy

        That is some kink you got there.

  4. R C Dean

    Riven, I think this is a new record – you had two links today that my work firewall didn’t reject.

  5. UnCivilServant

    “Just like your cable bill went up.”

    The best approach would be to leave both existing services as is, and then offer an umbrella service with content from both with a price tag less than having a subscription to both (but higher than either).

  6. juris imprudent

    Hey, the younger generation isn’t a complete wasteland.

    Student journalists from the Chicago Thinker respectfully listened, asked honest questions, and reported. Our efforts soon went viral, garnering millions of views on social media. We successfully turned the IOP’s “Disinformation Conference” on its head and sparked a national conversation about the corporate media’s disinformation.

    If this week has taught us anything, it’s that the regime media is incredibly fragile. If a couple hard-hitting questions from college students can rattle the elites to such a degree, just think what would happen if our peers at other universities follow our lead.

    Here’s how we smoked some of America’s most corrupt, partisan liars.

    • Ownbestenemy

      The younger generation, given my teens, views the world’s systems (even the libertarian ideology) as broken and corrupt.

      • Tonio

        Interesting. Are they able to articulate why? Do they have a plan?

      • Ownbestenemy

        No and its sorta scary and reminds of youth in say, the Middle East. Know their government is corrupt, know that any other political persuasion just wants them for votes and their religion has left them a long time ago. I dunno, I guess sounds like a normal teenager now that I think of it.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It really makes me question whether humans can survive without religion and whether my agnosticism is bad for society.

        The current level of nihilism is alarming.

      • Count Potato

        Well, they did before religion.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Okay, let’s say belief instead of religion.

      • Count Potato

        Yes, they have to believe in something.

      • Tonio

        Truly.

      • Ownbestenemy

        They are teens..they believe in like…three things maybe.

      • DEG

        .they believe in like…three things maybe.

        Sex, sex, and more sex?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Sex, Drugs and Rock-n-Roll of course. Times haven’t changed, just the last genre has.

      • pistoffnick

        Yes, they have to believe in something.

        I believe I’ll mix another drink!

    • hayeksplosives

      The fact that the University of Chicago and the Hoover Institute (Stanford) still teach real history and economics and critical thinking preserves a bit of my hope for the future.

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        I don’t know. Chicago is a bunch of Maroons.

    • Ted S.

      From Pope Jimbo’s favorite senatrix:

      On Friday, Managing Editor (and co-author of this piece) Evita Duffy then pressed Sen. Amy Klobuchar on whether her “Health Misinformation” bill will ban saying “there are only two sexes.” The bill in question will punish platforms that use algorithms to promote “health misinformation.” Klobuchar responded by refusing to address the question. “I’m not going to get into what misinformation [should be censored],” Klobuchar said.

      So she thinks calling it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill is morally wrong?

      • hayeksplosives

        I had to create a profile on my new medical care provider’s website (could have done it on paper but this was easier) and of course one of the basic questions, right up there with age, race, height, and weight, is sex. The form said “Biological sex” and the drop down menu had two options: M and F.

        Scientific truth is harsh, yo.

        Also, when I have to fill out any security paperwork for upper clearance or TSA-Pre or getting into a base, they always ask for “biological sex” in those words. Also 2 choices: M or F.

        So the wokesters can pose all they like, but the harsh light of reality will still shine through.

      • TARDis

        1. Were you born with an innie or an outey?
        2. Do you still have it?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yep. In my class the instructor was groveling and apologizing that “Hispanic or Latino” has to mark W for White

      • hayeksplosives

        I am still trying to understand the difference between “race” and “ethnicity”. The only valid reason to track race, from my perspective, is medical trends where one’s race changes the odds of having a medical condition.

      • Pope Jimbo

        My company does testing for high school kids. I learned long ago that: a) You always need two dropdowns, one for ethnicity and one for race and b) know one can explain the difference.

        “Because the Feds require it” is about as logical an answer as you will ever get.

      • Tonio

        Ethnicity is culture; race is genetic.

      • TARDis

        I had this discussion with the nice BIPOC census lady back in 2010 when she knocked on my door.

      • R.J.

        Ethnicity: HILLBILLY
        Race: OVAL TRACK
        *Sound of census takers quickly leaving R.J.’s house.

      • robc

        Sex is genetic, race isnt.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Elderly women sitting in Senate committee meetings throwing salad combs is no basis for a system of medical disinformation prevention.

        My favorite Special K bill was the one that banned lead in children’s toys and it ended up outlawing things like minibikes (because of the lead in their batteries).

      • Tonio

        “Congress shall make no law…”

      • hayeksplosives

        My brother maintains that those are the only words the constitution should have contained.

  7. The Late P Brooks

    Mika? Control what I think?

    She really really sucks at her job, if that’s supposed to be the case.

  8. Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

    “I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire, Just Your Loins” — The Inkspots, in my preferred universe

    • SDF-7

      That’s what “I just want to staaaart… a flame in your heart” really meas, after all — they’re just being polite about it. 😉

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        Yeah, that was my Mom’s preferred way of seeing sex in cinema: two people talking longingly about each other, violins swelling, and then the camera pans away to show an image of a gossamer curtain on an open window, fluttering gently (or perhaps madly, oh my!) in the breeze.

      • hayeksplosives

        My favorite heavy-handed sex metaphor was in a silent movie era Greta Garbo flick in which she was figeting with a ring on her finger. The man cautions her that her ring is loose. Greta replies “People say I am like the ring; apt to fall.”

        Then a few minutes later he embraces her and kisses her passionately, the camera pans down her arm and zooms to her hand, where we watch the ring slip off her finger onto the ground.

        Not subtle at all, but a charming look back on what filmmaking was back then.

      • Ted S.

        Not the hallway of doors opening in Alfred Hitchock’s Spellbound?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Heh, I was thinking of the train in tunnel in Northwest.

      • Zwak,The Baddest Johnny on the Apple Cart

        My favorite from a book was a Raymond Chandlerism “I was erotic as a stallion. ” and you know exactly what it means.

      • Galt1138

        All of these are good examples of ways to handle sex in movies. While not being a prude, I agree with David Mamet that sex scenes almost never advance the narrative, instead stopping the story dead in its tracks so we can watch beautiful people pretend to have sex, while clearly not having real sex.

        For those non-porn films that did “go all the way”, invariably this was done to bring attention to the film, not for any thought out, dramatic reason.

      • Tonio

        There is an 18th Cent English novel where some lass comes home without her cleavage hankie and everyone knows she’s a slut.

      • R.J.

        I love those. I have a couple on the bookshelf.

      • hayeksplosives

        You have a couple of cleavage hankies on your bookshelf? Or sluts? Or romance novels?

        Do tell!

      • R.J.

        Dirty Victorian romance novels!

      • Zwak,The Baddest Johnny on the Apple Cart

        I know Grove Press reprinted a bunch of them back in the day. I always love anonymous “romance” novels.

    • hayeksplosives

      Elon didn’t take it over but he sure forced them to expose exactly what they are about, and it ain’t free speech.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Been alotta “I believe in free speech but….” today. No you don’t. I do. I either mock or ignore speech that is idiotic and counter with better speech with ideas that don’t align with mine. It is hard though for them because they have had free reign on what is considered “safe speech” for too long.

      • Tonio

        Yeah, it’s fun watching them contort themselves. But since they’ve already declared that “hate speech is not free speech” they are soon going to abandon the pretext of supporting free speech. They need to keep that up through November, though.

    • db

      Despite his fortune, Musk has much of his assets tied up in equity in his companies including Tesla,

      well, duh. What do people think, he has a Scrooge MacDuck swimming pool full of hard cash?

      • Ownbestenemy

        No he has a moon base filled with diamonds duh.

  9. The Late P Brooks

    The younger generation, given my teens, views the world’s systems (even the libertarian ideology) as broken and corrupt.

    The central tenet of Buddhism is, in fact, “Every man for himself.”

    • slumbrew

      The London Underground is a political movement.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Aristotle was Belgian.

      • C. Anacreon

        Greek nose, Roman hands

  10. R.J.

    “I didn’t mean to set your haaaair on fiiiire!
    I was trying to liiiight my cigaaaaaar!”

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Deconstructionist asshats like that have ruined literature and society writ large. They don’t even bother to read the works before passing judgement and emoting their responses.

    • The Other Kevin

      Couldn’t agree more.
      * removes book reading and writing from curriculum *
      * fires all English teachers *

      • Fourscore

        Teacher’s assistants celebrate, celebrate, dance to the no reading/writing/grading music

    • Ownbestenemy

      We are going to see a collision of Idiocracy and The Book of Eli aren’t we?

      • Mustang

        So, Planet of the Apes?

      • Ownbestenemy

        This is funny because I bet if we ran a series on here on name two movies and name the movie it mashes into, we could do it with ease.

      • robc

        Star Wars and Jaws.

        And go…

      • Ownbestenemy

        Alien

      • robc

        We’re gonna need a bigger ship.

      • Ownbestenemy

        But Aunt Beru! All my friends get to serve on Nostromo!

      • db

        Real Genius and Dr. Strangelove

      • Ownbestenemy

        That one is too easy…War Games

      • The Hyperbole

        The Wild Bunch and Meatballs

      • Ownbestenemy

        Debbie Does Dallas

      • Yusef rides a Bike

        We already are it seems

      • hayeksplosives

        Book of Eli is one of my all-time faves. I bought it on DVD assuming it would be banned in time.

      • Ownbestenemy

        My wife never saw it until a year or so ago. She was like “is he that? Is he this? What is he!!!!!”

    • Count Potato

      Then what are they suppose to teach in English class?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Spanish

      • Count Potato

        The way things are going, Chinese might be more practical.

      • The Other Kevin

        The first thing I thought of when I read it, was that someone’s trying to get out of doing their job.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Identity

        They’ve just taken the next logical step of deconstruction and moved past the elevation of the critic over the creator. Now the creator doesn’t matter at all and the creation is irrelevant to the critic’s reaction. Why bother reading it when your response is predetermined?

      • hayeksplosives

        I think it’s a bit more basic than that.

        People want to claim expertise and achievement, but if they find that they just aren’t smart enough to do the math or the English or craftsmanship, they just deride those things as racist/obsolete/oppressive.

        Then they can claim to be our betters without needing to do a geometric proof or construct a proper essay. Problem solved!!

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        That provides the excuse for the incapable.

        But the capable buy into this bullshit too. Stanley Fish, noted English literature professor and deconstructionist: “I no longer have to be correct. I just have to be interesting.”

    • Tonio

      Essays require one to think, at least a bit. Can’t have that; just wheel in the TV and let Mika ‘splain it all to them. And we particularly can’t make the teachers hurt their feelings by telling them their essays are just regurgitated pap consisting of nothing but feels and bad punctuation.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Teachers don’t help either. I have had 4 or so essays that my kids were to “write what you think” only to get downgraded cause it wasn’t the preferred explination of the book. Hence the above comment that the teens think its all bullshit.

      • Tonio

        Learning that many adults, particularly teachers in government schools, are full of shit is the most valuable lesson the schools can teach.

      • hayeksplosives

        The best thing that Covid hysteria gave us is that parents (well, some of them) were made aware of exactly what their kids are being taught and not taught.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Korean Teachers Announce Book Reading Is Still Important And There Will Be a Test So You Kids Better Not Get Soft Like The English Dullards.

      Fucking English. They don’t even speak it right and now they want to give up on reading too?

      • Fourscore

        “Why is History important, Mr Jimbo”

  11. The Late P Brooks

    Loophole!

    A U.S. ban on seafood imports from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine was supposed to sap billions of dollars from Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

    But shortcomings in import regulations mean that Russian-caught pollock, salmon and crab are likely to enter the U.S. anyway, by way of the country vital to seafood supply chains across the world: China.

    Like the U.S. seafood industry, Russian companies rely heavily on China to process their catch. Once there, the seafood can be re-exported to the U.S. as a “product of China” because country of origin labelling isn’t required.

    The result is that nearly a third of the wild-caught fish imported from China is estimated to have been caught in Russian waters, according to an International Trade Commission study of 2019 data. For pollock and sockeye salmon, the rate is even higher — 50% to 75%.

    “China doesn’t catch cod. They don’t catch pollock. But yet, they’re one of the largest exporters of these whitefish in the world,” said Sally Yozell, a former policy director at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who now is a senior fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington. “Having it labeled as a Chinese product is really not fair to the consumers and to restaurants.”

    Obviously, we need to seize and impound the Russian fishing fleet.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      It’s all a red herring.

      • Ownbestenemy
      • db

        That is the correct clip

      • Ownbestenemy

        Are you sure it wasn’t this one? Love the three endings.

      • db

        Of course I prefer the line as spoken by Tim Curry.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Sure we were all watching Tim Curry and not Colleen Camp

        That was some grade spank bank in my youts

      • db

        Oh hells yes

    • Count Potato

      “Russian-caught pollock”

      Shouldn’t he be allowed to return to Poland?

      • db

        Don’t let him go too far; he’ll just spill paint everywhere.

    • rhywun

      Because China is the preferred country which has been committing atrocities on their own population for decades from which to import our fish.

  12. DEG

    Good song.

    NH Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut has an op-ed. Side note: He homeschooled all of his kids and I’ve heard he’s a libertarian or libertarian leaning.

    Educators and the public education system are custodians of a sacred trust.

    When children come to school, they arrive reflecting the value systems of the families responsible for raising them. Those value systems are as different as the children themselves.

    Recent revelations from educators around the country, mostly on social media platforms like TikTok, reveal a number of educators who believe that it is their responsibility to weigh in on and influence the value systems of the children toward a particular goal. This impulse to influence a child’s value system is not limited to educators. As was recently revealed, Disney also wants to weigh in.

    It is not good enough to simply allow parents and caregivers the responsibility to instill a value system they believe is right for the child. Whether it is a rogue educator or a corporation trying to impose a value system on impressionable youngsters, that is not their job. That is the job of parents and caregivers.

    Fortunately, parents can choose to turn off Disney. They can’t, however, easily escape the efforts of activist educators who might be knowingly dismantling the foundations of a value system they are attempting to build.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Whether it is a rogue educator or a corporation trying to impose a value system on impressionable youngsters, that is not their job.

      I get that he can’t say this out loud, but it’s not rogue educators. This is one of the primary purposes of compulsory elementary education. We can’t have those icky [insert lower class epithet here] raising their own urchins and dumping them out in society. We need to assert the rights of the community by steering the kids away from their backwards upbringing!

  13. The Late P Brooks

    Every year, giant, floating factories in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska catch 1.5 million metric tons of the fish, the equivalent of more than four times the weight of the Empire State Building.

    That’s like as much as twenty billion tubes of toothpaste. Enough to go from here to Mars and back!

    • The Other Kevin

      Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

    • one true athena

      wow, how many halves of a giraffe is that?

      • hayeksplosives

        I LOL’d

        Stealing that one.

      • one true athena

        For anyone who forgot proper scientific terms of measurement:
        Half a giraffe

  14. The Late P Brooks

    “I’m not going to get into what misinformation [should be censored],” Klobuchar said.

    It’s not like they are going to muzzle Foochy or the rest of the public health quack army.

  15. Hyperion

    “And sure, while much of the disappointment can also be attributed to an unchecked pre-release hype train and the harsh realities of making games, it’s hard to ignore all the times No Man’s Sky’s scope was exaggerated.”

    They’ve only improving the game and creating additional content for 5 year, totally for free. Does that count?

    • Grumbletarian

      Depends. Does that have anything to do with how badly it didn’t match the hype when it first came out?

  16. Drake

    Fox is reporting that the Biden Admin is going to restart oil leasing on public land.

    Somebody saw the mid&term poll numbers and blinked.

    • Hyperion

      And if people are dumb enough to vote them back in, they’ll reverse that first day after the election and double down on their war on energy.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Problem is that their rapidly shifting positions create an uncertain environment for potential investors. Why borrow money to develop when it can all be pulled out from under you based on the current political winds?

      • Ownbestenemy

        This might be enough though but the markets will have to see movement such as the coming barrage of positive news stories of new leases granted and gas pump prices going down. I give the timeframe has to be before Memorial Day. Seems they timed it perfectly for that.

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        True, but that’s behind the scenes stuff that will allow Biden to point the finger at those evil oil companies.

    • DOOMco

      It takes months for that to even start to matter to anyone just looking at pump prices. And I don’t think anyone in the industry will be bought over that.

  17. Hyperion

    Well, school is out, work is over, gotz me a hipster juice right here for swilling. So whatzup, wokesters, swillers of hipster juice, and stoics? Wait is that just old school stoic, or are y’all neo-stoics? Maybe post-stoics? Post-civilaztion stoics?

    • Mustang

      You’ve probably explained this but what the hell is hipster juice? IPA? Hard seltzer? Late night coffee? Distilled beard oil?

      • Hyperion

        “Hard seltzer” or IPA, especially the ones with the hipster like labels.

        But I’m referring to hard seltzer.

      • Hyperion

        I have a 12 of the Truly Margarita ones. Those are good, especially the Cucumber Watermelon and the Mango Chili. I mean, those names just scream HIPSTER JUICE!

      • Mustang

        Yeah, definitely hipster juice. I’ve been enjoying hard ciders lately. The drier the better.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Mmm, zoider. ??

      • Hyperion

        Only one of those I like is the JK’s Scrumpy.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Have you had those French or even Belgian ciders in the large bottles? Très sec.

      • Hyperion

        No, not yet anyway.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        Normandy cider (moisseux) effin’ ROOLZ!

  18. The Late P Brooks

    At a congressional hearing this month on the Russian seafood ban, Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, led calls for the expansion of NOAA’s Seafood Import Monitoring Program, which aims to prevent illegal seafood from entering U.S. supply chains by tracking shipments from the point of catch. Currently the program covers just 13 species, only two of which — red king crab and Atlantic cod — are fished by Russia.

    “Until that happens, Russian seafood will continue to line grocery store shelves and American consumers will continue to unwittingly support Putin’s war machine,” Huffman said.

    Peter Quinter, a former U.S. Customs Service attorney, said that the Biden administration can easily close the China loophole by requiring importers to inspect their supply chains to make sure none of their fish comes from Russia.

    “No, Ivan. The other rubber stamp.”

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I suddenly want some cod.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Thats Mojeaux arena, she also provides the cuntes

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        That too…

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        Word up.

    • Tonio

      Edina: Just stamp “Greenpeace Approved” on it.

      And who knew NOAA did that? They seem to have a rather large and ill-defined portfolio. I have long suspected that they are part of our clandestine military/intel apparatus, operating in plain sight.

    • Hyperion

      Fuck them, I bought 2 bottles of Beluga vodka on the first day they started that bullshit about banning Russian vodka. Look, Igor like vodka, dog like vodka, Anastassia like vodka, what not to like?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ive grown happy with Idaho Vodka. Free Market for the win and all.

      • Hyperion

        I’m guessing that is the tater vodka? Titors is really good for domestic. Beluga is great, but you know, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA! Fuck war mongering democrats and neocons, every last none of them.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Oh I buy whatever vodka I please. Just the tater one sits easier on the wife.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Is potato good? I like corn, whereas grain can give me headaches.

      • Ownbestenemy

        We get either North 44 or Blue Ice. Wife prefers the huckleberry one.

      • Hyperion

        My son likes it. I’ve never had it. I don’t know about tuber like things to make liquor though? Have you ever had Mescal? I had it in Mexico a long time ago, that stuff tastes weird, I mean like alcohol make from … roots. It really fucked me up too.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Does all mescal have the worm still inside, or just some?

        I don’t even like tequila. Tastes like succulents.

      • TARDis

        Which corn? I like Tito’s for cheap tater vodka and Wheatley for grain.

      • Hyperion

        The one I had did not have a worm in it. Only Americans are dumb enough to think it’s a good idea to put a worm in something you are drinking, blech!

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Any Texan corn vodka I find reliable: Tito, Deep Eddy, Round Rock.

      • hayeksplosives

        I buy Tito’s for drinking straight (stored in the freezer of course) and cheap Karkov for mixed drinks.

      • grrizzly

        I buy Tito’s for drinking straight

        I’m clearly not the most Russian person here.

      • Hyperion

        Beluga is one of he few I can drink straight, but Tito’s is the best bang for the buck.

      • Count Potato

        Zytnia is the best I’ve had for drinking straight. It’s Polish rye vodka. They also make Polish [redacted] vodka under a different name.

      • R.J.

        Agreed. Also my vodka of choice is Monopolova. Which I am going to have shortly.
        You may now commence with ridiculing my taste.

      • Hyperion

        I won’t make fun of you. My son was drinking Svedka, lol. And I didn’t make fun of him. Well I did, but I was nice about it and bought him a case of Tito’s.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        A case!

      • Hyperion

        It wasn’t that much, I think it is $17 a bottle.

      • TARDis

        I used to drink Svedka a lot when we has money problems and couldn’t afford Absolut.

      • Hyperion

        Svedka tastes like finger nail polish remover must taste.

      • TARDis

        The Svedka aftertaste is worse.

      • Tonio

        Luksusowa is good, reasonably priced potato vodka from Poland.

  19. Tonio

    As is our custom there will be a GlibZoom tonight starting at 8:00 PM Eastern. I know many of us are sad, but this is an opportunity to come together in fellowship, snark, and “STFU Sloper.” Neph is on detached duty so I will host.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Neph is….well I don’t know where Neph is. I need to reach out to him. My Saturday plan of having him over has been upended by my contractor headache. Seriously, he is one text/call away from saying “My dog ate my homework”.

      • db

        Neph is scary looking enough you should send him over to enforce the contract.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Neph is more of a big teddy bear in life..just sayin

      • db

        Yeah but your contractor doesn’t know that.

      • Tonio

        He’s on detached duty so I don’t know how much of his punk wardrobe he packed.

      • Zwak,The Baddest Johnny on the Apple Cart

        I think he is at a punk festival. Well, what passes as punk these days.

        And, yes, I do have an onion on my belt. As is the custom.

      • Ownbestenemy

        That right there would get ya slapped.

      • DEG

        I have contact information for Neph. I can send him a message if you don’t have contact information for him.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I have it. Just been busy today. Thanks DEG!

      • DEG

        You’re welcome!

    • Count Potato

      It hit me a lot harder than I would have guessed.

    • db

      You said “duty.” heh-heh. heh-heh.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    Then what are they suppose to teach in English class?

    Obedience.

    • Hyperion

      “Then what are they suppose to teach in English class?”

      Mexican Ebonics Marxist?

  21. Hyperion

    Instead of Twatter, I say Elon should buy The Atlantic, The Guardian and turn both their headquarers into bombed out rubble.

    • Ownbestenemy

      He should buy Greenland and create our Libertopia..but nooooooo

      • Hyperion

        It’s sort of cold there. But I guess we’ll be good since Elon knows all this rocket surgery stuff and first priority will be to build nuclear warhead tipped missles pointed directly at Shanghai and DC, just in case they get any ideas about the legitimacy of our sovereignty and fucking with us, which would take maybe 5 minutes.

      • Drake

        He needs to buy an island on the equator to build a space elevator.

    • The Other Kevin

      Can’t wait for that “Hunter Biden’s business dealings are just not interesting” woman to go ape shit over this.

    • Hyperion

      Does she also demand some free land with a permit and free money to build a casino?

    • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

      It’s certainly possible that there’s something dirty about that, but at least some peace deals came out of it. Not like Hunter in Ukraine.

  22. Count Potato

    “EXCLUSIVE: Hating on Hillary! Joe Biden sent family scathing articles about Clinton’s declining popularity with black voters, impending investigation over her private email server and top aide’s private deals with the UAE, Hunter’s emails reveal”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10712611/Hunter-emails-reveal-Joe-Biden-hating-Hillary-Clinton.html

    I can understand a crackhead not deleting or encrypting things, but you would think people would have had better sense not to send them to him in the first place.

    • Hyperion

      The thing that stands out most for me about this, which I think most people have not even noticed, is that Brandon has already shown that he is more than willing to throw his own son right under a fleet of buses, for something that you know he was behind. These rat fucking bastards are the scum of the earth.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        The wrong son died.

        I wonder if Hunter’s eccentricity is due to TBI from the car accident.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The whole family is fucked up.

        Joe must have been a real SOB, and probably his parents as well.

      • Hyperion

        Yeah, I don’t know. I’m not blaming Hunter for anything. I don’t know him and he’s not in public office. However, Joe is a rat fucking bastard scum who I wouln’t piss on to put him out if he was on fire.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Not exactly awkward teenaged Chelsea either.

      • TARDis

        He’s doing his daddy proud, so fuck him too. 99.9% of the world’s people would be in jail for the shit he’s done.

      • Hyperion

        True, but I still do not blame him. I blame his dad, who should be exiled to fucking Pluto, or better yet, the sun.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        In a more modest life, he would merely be stealing catalytic converters.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        And yes, I remember the laptop story from before the election.

        Remind me not to poll anyone who voted for Carter twice and still votes D. Forget it, Jake….

      • R.J.

        That’s how I feel too. How fucked up must it be to have Joe for a dad? He was literally raised from birth as the lesser brother, probably treated like shot and told to handle all the family’s dirty business. I really feel like Hunter knew what he was doing when he abandoned that laptop. It was his attempt to make it all stop.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        @RJ: indirectly in the extreme / subconscious, perhaps.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        We are responsible for ourselves, regardless of our parenting.

      • Penguin

        How fucked up must it be to have Joe for a dad? He was literally raised from birth as the lesser brother?

        Imagine The Godfather, only Fredo takes over.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      @Scruffy: Are we, though? What if a person has few or no good examples and never learns any better?

      I find it much better to observe a functioning system than to try to mimic a description of one.

  23. The Hyperbole

    Last call for DQR entries. Going live with the weekly report in 40min.

    • The Hyperbole

      DAILY QUORDLE ROUNDUP™©®
      #81
      Men’s Division
      Champ(s)
      l0b0t 17

      Bobarian LMD 18
      Not Adahn 20
      The Hyperbole 21
      TARDis 21
      Ted S. 22
      grrizzly 22
      Grummun 22
      MikeS 22
      Raven Nation 22
      Grumbletarian 24
      rhywun 24
      Ghostpatzer 25
      kinnath 26
      Rat on a train 26
      Scruffy Nerfherder 26
      Tundra 28
      SDF-7 28
      Sean 28
      Dr, Fronkensteen 28

      Chump(s)
      JG43 118
      trshmnstr the terrible 122

      Women’s Division
      Champ(s)
      No entries

      We had 34 different players this week (33 if you don’t count Sean’s turn as a woman a separate player) , 14 submitted results every day, among these Ted S. had the best average (20.714) and He, Tundra, and Grrizzly were to only players without a bust. Not Adahn had the low score of the week (15) but intimated that he got some hints from early posters so whether he accepts that honor or not is on his conscience. Here is the data for those keeping score at home.

      • Sean

        Props to ya dude for running this.

      • The Hyperbole

        I do it mostly to annoy Bro.

      • TARDis

        LOL

      • Not Adahn

        I had shame beaten out of me a long time ago.

    • Fourscore

      Not if you have company

    • Tulip

      So what time is dinner?

    • Tundra

      Nice price. I picked up one at Costco for 10.99/lb.

      Going on the rotisserie after a couple days of salt!

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      She dated James Dean, apparently!

      • Count Potato

        Good thing she was driving?

      • Zwak,The Baddest Johnny on the Apple Cart

        That’s a Porsche choice of jokes.

        To bad they hadn’t made a 911 a thing yet.

  24. Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

    I gave the Feds a $2000 interest-free loan this past year. I gotta make some adjustments.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Piker

      I’m regularly off by $10K

    • hayeksplosives

      I am paying the biggest tax bill of my life this year, mostly due to an early withdrawal from a 401k. But also some capital gains, etc.

      It’s a huge loss for me, but the worst part is that it’s a trickle of piss to the FedGov!! If I didn’t pay, they wouldn’t notice the difference and would just borrow or print more.

      Yet this kind of tax bill is crushing to individuals. This is a seriously fucked up system.

    • Tulip

      I always aim to pay between $500-1000. I screwed up this year and owed almost $4000. Oops. $25 penalty.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Wife always complains when our tax bill comes in and I remind her that a good portion of that business is uh…you know…and then she says ‘cut the check’

    • R.J.

      That’s awesome.
      “Blob” Ask the internet to name your mascot, and ye shall receive…

  25. hayeksplosives

    grrizzly on April 15, 2022 at 4:07 pm

    I buy Tito’s for drinking straight

    I’m clearly not the most Russian person here.

    In acknowledgment of Animal’s observation, I have temporarily changed my avatar.

    • Gender Traitor

      Wrong bear. ?

      • hayeksplosives

        Oops!! Haha—right!

        Funny how the brain works/doesn’t work.

        Sorry, Grizzly! Sorry, Animal!!

      • R.J.

        In honor of Grizzly, Animal and Tonio, we should all change our icons to bears tonight.

      • The Hyperbole

        There once were four bears but I can’t think of the other one now, the big board shows his avatar as a bear catching a fish.

      • The Hyperbole

        ‘Some number’ North, or North ‘Some Number’, I think.

      • CPRM

        51 North I believe. He comes on zooms sometimes. The original Alaska Glib before Animal invaded.

      • db

        THERE ARE FOUR BEARS!

      • Gender Traitor

        As you wish!

      • Zwak,The Baddest Johnny on the Apple Cart

        Sandra Boynton is awesome.

      • Gender Traitor

        Yup! Been a fan since her greeting card days!

      • The Gunslinger

        As you wish.

      • hayeksplosives

        Ha! Nice!

    • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

      Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!

  26. Winston

    It really makes me question whether humans can survive without religion and whether my agnosticism is bad for society.

    The current level of nihilism is alarming.

    I find it fascinated that more and more secular libertarians are stating this. Up until very recently most would have dismissed this talk as backwards fundies who are angry about them being rightly being assigned to the ashbin of history.

    Seems the real issue is reluctance to deal with society and culture. It was assumed that society and culture will always get better and never get worse since only reactionaries feel that way. American society and culture should be obliterated yet somehow certain aspects should be saved, somehow.

    Also reluctance to acknowledge that Anglo-American classical liberalism is heavily influenced by Dissident Nonconformist Protestantism. Would destroying this Protestantism also destroy that liberalism? Libertarians thought it wouldn’t but it is looking like it has.

    Then there is the fact that the society and culture debate opens up a huge can of worms about what exactly this “libertarian” society and culture is supposed to look like. And how the 19th century classical liberals did think society and culture where important but many of their solutions were pretty bad: religious repression of Catholics, Colonialism and Public Schools are some of them.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      You have like 3 dissertations worth of topics in there, so I’ll be selective in my response. Pluralism only works when the vast majority are of one culture and a few from other cultures fill in the nooks and crannies. When the homogeneity goes away, so does the peace.

  27. Winston

    Would it be accurate to stay that Western Liberalism argued that we should stop fighting over politics and go to church (one of our own choosing of course). But since fewer people are going to church they are back to fighting over politics?

  28. Raven Nation

    As a demonstration of how little attention I’ve been paying to politics, I did not realize until today that J.D. Vance is running for senate in Ohio. What say our Ohio contingent about this?

    • The Hyperbole

      As a principled non-voter I’m not following the race that closely but J.D. and Josh Mandel are idiots, of his other opponents I only know Matt Dolan because I see his ads on Pluto’s Dr Who channel and he seems like a jackass as well, the other two I know nothing about, they may be good people but they are running for office which in a just society would disqualify them from holding office.

      • R.J.

        Funny you should mention the Dr. Who channel. I noticed that the Dr. Who channel on Roku plays a different series of episodes from the Pluto channel. Like one will be running ‘Planet of the Spiders’ and another will be running ‘Robot.’

      • rhywun

        I wish Pluto had more than 50% or so of the episodes. (Not including the lost ones.)

      • The Hyperbole

        Yeah, seems like every other time I check in it’s either “Frontiers in Space” or “Trial of a Time Lord”

      • R.J.

        Always the spider episode for me.

      • rhywun

        And I’ve seen “Paradise Towers” like four times in the last six months.

      • rhywun

        Mind you, I’ve dropped in maybe once a month.

  29. Tulip

    My neighbor is planning use the smoker tomorrow and invited me to add something. I have some baby back ribs. I’m planning on a rub made of cayenne, habanero, garlic,onion, cumin and oregano. Maybe a little honey. Any suggestions?

    • Sean

      No salt?

      • Tulip

        Yep, forgot to list. And black pepper. What about some apple cider vinegar?

      • Sean

        I dunk my meat in Carolina vinegar sauces. *shrug*

        Also, I’m more of a bbq eater, not a preparer.

      • Ownbestenemy

        If you brine the ribs you can forgo the salt in the rub

      • R.J.

        Soak in Coke or Dr Pepper. It works! Does anyone do that outside of Louisiana?

    • R.J.

      Honey is good. Brown sugar will keep your rub dry. It’s what I usually use for bbq and such. Also some fresh cracked black pepper.

      • Count Potato

        And I just refreshed the page!

    • CPRM

      Honey on for a smoke can attract too much smoke sometimes, meaning it’ll end up woody. Like sean said, salt. I prefer seasoning salt.

      • Tulip

        Hmm. I may re-think. Thanks

      • Ownbestenemy

        Also rub it and let it sit in the fridge open air if they are going to be smoked.

        A mustard base will help the rub stick to your ribs also

      • Tundra

        If you wrap them in foil mid-smoke you can definitely add honey.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Now you are just braising them.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I go for a more muted rub with a mop of your suggestions. Build those layers

    • Count Potato

      Brown sugar might be better than honey, with fresh chilies and onion, you don’t want a dry rub to be too moist.

  30. Count Potato

    “This has now escalated, over the years, from made-up rumors that I DM trans women inappropriately, to random death threats, to a surprising number of calls for me to kill myself, to a lurid publicly posted fantasy about raping me. I think maybe it’s enough?”

    2/ This is so fucking unacceptable, man. These are really, really sick fucks and it makes me want to shower for six days that they say shit like this”

    https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1514793748823044096

    • R.J.

      Who is that person?

      • Count Potato

        Jesse Singal is a science journalist who often writes about trans issues.

    • rhywun

      I don’t know what any of that is about but the Ukrainian colored hearts are a nice touch. ?

      • Count Potato

        Political trans twitter has been accusing Singal of sliding into their DM’s for a long time, but no one has ever been able to post an example.

    • rhywun

      Name sounds (((Russian))). I don’t think we like that kind now anyway.

      • R.J.

        I, Rasputin Jacksoffabitch, take offense at that comment! Have at you!
        *slaps glove against computer screen*

  31. Count Potato

    Does anyone have any tips on how to roast a duck?

    • robc

      Ask Gilbert Godfrey.

      • db

        gol-darnut

      • robc

        My spelling sucks.

    • The Hyperbole

      Take a deep dive into his body of work and bring up some really shitty movies he was in.

    • db

      A week ago, I would have suggested sending a request to Gilbert Gottfried via Cameo, but…

    • DOOMco

      I think they’re self conscious about not being as accepted as Chickens. Id start there. Maybe work on a webbed toes joke?

    • Hank

      Gather its friends and ask them to tell jokes and embarrassing stories.

      • Hank

        Or what everyone else said.

      • Hank

        Or what everyone else said.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Twice even

      • DOOMco

        Those comedy central reruns are brutal

    • Tundra

      Do you have a rotisserie?

      Whatever you do, you nee to capture the fat.

      Give this a gander.

      • Count Potato

        “Do you have a rotisserie?”

        No, just a regular oven.

        Thanks for the link.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Score the skin, cook it slow and low to render that fat down and baste it like a mofo.

  32. DOOMco

    So it musk takes over, do I get my account back before or after Alex Jones?

  33. Winston

    https://www.aier.org/article/can-we-teach-the-federalist-papers-today/

    The question is whether teaching the Federalist Papers can be rescued today. Students are more likely to be attuned to the failings of the American founders than by their success. The fact that many of the Constitution’s signers were slave owners and the document itself is silent on slavery will be taken as evidence of a malign intent. Recent attempts by scholars to put the American founding in a “global” context have the effect of diminishing the sheer novelty and iconoclasm of the founding moment. Perhaps most tellingly, the virtues of a bourgeois republic – honesty, compromise, tolerance, and fair-dealing – seem pale in comparison to the demands for social justice here and now. As a student of mine once said, “I need something to help me get up in the morning.”

    There is no simple answer to these objections except to return again and again to the text. If, however, the defense of the bourgeois democratic order against a rising wave of autocracy is not enough to get one out of bed, I don’t know what is.

    If people don’t believe in the “bourgeois democratic order” they are not going to defend it..

    • Hank

      “The Constitution’s opponents repeatedly cited the authority of Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws to argue that a vast territory of the kind imagined by the framers would inevitably slide into monarchy or even despotism. In a large state, the center of government must of necessity be distant and removed from the people it is supposed to represent.”

      Ha ha, those opponents were sure paranoid!

      “Large states produce luxury, a term that for much of the eighteenth-century was synonymous with inequality and corruption.”

      I don’t even know where they got that idea.

      “Representation would act like the process of smelting where the gold is extracted from the dross.”

      And keep the dross.

      “A republic – or what we call democracy today — has become largely what Publius said it was.”

      I’ll have some of what he’s smoking, please.