Thursday Morning Hest Ghost Links

by | Jun 9, 2022 | Daily Links | 380 comments

Back in the early 1970s, Young Man With Candy registered to vote for the first time. Being a silly Young Man, he registered as a Democrat, which was our family tradition, and besides, Nixon. It didn’t penetrate my consciousness that Vietnam was my first example of the principle that any policy which is bipartisan is presumably bad. After the election, I dropped my party registration and I have been an independent ever since. Until I moved to New York, where there is active disenfranchisement for independent and third party voters. Even the clown car Libertarian Party is excluded. So it was slightly jarring when the local Republican committee chairman wanted to see me about signing a ballot access petition (which I was glad to do), and referred to me as a registered Republican. Which I am, out of gratitude to him for helping get my voter registration pushed through. You see, New York State is far more onerous and demanding of documentation than any southern state you can think of, and it was going to take months for me to gather it all together. So since as a practical matter I had to pick one or the other, I went Team Red. As did Web Dom, with her reasoning being, “I don’t really align with the Republicans, but I really really don’t align with the Democrats!” Still, hearing me called this for the first time was a bit of a shock to my deeply libertarian system. And it satisfies my cynicism that the whole “ID for voters is a Republican plot to disenfranchise colored people” is a very knowing lie.

Speaking of shocks, there are birthday surprises, including a guy with whom I share a porn name; a scientist who strongly disbelieved in atoms; a guy who was clearly not a cocaine user; a guy who made margaritas possible; a guy with a sustained influence on guitarists; the architect of the Vietnam War, may he be frying in Hell’s napalm; a true oddity, a Jewish comedian; a guy who spent a lot of time diddling his organ; an actor who will be perfectly cast as Shakes The Clown; and a guy who is definitely not German. 

Let’s pretend we’re actually here for the Links.

 

“Our problem is that we’re not communicating the obvious wisdom of our policies to the dumb rubes. We have to use shorter words.”

 

No thought given to the actual alternatives, as usual.

 

Are they sure it wasn’t just more lawyers?

 

“I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part! We’re just the guys to do it.”

 

Boring but amusing in a schadenfreude sort of way.

 

Now do COVID.

 

And since it’s Jon Lord’s birthday… well… Old Guy Music has to be my favorite Deep Purple tune. Lord has a long keyboard intro, then fast and wonderful electric blues rock happens.

About The Author

Old Man With Candy

Old Man With Candy

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

380 Comments

  1. UnCivilServant

    Are they sure it wasn’t just more lawyers?

    Even if they were, they weren’t dressed for court.

    • UnCivilServant

      Quoting from a different site’s story on the roaches because I’m having trouble with OMWC’s

      The clash broke out during proceedings in Albany City Court for four people for an arrest at the state Capitol. A defendant who started to film the courtroom proceedings was told to stop. In the altercation that followed, hundreds of cockroaches brought into the courthouse in plastic containers were released, according to the state court system.

      So, the live roaches were evidence? I just thought they were residents. I mean, I wouldn’t trust a government building to be clean or sanitary.

      Also, I want to know more about the case now.

    • Rat on a train

      You were serious about that?

  2. AlexinCT

    “Our problem is that we’re not communicating the obvious wisdom of our policies to the dumb rubes. We have to use shorter words.”

    This is the tactic of our leadership and unaccountable unelected bureaucratic classes when it comes to dealing with issues impacting the public: tell them what to believe. Not explain the real reasons. Not try to understand the impact of these things. And definitely, not try to actually fix anything. Instead they tell you to not believe your lying eyes…

    • Grumbletarian

      It’s not that our policies have failed over and over again, it’s that we can’t explain our policies in a simple enough way for the ignorant rabble to understand, and that we just haven’t put the right Top Men in charge yet.

      • Rat on a train

        Some introspection on the reason utopia hasn’t arrived.

        There is a sense that, on everything from housing to schools, San Francisco has lost the plot—that progressive leaders here have been LARPing left-wing values instead of working to create a livable city.

      • rhywun

        I only made it about half-way because Atlantic but I don’t how someone can write some of those things and still completely miss the forest for the trees.

      • AlexinCT

        I, for one, wonder why people would ever again take someone that tells you they have policies/beliefs/ideas to fix complex issues that when enacted only result in disaster, after which they tell you that the reason things failed was that they needed to do moar of the dumb shit, seriously. But there is a group of people that will go, “Yeah, the reason that idiocy blew up in my face is that we didn’t do it even harder” followed by “We need to give someone else a change to actually triple down on the stupid to get it to work”.

        Everyone was cheering how the morons in San Fran had finally gotten rid of their asshat DA, but I am willing to bet that all they do is vote for another morons that will tell them he/she/it can actually make the reality that letting criminals go back on the streets will only get them to commit more crimes stop happening. These people can’t admit that they are mentally broken. They believe they are better people than everyone else for being this dumb. Admitting they are just dumb is terminal.

      • rhywun

        Nearly all of us are Democrats in San Francisco

        I wonder if she ever stopped to think that that might be source of most of the problems.

      • Nephilium

        Of course she thinks that’s the source of the problems. It’s only nearly all, not all. Damned Republicans able to thwart reality while being in a small minority.

      • Rat on a train

        They need to eliminate the kulaks and wreckers that are blocking utopia.

      • mindyourbusiness

        There’s a very good read on Quillette this morning on the troubles facing major urban areas…most of which are Democrat-controlled.

      • R.J.

        They need fewer offices filled with political bums.

      • waffles

        It seems to me that good policies should work whether or not people believe in them or understand them. We really have leaders asking us to believe in fairies and urging us to clap harder.

      • AlexinCT

        “The reason so many people misunderstand so many issues is not that these issues are so complex, but that people do not want a factual or analytical explanation that leaves them emotionally unsatisfied.

        They want villains to hate and heroes to cheer – and they don’t want explanations that fail to give them that.”

        Thomas Sowell.

  3. The Late P Brooks

    Interior Secretary Deb Haaland issued an order to reduce the procurement, sale and distribution of such products and packaging on more than 480 million acres of public lands, and to identify more sustainable alternatives like compostable or biodegradable materials.

    The measure would help to reduce the more than 14 million tons of plastic that end up in the ocean every year.Interior Secretary Deb Haaland issued an order to reduce the procurement, sale and distribution of such products and packaging on more than 480 million acres of public lands, and to identify more sustainable alternatives like compostable or biodegradable materials.

    The measure would help to reduce the more than 14 million tons of plastic that end up in the ocean every year.

    They’re not even trying anymore. It’s all just a big fuck you to the little people.

    • WTF

      I want to know where the authority comes from to issue arbitrary diktats that must be followed. These petty bureaucrats act as though they are dukes and kings.

      • Pope Jimbo

        It would be nice if the process was for these bureaucrats to publish proposed rules for their depts and then have Congress actually vote on those rules before they went into effect.

      • AlexinCT

        More importantly, every rule they create applies doubly to them…

      • The Last American Hero

        The interior secretary doesn’t have the power to negotiate vendor contract terms?

    • Rebel Scum

      14 million tons of plastic that end up in the ocean every year.

      China and the southeast Asia are onboard with this measure?

    • JG43

      How is this going to help? Do they dump their trash in the nearest river?

  4. AlexinCT

    No thought given to the actual alternatives, as usual.

    It’s about making us serfs live by 19th century standards so the elite don’t have to compromise their desire to live like emperors of the 21st century.

  5. Not Adahn

    Let’s pretend we’re actually here for the Links.

    As opposed to the bonhomie and camaraderie?

    • AlexinCT

      Q’s links…

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Ah, vous parlez français! Ça me plait.

      • Not Adahn

        Je vais aller a Montreal demain. J

  6. Rebel Scum

    U.S. to ban sale of single-use plastic on public lands, national parks by 2032

    The plastic problem has already been solved.

    A “Pac-man”-like protein that eats plastic could open the door to eliminating billions of tons of landfill waste. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin developed this special enzyme to destroy PET (polyethylene terephthalate) — a common substance manufacturers use in food and drink packaging, textiles, and fibers.

    Its creation offers hope of helping solve global pollution by enabling a complete recycling of plastic waste. Major industries would be able to recover and reuse products at the molecular level.

    “The possibilities are endless across industries to leverage this leading-edge recycling process,” says Professor Hal Alper in a university release.

    • db

      A “Pac-man”-like protein that eats plastic

      I nope the fuck out when I see popularized “science” headlines like that. It’s often a clear signal that beyond lies confusion, inaccuracy, and sometimes outright falsehood.

      • UnCivilServant

        You mean the enzyme isn’t a yellow sphere missing a wedge that goes around making wakawaka noises as it gobbles down plastic pellets?

      • Fourscore

        I think I saw my kids with something like that about 40-50 years ago. A little known fact that has been concealed all these years.

      • Grumbletarian

        You can find their recycling facility by following the constant ‘waka waka’ sound.

      • Pope Jimbo

        “Pac-Man” is used in a science article and not “Ms. Pac-Man”?

        I can’t even. This will keep how many millions of girls from entering the STEM fields?

      • R.J.

        That story has been going around since the 1970s.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Does the enzyme care if the plastic is washed first?

  7. db

    Old Man,

    Partially on topic for you, I noted a couple of weeks ago that Kirk Hammett, lead guitarist of Metallica, purchased Peter Greene’s ’59 Les Paul, “Greeny” and plays it on stage for certain songs. Rumors at the time were that he paid over a million dollars for the guitar, but in this recording, he confirms that he spent less than half a million dollars for it in 2014.

    Since then, Gibson has apparently replicated the guitar for Hammett’s collection.

  8. Sean

    They should have gone with “Protecting Our Little Kids Act”, to get the Jimmy Sturr support.

  9. Rebel Scum

    The House voted Wednesday 223-204 to pass a wide-ranging package of gun control legislation called the “Protecting Our Kids Act,” after lawmakers faced intense pressure to act in the wake of recent mass shootings.

    And yet it does nothing to protect kids. The only thing it does is further erode 2A.

    • WTF

      It’s always a pretty good bet that the name of some bill is more or less the opposite of what the bill actually does.

      • R.J.

        I agree, that is actually a rule. “Name of legislation is inversely proportional to the content of legislation.”

    • AlexinCT

      Never let a crisis go to waste…

      Your assumption that these people actually care about the tragedy other than that they get to use these kids deaths as a means to invoke emotional responses divorced of any logic or reason, to disarm the serfs.

    • Rat on a train

      The real disappointing thing is they couldn’t get a good backronym. POKA just doesn’t do anything.

      • WTF

        It’s actually “POLKA”, you know, like the music!

      • Rat on a train

        Well, they could throw in some unrelated spending and call it the POrK Act.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Five Republicans voted for the bill: Reps. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Fred Upton of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Chris Jacobs of New York.

      Take notes and vote accordingly.

      • Translucent Chum

        Upton is retiring, so that’s his vote to get some CNN seat time.

      • Rat on a train

        Jacobs as well.

      • thrakkorzog

        Kinzinger got gerrymandered out of office by the Dems already. Look forward to his MSNBC audition tape tonight.

      • db

        Of course the primaries are over so…

      • Nephilium

        Gonzalez is already not running for re-election. He also voted to impeach Trump.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        On the retiring GOP members, you now know how they really feel.

        I’d call them lying cocksuckers, but that would be insulting to cocksuckers.

      • Rat on a train

        They made courageous and principled votes … only made after they no longer had to face voters.

  10. Rebel Scum

    What it won’t do, however, is make the Earth unlivable, or even mean that our children live in a world poorer than the one we grew up in.

    Never fear, the WEF is on the case.

    • AlexinCT

      The Kung Flu scandemic showed us the world our elites are doing the “Great Reset” for. and it is one where they will make the serfs wear masks and keep their distance while they don’t, in order to make sure the serfs know who the elite are…

  11. rhywun

    onerous and demanding

    ISTR that if you have a NYC license or ID, they register you unless you tell them not to. I do know I have never registered on purpose, and I moved around a lot and to California and back – and I was still registered.

    I tried to change my registration from “Independent” to “Libertarian” a couple years ago and the card came back in the mail saying my voter registration was changed to… “Independent”.

    • AlexinCT

      Because they know what’s best for you, I presume…

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Heh, I went the other way x2 (well, never a NY resident).

      I don’t recognize anyone in the drawing. Oh, 2018.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        (Gentile as well)

  12. Rebel Scum

    Fuck off, commie.

    “We have discussed details about the firearms restriction policy that has been promoted in Canada for quite some time, which has had very good results and which, in Chile, we also want to precisely imitate as well, because good ideas are great to replicate in our countries,” Boric said in a joint statement with Justin Trudeau at the end of the diplomatic encounter.

    In the same statement, Boric called for international firearm control legislation.

    “We have to promote international legislation. Hopefully an awareness will be generated, beyond our borders, that the possession of firearms is bad for societies,” Boric asserted. “That is why we do it from Chile to Canada, hopefully with all the countries that are close, hopefully it will be of some use.”

    • AlexinCT

      He must need money from the WEF.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Hold on there, Cochise.

      Are you trying to tell me that the global elites want to stop programs like Fast & Furious?

    • rhywun

      international legislation

      There is no such thing. So… good luck with that.

      • UnCivilServant

        What, you missed the ratification of the “All your Country Are Belong to Us” Treaty that subsumed the nation-states into the NWO?

  13. The Late P Brooks

    What it won’t do, however, is make the Earth unlivable, or even mean that our children live in a world poorer than the one we grew up in. As many climate scientists have been telling us, the world is a better place to live in — especially for people in lower-income countries — than it has ever been, and climate change isn’t going to make it as bad as it was even in 1950.

    You know what is making the world poorer, and worse off? Anti-global-warming political posturing which drives up the cost and reduces the supply of dependable energy.

    • Grumbletarian

      Well they’re powered by icky coal right now, but soon electric cars will get their electricity from carbon free unicorn farts.

      • R.J.

        I personally an donating all my bourbon fartage to the green lobby to power their electric cars. Usually I donate it to environmentalists in person.

  14. Fourscore

    So, the House new law recommendations would do little to prevent any one determined to be crazy from actually being crazy? We need to outlaw crazy and quit meddling in the futile measures. OTOH we may see the number of Glibs shrink, were that to happen.

    • AlexinCT

      You are NOT allowed to point out people are crazy! NOT! NOT! NOT!

      And in the case of using the crazy’s actions as excuses to allow you to demand the disarming of the law abiding serfs that are holding up your great reset plans, that goes double.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Maybe they could tack on “And Also No Murderous Crazy People Allowed” to all the “No Guns Allowed In This Building” signs we have everywhere in Minnesoda?

  15. Sensei

    OMWC – that article with the blue on blue, err – checkmark, violence is just awesome!

    • Fourscore

      You can give me a job but you can’t make me work.

    • Drake

      If they did it live on the air, their ratings would go way up.

      • AlexinCT

        Stelter perp walked while he cries and offers to suck their dick? I would keep that on my DVR forever…

  16. Rebel Scum

    Electricity comes from the wall.

    General Motors CEO virtue signaling how “clean” the new Chevy Volt is.

    Then a reporter asks where the charging electricity comes from.

    Oh my…. Wait for it.

    • UnCivilServant

      The press conference was in the middle of a region where the electricity was 95% coal too.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      LOL

    • Sensei

      Legitimate LOL here as well.

  17. Pope Jimbo

    As the 1/6 Committee Show of Shows is primed to kick off, why is there talk about using that to ban Trump from ever running again, but there is no talk about banning Hillary from running again?

    Seems like there is far more solid evidence that Hillary did more damage to elections than Trump ever did.

    • Nephilium

      But she did it for noble causes.

      • Pope Jimbo

        You are thinking about Liz Warren there.

  18. l0b0t

    Daily Quordle 136
    7️⃣6️⃣
    8️⃣4️⃣
    quordle.com
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜?⬜⬜⬜
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    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
    ????? ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

    • Grumbletarian

      Daily Quordle 136
      3️⃣8️⃣
      7️⃣6️⃣
      quordle.com
      ???⬜⬜ ⬜⬜??⬜
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      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜??
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

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    • SDF-7

      Daily Quordle 136
      4️⃣5️⃣
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      quordle.com

      • Ozymandias

        Daily Quordle 136
        6️⃣7️⃣
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        quordle.com
        Someone really selected *those* as words??

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Daily Quordle 136
      5️⃣7️⃣
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      QuordleBot

      7 8
      4 6

    • JG43

      Daily Quordle 136
      8️⃣6️⃣
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      quordle.com

    • Sean

      #waffle139 4/5

      ?????
      ?⭐?⭐?
      ?????
      ?⭐?⭐?
      ?????

      ? streak: 39
      ? #wafflesilverteam
      wafflegame.net

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Daily Quordle 136
      5️⃣6️⃣
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    • Tundra

      Daily Quordle 136
      4️⃣6️⃣
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    • db

      6 9
      7 3

    • MikeS

      4️⃣8️⃣
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    • whiz

      Daily Quordle 136
      3️⃣4️⃣
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      Why couldn’t I have done this yesterday? *sigh*

    • Web Dominatrix

      Daily Quordle 136
      6️⃣7️⃣
      8️⃣?
      quordle.com
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      How the hell I got the third one and not the fourth one I do not know.

    • Grummun

      My yesterday’s Quordle, for the record:

      9 6
      8 4

      Today’s score:

      6 7
      8 4

    • one true athena

      Daily Quordle 136
      4️⃣9️⃣
      7️⃣5️⃣

      another squeak through.

    • grrizzly

      Daily Quordle 136
      6️⃣7️⃣
      8️⃣3️⃣

  19. The Late P Brooks

    Ban high capacity vehicles

    A 29-year-old man drove a car into a crowd of people in a busy Berlin shopping district on Wednesday, killing a teacher and leaving six others with life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

    The driver, identified by police as a German-Armenian national, ploughed into pedestrians on a sidewalk around 10:30 a.m. near Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, a well-known Berlin landmark. The car then crashed into a shop window on an adjoining street, according to the city’s police and fire department.

    At least he didn’t have a gun, but a minivan will tear right through you like you’re not even there. Nobody needs a car that weighs more than 400 kilos (or with more than 40 horsepower). Give the pedestrians a fighting chance.

  20. Count Potato

    Mom in hospital. Thoughts and prayers much appreciated.

    • l0b0t

      I’m so sorry to hear that, Count. I hope she is treated well, efficaciously, and makes a full recovery.

    • Fourscore

      Our good thoughts are with you and our mom, CP

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Sorry dude.

    • db

      Best wishes for your Mom’s health.

    • PieInTheSky

      403 Forbidden

      That is all. Not even a boilerplate “our European visitors are important “

      • PieInTheSky

        SHIT. SORRY

        No idea how this happened 🙁

        All the best to your mom. Hoping all will be well.

    • Grumbletarian

      Ts and Ps sent.

    • Sean

      Thoughts and prayers much appreciated.

      Sent.

    • Gender Traitor

      Best wishes! I hope a loved one (if available) is allowed to be with her as much as possible.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      Sorry CP, thoughts sent.

    • Pope Jimbo

      You have my Papal Blessings.

      I hope everything goes well.

    • Trigger Hippie

      Sent.

    • R.J.

      Very sad to hear that. Thoughts and prayers to you.

    • Q Continuum

      Best thoughts.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Thoughts and prayers for your mom and you, CP.

    • Old Man With Candy

      This has been a pretty sucky year.

      • Sensei

        Amen. Best wishes CP.

    • ron73440

      Sorry to hear that.

    • Tundra

      You got ’em. I hope she gets well quickly.

    • MikeS

      Inbound, Count. Hang in there.

    • Web Dominatrix

      Aw, I’m so sorry. I’ll be thinking of you both.

    • Grosspatzer

      Oh no. Praying for a favorable outcome. Take care.

  21. PieInTheSky

    a guy who was clearly not a cocaine user; – well I am sure he dabbled in champagne now and then

    • PieInTheSky

      Unrelated, I recently tasted one of your American Pinot Noirs and was disappointed. Although it was better than the New Zealand one.

      • db

        Not enough iron?

      • Old Man With Candy

        The ones from California tend to be heavy and dull. That wasn’t always the case, but in recent years, “bigger is better.”

        Christ, I’m glad to be out of that place.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    The driver was apparently detained by members of the public at the scene and then arrested by a police officer in the area, Berlin police spokesman Thilo Cablitz said. Police are trying to determine whether the man deliberately rammed into the crowd or whether it was an accident, possibly due to a medical emergency, he added.

    The suspect is currently in the hospital, Berlin Police President Barbara Slowik said in a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
    “We currently do not have conclusive evidence for a politically motivated act,” Slowik said.

    Later Wednesday, Spranger said that the driver “appears” to be a “mentally impaired person.”

    He became disoriented and thought he was playing Grand Theft Auto?

  23. Q Continuum

    “I don’t really align with the Republicans, but I really really don’t align with the Democrats!”

    “I hate conservatives, but I really fucking hate liberals.”
    -Matt Stone

    • Rebel Scum

      The trouble with liberals is that they are anything but liberal.

      As I tell the dyed-in-the-wool gf, “I’m an actual liberal and I want my word back.”

      • Drake

        Yes.
        And the trouble with conservatives is that they never conserve anything.

  24. Rebel Scum

    Muh-insurrectionisms.

    Commanders Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio:

    “I can look at images on the TV, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are being burned down, no problem. And then we have a dust up at the Capitol, nothing burned down, and we’re going to make that a major deal.”

    Are you going to believe obvious propaganda or your lying eyes?

    • Grumbletarian

      How long before that monster is fired? I say he’s gone by the weekend.

    • Translucent Chum

      He’s already on the apology tour.

      • Rebel Scum

        Sad.

    • Rat on a train

      Commanders’ Del Rio apologizes; Sen. McPike says stadium bill for Virginia all but dead
      On a positive note, his statement could kill some pork.

      On Wednesday, State Sen. Jeremy McPike of Prince William County said the comments – in which Commanders Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio called the storming of the Capitol a “dust-up” – were the final straw for him voting on any relocation package for the team.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        To echo OMWCs sentiments above. I’m so glad to be away from there.

      • juris imprudent

        Not a pretty win, but I’ll take it.

  25. Scruffy Nerfherder

    The FDA is getting ready to try to cover its ass forever. If you had any doubt as to how unbelievably corrupt they are, this should dispel it.

    https://tobyrogers.substack.com/p/the-fdas-proposed-future-framework?s=r

    IV. The “Future Framework” = no more clinical trials for Covid-19 shots ever again

    The purpose of the “Future Framework” is to rig the Covid-19 vaccine regulatory process in perpetuity in favor of the pharmaceutical industry. If this “Future Framework” is approved all future Covid-19 shots, regardless of the formulation, will automatically be deemed “safe and effective” without additional clinical trials because they are considered “biologically similar” to existing shots.

    This is literally the worst idea in the history of public health.

    If you change a single molecule of mRNA in these shots it will change health outcomes in ways that no one can anticipate. That necessarily requires new clinical trials — which is what the FDA is proposing to skip.

    The FDA’s “expert advisory committee” (VRBPAC) met on April 6, 2022 to discuss the “Future Framework” for the first time. All of the committee members agreed that Covid-19 shots are not working, that boosting multiple times a year was not feasible, and that the shots need to be reformulated. They also unanimously agreed that there are no “correlates of protection” that one can use to predict what antibody levels would be sufficient to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection.

    On June 28 the VRBPAC will meet once again to discuss the “Future Framework” and it will be presented as a done deal because manufacturers want a decision on vaccine strain selection by June in order to deliver shots for autumn vaccination appointments.

    So if the FDA authorizes Covid-19 shots for kids on June 14 and 15 and then approves the “Future Framework” on June 28th, the shots that will be given to kids in the fall will be the reformulated shots that skipped clinical trials.

    • UnCivilServant

      So, what the FDA is saying is that we don’t need an FDA?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        We’d definitely be better off without an FDA or a CDC or an NIH.

        They’re actively trying to kill us.

    • Atanarjuat

      I can’t wait to hear how the IFLS crowd rationalizes this one.

      • UnCivilServant

        “Duh, it’s ‘the same’ so it’s safe, because we know the existing clot shots are safe. Stop spreading disinformation, anti-vaxxer science denier!”

      • Atanarjuat

        Along with a heavy dose of ignoring things that they don’t want to think about.

      • Brawndo

        I’m still waiting for my local pharmacy to start carrying the Comirnaty brand covid vaccine.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    If you survive the flight to the drop off point, the rest of the mission will be a cakewalk

    A U.S. Marine transport aircraft carrying five Marines went down Wednesday afternoon in a remote part of Southern California.

    A federal source tells CBS News four of the five were killed. There was no word on the fate of the fifth.

    The MV-22 Osprey, belonging to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, went down in a desert area near Glamis, California, Maj. Mason Englehart confirmed to CBS News. The crash occurred at around 12:25 p.m. local time.

    Just as long as they passed their pronoun inclusivity training.

  27. Semi-Spartan Dad

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il6jeRyDtIA&ab_channel=PatrickLancaster

    Interesting on-the-ground video from Patrick Lancaster for anyone continuing to follow the situation in Ukraine. A commander in the Ukrainian territorial defense unit for the Kherson region just defected. If I’m following his explanation correctly, the Ukrainian military has begun targeting Kherson villages and schools, I guess presumably to blame the deaths on the Russians, and the native Kherson commander wants no part of it. This is not the Donbas region where Ukraine had been intentionally shelling villages for years. He also said his territorial defense unit was ordered to engage the Russians and took heavy losses while inflicting no damage. Make your own decision if it’s legit or Russian propaganda.

    It paints a very different picture of events than the MSM and Institute for the Study of War, which pushes a strong Ukrainian counterattack in Kherson narrative. Also checks with the analysis by MoA that Ukraine has been throwing their conscripted territorial defense units into suicide positions in Donbas while keeping the Ukrainian military back for terror tactics. Seems like that model is now being implemented into the southern region.

    • Atanarjuat

      A counterattack will be suicide at this point.

    • PieInTheSky

      I don’t believe one guy saying stuff on either side.

      I doubt Ukraine can really counterattack in any significant way.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        I don’t believe one guy saying stuff on either side.

        I don’t care for the talking points released by Ukrainian or Russia governments. Or the MSM that parrots them.

        I think these regular on the ground interviews on the front lines though with regular people give us the most accurate view we can find. I think the commander does believe what he’s saying, it may not be true so take with a grain a salt, but at least it doesn’t seem to me like scripted propaganda spoke in pursuit of a Top Man’s goals.

        A good example is the on-the-ground video of the Azov headquarters in Mauripol. All we’ve heard nonstop from the MSM (and even some of our posters) is that the whole Nazi thing was ridiculous made-up bullshit from Putin. It turns out from the actual on-the-ground video that the Azov would make the Third Reich blush. Yeah maybe Putin doesn’t care about the Nazi angle, but that’s a completely different position than saying it doesn’t exist.

      • PieInTheSky

        I think these regular on the ground interviews on the front lines though with regular people give us the most accurate view we can find. – I think there is no way to verify the accuracy of these things.

        ” it doesn’t seem to me like scripted propaganda spoke in pursuit of a Top Man’s goals.” – it looks like it could be to me. Cannot know what is going on. But these regular people saying things are propaganda engaged for by both sides as we speak. Many seem genuine and unscripted. Many are probably not.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Given how Western media has conducted itself over the last few years, you would be nuts to give them any credibility whatsoever.

      • Atanarjuat

        For example, here is a Ukrainian soldier, heavily tattooed, confessing to stabbing a DPR POW, who survived and confronts his attacker (skip to 2:45).

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Putin does care about the Nazi angle I think, it’s just not the prime motivator or anything close to it. It has excellent propaganda value though, more so because it’s partly true.

      • The Last American Hero

        If we gave them forty fucking billion dollars, the least they could do is counterattack.

      • UnCivilServant

        The money isn’t for their defense, it’s one last cash grab before their launderers are overrun.

    • Drake

      The situation has become crazy. Most the Ukrainian army is encircled in the east but won’t surrender because of the Hitler-like orders coming from Kiev. At least the Germans tried to relieve and break-out their army trapped in Stalingrad. The will be no relief or break-out, just maliciously trying to inflict maximum damage on the infrastructure and Russian civilians.

      • Atanarjuat

        And trying to draw the conflict out to further milk NATO of launderable money and weapons.

      • Drake

        Ironic that American politicians are talking about controlling semi-auto rifles in the U.S. while showering the most corrupt and unstable regime in the world with high-tech weapons.

      • Brawndo

        They’ll be used to murder Ukrainian civilians

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Al Jazeera has done a pretty good job of updating the coverage without blatantly political leanings.

      https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/8/ukraine-live-news-russian-economy-could-contract-by-15-percent-liveblog

      Although this is just bullshit from Zelenskyy. Ukraine mined the ports and is objecting to the removal of those mines in to allow grain exports.

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warns that millions of people can starve because of a Russian blockade of Ukraine’s ports.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Ukraine mined the ports and is objecting to the removal of those mines in to allow grain exports.

        I watched a video of interviews with captains of foreign cargo ships stuck in a Russian-controlled port. The captains said the Russian military guaranteed them safe passage out, but Ukraine will not so they can’t leave.

  28. Not Adahn

    Our congress is so utterly incompetent that even their acronym department has gone completely to shit.

    It really should have been the “Protecting Our Little Kids Act.”

    • Sean

      *looks up thread*

    • EvilSheldon

      I look forward to the ‘Make Everyone Happy Act.’

      How could you be against happiness? Don’t you want people to be happy?

  29. Rebel Scum

    Seperatists.

    The Texas Military Department announced this week that it will use concertina wire to deter trespassing over the U.S.-Mexico border near the Rio Grande. Concertina is a type of razor wire that unrolls in a helical shape to cover the most area possible. Trying to push through any type of razor wire without proper protection can cause severe lacerations.

    “Operation Lone Star has currently constructed more than 17 miles of concertina wire along the South West border to continue to prevent, detour, and interdict transnational criminal activity and illegal migration,” the Texas Military Department told Fox News in an exclusive statement. “The intent is to install concertina wire along state property and private property with consent of the property owners.”

    How dare you usurp the federal government that refuses to enforce its own immigration laws.

    • Rat on a train

      Ensure you triple strand.

    • Atanarjuat

      I guess it’s the influence of the Gulf Stream, but anyway it’s amazing how warm Europe is given its latitude. The balmy Croatian coast, which I understand to have a similar climate to southern California, is at the same latitude as Toronto.

      • Drake

        I was in southern England in December once. The sun seemed to peek above the horizon around 10am and dusk was 2pm. There’s a reason they drink a lot.

      • whiz

        You must have been in a deep valley. The sun rises at around 8 AM and sets at 4 PM in December in London.

        /pedant

    • Sean

      Related.

      I expect to see this expand fast.

      Local BBQ stand did this too. It really did seem to help productivity and lessen wait times.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I did an IoT project at a bunch of Duncan Donuts in Rhode Island and Chicago around 2010. When installing our solution, it wasn’t at all unusual to find that there were literal 5 gal buckets full of cash in the back office.

        It was all $1 and $5’s, but still.

        I have no proof, but I’m pretty sure most of that money was never going to be reported back to corporate or declared on any tax forms.

        Maybe the accounting for all this is better now, or too many people use credit cards and leave a paper trail, but I can’t see many franchisees at DD wanting to give up their slush money for an all digital setup.

    • Gender Traitor

      Mustn’t… panic…

      ::runs in circles screaming hysterically::

    • Rebel Scum

      It turns out coffee bean reserves have plunged to their lowest since the 2000s.

      …Stockpiles of high-end Arabica beans, a favourite of artisan coffee shops and chains such as Starbucks, totalled 1.078 million bags, or about 143 million pounds, according to data released Monday by the ICE Futures US exchange.”

      It’s the Putin Coffee Hike BRCC Bankruptcy.

      Of course, it all started when BRCC forgot that it doesn’t sell coffee, it sells a brand.

  30. Rebel Scum

    “We just don’t have the information yet.”

    CNN’s Whitney Wild tries to deny that the man arrested trying to assassinate Justice Kavanaugh had a weapon “at all.”
    She also tries to blame right-wing extremists for possibly trying to carry out the hit, claiming “the risk truly comes from both sides of this abortion debate”

    Leftists pose as threats, but it is the right’s fault.

    • Sean

      Sounds legit.

    • Ownbestenemy

      *holds up yellow card* Fine people on both sides argument

  31. The Late P Brooks

    If we ban cars, our cities will all be walkable by definition

    European lawmakers have voted to ban the sale of new diesel and gasoline cars and vans in the EU from 2035, representing a significant shot in the arm to the region’s ambitious green goals.

    On Wednesday, 339 MEPs in the European Parliament voted in favor of the plans, which had been proposed by the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch. There were 249 votes against the proposal, while 24 MEPs abstained.

    It takes the European Union a step closer to its goal of cutting emissions from new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles by 100% in 2035, compared to 2021. By 2030, the target is an emissions reduction of 50% for vans and 55% for cars.

    Bring back ox carts. They’re pollution free.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      European lawmakers have voted to ban the sale of new diesel and gasoline cars and vans in the EU from 2035, representing a significant shot in the arm to the region’s ambitious green prole pacification goals

      Fixed it.

    • UnCivilServant

      Except for the methane emissions they also want to ban.

    • PieInTheSky

      can we have robotic electric solar powered oxen?

      • Rat on a train

        Do they do dishes, laundry and cat boxes?

      • PieInTheSky

        your electric cat will not need a catbox. Also you don;t need plates to eat bugs.

      • whiz

        Heathen!

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I wouldn’t believe it if we hadn’t been predicting exactly this situation for years.

        The most important thing that enables modern civilization is in short supply because our leaders are certifiably insane.

      • AlexinCT

        I think you give them too much credit by giving them the defense for why they did these horribly stupid, and borderline evil, things. I now believe they know wat they are doing has bad consequences but they simply don’t care because there is an end goal. They just can’t come out and admit to the end goal, and they certainly can’t tell the plebes what the end goal is cause the plebes would rebel, but they are doing this shit on purpose.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        but they are doing this shit on purpose

        That doesn’t exclude insanity. They’re psychopaths.

      • waffles

        Some of them, sure. I still think most votes for this inane bullshit in the House come from a place of stupid rather than evil.

      • waffles

        Never before have our leaders been so insulated from the practical consequences of their policies. It looks insane but it just doesn’t factor in for them because it does not effect them.

  32. Rebel Scum

    Crazy is as crazy does.

    Bodycam video shows a suicidal man later identified as Dana Lydell Smith, 29, begging an police officer to shoot him on May 29. Police say Smith allegedly punched a pregnant woman in the face, fled from police, and eventually grabbed an officer’s gun and allegedly fired it. Officials say no one was hit. Police used a Taser on Smith and arrested him.

    • PieInTheSky

      well he will not be having a better time in prison..

  33. PieInTheSky

    “Michael Malice
    this is why gun proliferation is a far better practically response than the Second Amendment, which gun foes dont value to begin with

    DangerousUnderstandingbyRyanRyles
    What makes you think that Congress can legislate away our rights?

    DangerousUnderstandingbyRyanRyles
    The constitution must be amended for any of the rights enshrined in it to be changed: none of our rights have been legislated away or changed by legislation…”

    Well in defense of Ryan here, rights were not legislated away, as they cannot be, just massively infringed.

    • The Last American Hero

      Plus they got to get high on devil weed and chase white women.

    • AlexinCT

      I’m straight and can’t understand myself.

      Methinks thou doth protest too much…

  34. Atanarjuat

    Whoever suggested reading the Great Game, it is indeed an excellent book, easy to read, and pertinent to the conflicts of today.

  35. Rebel Scum

    Hawt.

    Lauren is challenging AOC and the Squad to a demolition derby. Pay-per-view with proceeds going to the charity of the winner’s choice. Tell AOC to accept the Demo Derby Challenge!

  36. PieInTheSky

    On the war front, I may be a coward but I am against dying for no reason if you can’t beat the odds. In Romania the heroes of world war 1 are often praised, but many died as underequipped rifleman charging towards German fortified machine gun positions. And in the end, they held some mountain passes for a few weeks, but only for a while and then the Germans overran the country. So what was the point? I see no heroism in dying for nothing. I mean die if you at least have a shot at taking the bastards down.

    In Ukraine, it seems both side are needlessly sending troops to die, in Russian fashion. I know troops die in war, but there are deaths and there are deaths. the ukrainians should have done more to retreat troops before they were encircled, as there is no point of losing troops that cannot be extracted. But if they regrouped in better positions, maybe they would have resisted better. And after being encircled, surrender is a shitty option for troops as they may be tortured and killed anyways.

    Then again I cannot really know what is going on, what are the true loses for either side, etc.

    • PieInTheSky

      I know it is not viable for modern warfare, but at least back in the day the king and nobles were in the first line. Even in ww1 many sons of British nobility went to war. Now few sons of top politicians are riflemen.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        If war were just, every politician who voted for it would be sent to the front lines to lead the effort.

      • Gustave Lytton

        ^^^ ancestral sin is a bullshit means of supposedly slowing down warfare. The same sort of politician who doesn’t give a shit about embroiling their own country in war, will cry crocodile tears over their own spawn but in the end don’t give a shit. The Vietnam War was popular among those not doing the fighting, including parents of draftable and drafted children.

    • Rat on a train

      they held some mountain passes for a few weeks, but only for a while and then the Germans overran the country. So what was the point?
      Sometimes it is hard to see. The US forces in the Philippines had no hope of victory. Their defense disrupted Japanese plans giving allies time to prepare defenses. Inflicting losses and disrupting plans can help future campaigns.

      • PieInTheSky

        In this case there were little viable defenses to prepare. After the Russians exited the war, the Romanian army alone could not hold the combine austro-hungrian and germans. If there was a chance to buy several months maybe there would be hope that peace would be reached. But as is? And the results were clear when the country was mostly overran. In the end, the refusal of the king to officially sign a treaty with the central powers is what kept Romania in a better position when peace was reached.

        I understand the battles earlier in the war when there was a real chance to hold. But to the end I am not sure… Maybe it was worth it but in the end the issue was the corrupt politicians which embezzled funds and did not equip the army properly…

      • PieInTheSky

        Or if the fucking commies did not win in russia.

    • Atanarjuat

      Russians With Attitude translated a talk given by Russian journalist Alexander Kots. If this info is true (and it seems at the very least even-handed), the Ukrainians have lost a huge chunk of personnel, but are now organizing retreats in such a way as to save lives, and civil prisoner exchanges are happening, but at a small level.

      Russian journalist Alexander Kots, a war reporter with over 20 years of experience in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Libya, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Donbass & Karabakh, streamed a Q&A session about the war yesterday; here’s a thread with a summary of what he said:

      – The Ukrainians have excellent artillery training & equipment

      – The AFU emphasize small unit tactics; this slowed down the Russian advance in the beginning of the war

      – The Russian offensive routes largely matched with those the Ukrainians trained for in NATO exercises

      – The border regions were full of photo traps & other surveillance equipment that gave the Ukrainians a good idea of what was happening militarily

      – Even a full liberation of the DPR & LPR won’t secure Donetsk from Ukrainian shelling bc of long-range weapon systems

      – The seemingly senseless shelling of Donetsk is explained by Ukrainian attempts to cause discontent among civilians in the sense that the Russian Armed Forces cannot protect them

      – The capture of Lisichansk will mark the full liberation of the LPR

      – “Small cauldron” tactics & the slow advances are deliberate, but not the tactics of choice; Russians are advancing at best with a 1:1 ratio and often against a numerically superior enemy

      – Prisoner exchanges are still taking place, but not mass exchanges, 15 for 15, 30 for 30

      – The Ukrainian army generally refuses to pick up their dead despite being offered ceasefires to do so

      – The average level of experience in the AFU has dropped significantly since the start of the war, it’s now 20% professionals and 80% conscripts

      – Ukrainian infantry is of very low quality in terms of training & morale; their artillery & special forces are decent

      – The Ukrainians generally don’t accept close quarter combat and retreat instead, but they usually do so in an organized manner

      – The volunteers from all over Russia who are trained in Gudermes (Chechnya) are doing quite well in the war

      – This scale of combat is seen for the first time since WW2; Kots has never worked in a conflict of this intensity

      – Russia is not at war with Ukraine, but with the entire NATO infrastructure: intelligence, satellites, communications, military equipment, counter-battery systems, electronic warfare systems

      – “Bayraktars” are absolute crap, they’re fish in a barrel for any decent anti-air

      – The Ukrainians are having problems with some munitions, e.g. their Smerch & Uragan MLRS systems rarely fire in volleys nowadays, mostly single shots

      – Ukrainian artillery is often the only thing slowing down Russian advances

      – Securing Donbass won’t automatically win the war

      • Gustave Lytton

        Russia is not at war with Ukraine, but with the entire NATO infrastructure

        I wonder which one is benefiting from this experience.

      • The Last American Hero

        BS on the entire NATO infrastructure. At least not until we show up and start rebuilding roads, bridges, restoring power and moving men and materials around in the country. Right now it’s Ukraine and a giant pile of supplies.

      • Atanarjuat

        I think it’s fair to say that the Ukrainians are being supplied with targeting data from US satellites and other intelligence sources.

      • UnCivilServant

        “There are some unbombed civilians hiding here…”

      • Atanarjuat

        Well US officials took credit for the targeting data used in the sinking of the Russian naval vessels and the shooting down of their generals, then walked it back.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I am yet to understand how anyone thought it was a good idea to admit to that.

      • EvilSheldon

        I know for a fact that this is the case. The US is providing the AFU with huge quantities of theater and operational intelligence, mostly washed through the Brits.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The seemingly senseless shelling of Donetsk is explained by Ukrainian attempts to cause discontent among civilians in the sense that the Russian Armed Forces cannot protect them

        That totally explains why they were doing it prior to the beginning of the war.

    • Old Man With Candy

      As you observed, not a single fucking one of us actually knows what’s going on. It’s all lies, and cui bono is obvious.

    • AlexinCT

      What are the odds she is telling him he needs to get it up more often, Pie?

    • Atanarjuat

      There are 3 hung upside down, so maybe he’s not such a good detective (or I missed something).

  37. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Well fuck, dad probably has bladder cancer. Scheduling a biopsy, but it doesn’t look good.

    • AlexinCT

      None of us comes out of this life alive….

      Sorry to hear the bad news.

    • Gender Traitor

      I’m so sorry! If the biopsy is positive, I hope they’ve caught it early.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Dammit, everyone stop with the bad health news.

      Best for your dad, Scruff. Same for TBH’s upcoming surgery.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Awww, Scruff… 🙁

    • Count Potato

      Sorry 🙁

      Praying he gets better.

    • EvilSheldon

      Damnit. Sorry to hear that.

    • ron73440

      That’s rough, hoping for good news.

    • Sensei

      This year continues to suck.,.

      Best wishes for his recovery.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      Sorry Scruffy. Hoping the biopsy will be clear.

    • Sean

      Sorry Scruffy.

    • Tundra

      Sorry, Scruffy.

    • Grosspatzer

      Sorry to hear that, hoping everything works out.

  38. The Late P Brooks

    Leadership

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN that the immigration challenges facing the Biden administration along the southern border are “beyond anything that anyone has seen before,” and that the issue will be a key focus of a summit of regional leaders taking place this week in Los Angeles.

    “We’re dealing with a challenge that, for a whole variety of reasons, is beyond anything that anyone has seen before, which is exactly why the approach that we’re taking, including here at the summit, is so important,” Blinken told CNN en Español’s Juan Carlos López during an interview conducted on Tuesday at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.
    He continued: “And that is an approach of shared responsibility where everyone in the hemisphere who is affected by irregular migration in particular, migration more generally, that is countries of origin, transit countries, countries of destination, come together to take shared responsibility for managing this in a safe, humane and orderly way.”

    We don’t know why all those people showed up at the border after we said we weren’t going to enforce our immigration laws. Nobody could have foreseen that. And besides, we’re doing our best to make this country a shithole.

    • AlexinCT

      The gall of these people t now play dumb about doing this shit…

      I suspect they do this because they truly believe their constituents are idiots though. You wouldn’t try this idiotic tactic with someone you believed had some intellectual capacity.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Lying sack of shit

    • Atanarjuat

      I remember watching a Democratic presidential debate during the last election. The moderator asked who, by a show of hands, supports paying for gender-reassignment surgery for illegals. The support (though obviously pandering) was unanimous.

  39. PieInTheSky

    Also on the Ukraine front, I am still struggling to understand what is the point of the UN. They cannot do shit about anything bad.

    I am a supporter of self determination so if areas of Ukraine want to break of and the people actually support that, they should. Scotland Catalonia, Basques, whatever. But it is hard to trust a referendum organized by Russian forces.

    If the UN had any value, it could have tried to organize a fair as can be referendum. And if Donbas wanted out, they should get out, no war needed.

    Also I think Moldova would be better off without Transnistria. Give the fuckers their independence. Get rid of a major problem and look west.

    • waffles

      Can Transnistria even survive as an independent nation? It has horrible geography.

    • EvilSheldon

      The point of the UN is to provide comfortable sinecures for various bureaucrats.

    • Rebel Scum

      what is the point of the UN

      World control (to an extent) for world elites.

      it could have tried to organize a fair as can be referendum

      If the proper negotiations took place the war couldn’t happen and there goes another avenue of control of and intentional destruction of the west.

      Also I think Moldova would be better off without Transnistria.

      Europe could use more meme countries.

    • Brawndo

      “also I think Moldova would be better off without Transnistria.”

      Wow. Transphobic much?

  40. Rebel Scum

    Dishonest cunte is dishonest and cuntey.

    “You know, President Biden and President Clinton in 1994 authored and passed an assault weapons ban that was in place for ten years. Then they repealed it. We had 400,000 assault weapons in 1994, now have 20 million. The violent crime rate dropped precipitously between 1994 and 2019. It was only in the last year of President Trump that the crime rate skyrocketed. And I just don’t understand why Democrats, some Democrats, run away from this issue because the Democratic voters are not running away from this issue because they feel it. I feel it here in New Orleans. I talk to people on the street that feel it. And this should be our issue. It really should.” …

    “Actually, Democrats have a much, much better record on crime than Republicans do. For some reason, we seem to be afraid to run on it. There’s no reason to do that. You look at this sickening stuff with these assault weapons. It’s one of the great Democratic successes ever.”

    • ron73440

      The violent crime rate dropped precipitously between 1994 and 2019. It was only in the last year of President Trump that the crime rate skyrocketed.

      It was all Trump’s fault.

      • The Other Kevin

        Well, yes. He was such a bad person he made people who opposed him violent. They had no choice.

      • ron73440

        Using their logic, that seems accurate.

      • The Other Kevin

        Once on TOS I made this type of comment, and Matt Welch commented and said it was uncanny how much like a lefty I sounded. Know thy enemy, I guess.

      • Drake

        During two Republican and two Democrat presidencies. Makes me think crime rate may have more to do with local law enforcement and prosecution.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Or a cultural aspect where lawlessness is allowed or even encouraged.

      • EvilSheldon

        And/or the age of the criminal underclass.

    • The Other Kevin

      Doing the math here… the assault weapons ban ended in 2005, but violent crime kept dropping “precipitously” for another 14 years? So the assault weapons ban was so effective it kept working after it ended?

      • The Last American Hero

        and the crime spiked because of mostly peaceful protests!

      • Gender Traitor

        Those weren’t crimes! They were noble acts of civil disobedience and resistance!

    • Nephilium

      Yeah… nothing much else happened between 2019 and the current day.

    • rhywun

      “Actually, Democrats have a much, much better record on crime than Republicans do.”

      And then his pants caught on fire.

      • EvilSheldon

        There is nothing worse than a law-and-order progressive.

        I wonder if the pols are figuring out that the AFA/BLM/welfare statists can’t reliably bring in the votes like the PubSec unions and greenies can…

  41. AlexinCT

    Also on the Ukraine front, I am still struggling to understand what is the point of the UN. They cannot do shit about anything bad.

    The point of the UN is to allow some of the most perverted people in the world to use a quasi-legitimate cover to go to some countries and rape their women & children…

  42. The Late P Brooks

    Trump:

    That dumb motherfucker rolled over for Foochy and Birx and the rest of those quacks. He doesn’t deserve another chance. That should be the message.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      ???

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Give me DeSantis and/or Paul any day of the week over him.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Is it too much to ask though not to pass a record spending plan in Florida?

      • Compelled Speechless

        You get it. DeSantis has a whole bunch of red flags like this. The dude is ultimately an establishment statist. He’s happy to grow the government and expand it’s powers. Trump ultimately did the same. The big thing that makes DeSantis appealing is that he pisses off the right people just like Trump, but has a better claim to legitimacy thanks to actual executive government experience. Also like Trump, he’ll tell you a bunch of things you like to hear and ultimately move in the opposite direction of our desired goal of truly limited government. It’s just like Malice says “a conservative is just a progressive driving the speed limit.” He’s an improvement over Biden, but lightyears away from ideal.

    • rhywun

      He seems intent on handing 2024 to the Dems come hell or high water.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      I don’t think it matters who the nominee is.

      If GOP nominee is someone outside of the Swamp, the election will be rigged so they can’t win.

      If the GOP nominee is someone within the Swamp, maybe they’ll get elected but there will never be change enacted beyond meaningless tokens around the edges. The Uniparty/Swamp/Cathedral doesn’t really care which team the actor is on as long as he’s one of their own (Bush or Obama; McCain or Biden; it’s all the same).

      Paul would not be allowed to win. Trump would not be allowed to win again. Still remains to be seen if DeSantis is another leftist posing as a GOP actor full of the right words.

    • Rebel Scum

      Indeed, that was disappointing. I presume he thought the institutions could generally be trusted and such.

  43. The Late P Brooks

    “Actually, Democrats have a much, much better record on crime than Republicans do. For some reason, we seem to be afraid to run on it. There’s no reason to do that. You look at this sickening stuff with these assault weapons. It’s one of the great Democratic successes ever.”

    Common sense super predator control. It worked before. It can work again.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      You look at this sickening stuff with these assault weapons. It’s one of the great Democratic successes ever.

      Power uber alles. They don’t care about the dead kids. They care about the fear reaction they can manipulate in people to accumulate power on the backs of dead kids.

      They are thoroughly corrupted people.

  44. AlexinCT

    What could go wrong with this shit?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Utter hubris

    • ron73440

      That’s not the Bee?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      It’s like we’re trying to get the whole world to hate us. For God’s sake, why can’t we just mind our own business?

      • waffles

        It’s just imperialism. It cannot be stopped. It merely changes form every handful of decades or so.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I much prefer the good old dominate India and drink gin and tonics form.

      • rhywun

        It’s like we’re trying to get the whole world to hate us.

        Or laugh at us.

        The federal government spent nearly $800 million promoting gender equality in Afghanistan

        J.F.C.

    • Rebel Scum

      The position of Special Representative was first announced by the State Department in its April Equity Action Plan. The position’s holder has not been named, but the Special Representative will have wide-reaching powers, since he or she will be responsible for “institutionaliz[ing] an enterprise-wide approach to integrating racial and ethnic equity.” The email names “advancing equity, addressing systemic racism, and strengthening democracy worldwide” as “national security imperatives and core tenets of President Biden’s foreign policy.”

      What the actual fuck?

  45. Certified Public Asshat

    So Biden wore a mask alone backstage and as soon as the curtains opened up he took it off and stood inches away from Kimmel. Makes sense. pic.twitter.com/H7OjwqaTKp— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) June 9, 2022

    Teh scienz.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      That’s actually kind of terrifying. They believe the bullshit.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      KIMMEL: Can’t you issue an executive order? Trump passed those out like Halloween candy.

      BIDEN: The answer—well I did.

      KIMMEL: Isn’t that something that should happen?

      BIDEN: Well, I have issued executive orders, within the power of the presidency to be able to deal with these — everything having to do with guns, gun ownership, whether or not you have to have a waiting — all the things that were within my power. What I don’t want to do, and I’m not being facetious, I don’t want to emulate Trump’s abuse of the constitution and the constitutional authority.

      Uh, Biden is averaging 12 more per year than Trump.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Seems to be a correlating decrease in executive orders with the ascendance of the modern administrative state after the tremendous increase in them during the Progressive Era. I imagine that a lot of what used to be the king’s edicts gets laundered thorough the bureaucracy now.

      • Gustave Lytton

        It’s also harder to rescind fit goes through the rule making process. Well harder if the rules are ones they want.

      • Rebel Scum

        I don’t want to emulate Trump’s abuse of the constitution and the constitutional authority.

        Because you intend to surpass anything Trump conceivably could or actually did.

    • Rebel Scum

      Mask culture is not going away.

  46. Rebel Scum

    Doesn’t Tim have guns?

    Tim Pool, host of the “Timcast IRL” podcast, had to evacuate the set of his show during a live episode on Wednesday after allegedly receiving a “potentially credible threat.”

    The incident happened around 9:30 p.m. EST as co-host Ian Crossland was speaking.

    “Potentially credible threat. Police on site,” Pool later tweeted. “Specialists en route. Keeping details to a minimum for security reasons.”

    This seems to happen a lot.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      You want him to shoot at the police?

      I like the show, but I am starting to wonder if it’s false flaggy.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Very well could be, then again the world is replete with lunatics and idiots.

    • EvilSheldon

      You win every gunfight you’re not at…

  47. The Late P Brooks

    The position of Special Representative was first announced by the State Department in its April Equity Action Plan. The position’s holder has not been named, but the Special Representative will have wide-reaching powers, since he or she will be responsible for “institutionaliz[ing] an enterprise-wide approach to integrating racial and ethnic equity.” The email names “advancing equity, addressing systemic racism, and strengthening democracy worldwide” as “national security imperatives and core tenets of President Biden’s foreign policy.”

    We don’t yet know who it will be.

    If it isn’t a black woman (preferably a lesbian) the whole thing is just a sham.

    • Atanarjuat

      It would be an epic trolling job if you could fake a grassroots clamor for the next Democratic presidential nominee to be a black (or other minority) transsexual.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Transgender Native American one-legged lesbian or GTFO

    • ron73440

      I’m sure it will be, possibly a trans.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      They’re in luck, maybe the new press secretary is stupid enough to take the job.

    • The Other Kevin

      Just what we need, yet another person with wide-reaching powers.

    • juris imprudent

      Tutsi or Hutu?

  48. Count Potato

    Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. She sounds like she is doing OK. Surgery scheduled for tomorrow. I’ll be over there after visiting hours start.

  49. The Late P Brooks

    What I don’t want to do, and I’m not being facetious, I don’t want to emulate Trump’s abuse of the constitution and the constitutional authority.

    The man who saved us from lawless authoritarianism and autocratic whim, ladies and gentlemen.

    • juris imprudent

      Far be it from anyone to actually act like a president and fire recalcitrant subordinates.

  50. UnCivilServant

    The most interesting thing about these all hands meetings is watching the webex reaction emojis flying up the side of the window. Of the 1500 people on the meeting, only 8 are allowed to speak. So the rest amuse themselves with the reaction buttons.

    Note – the ‘wow’ reaction looks like a yawn.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I hate those things.

    • UnCivilServant

      Q&A section “What is the plan to improve employee retention?”

      management “I don’t understand the question.”

  51. Stinky Wizzleteats

    See if IT can sneak the steaming pile of dogshit emoji in there…should be good for some laughs.

  52. The Late P Brooks

    The Biden administration and elected Democrats have moved to make racial equity a key part of large portions of federal policy. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has argued that policies associated with the Green New Deal can be used to promote “economic, social and racial justice.” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has pushed for the Federal Reserve to include fixing “systemic racism and inequality” as part of its mandate.

    Utopian fabulism, FTW!

    • Rebel Scum

      racial equity

      I.e. “racism”.

  53. The Late P Brooks

    Just what we need, yet another person with wide-reaching powers.

    Powers pulled directly out of some administrative staffer’s ass.

  54. Certified Public Asshat

    Wouldn't you like see a major politician speak like this? McConaughey nails it: https://t.co/WteJ96u9n3— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) June 8, 2022

    I think I have had enough of this guy (Peterson that is).

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Peterson has always been a left liberal, just not a totalitarian.

      • Lackadaisical

        Exactly. Though you’d think he’d realize the slippery slope McConaughey is really advocating, given Petersen’s study of totalitarianism.

        Also, he’s an actor, just like every other politician, except he’s better at it. What a rube.

      • Gustave Lytton

        But apparently not good enough to run for governor (thankfully)

      • Lackadaisical

        From your lips to God’s ears.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Tell Kermit to shut the fuck up. Peterson’s a good example of rightists getting a little bit too damn into someone who fundamentally disagrees with them on several important points.

    • Rebel Scum

      McConaughey levied some platitudes based on false premises. Seems legit.

    • Brawndo

      McConaughey apparently grew up in Uvdale, and there was some noise awhile ago about him being the next Republican offering for president, and now he’s shilling for gun control.

      Anyone need some tin foil?

      • rhywun

        He’ll be the sensible Republican candidate that Democrats who are repelled by their party’s current insanity can feel comfortable voting for.

  55. The Late P Brooks

    McConaughey nails it

    Weepy tent show revivalist uses anecdotal sob stories to call for the government to take away more of our freedoms?

    Nail this.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      He’s an actor who was obviously acting. Not saying he wasn’t actually emotional at some point but it came across as contrived as hell. On the plus side, I have a bridge to sell and I’m going to see if Peterson’s interested.

  56. Lackadaisical

    ‘Boring but amusing in a schadenfreude sort of way.’

    If they really want to make the environment more collegial, fire or discipline the reporter who was narcing on Weigel.

  57. Lackadaisical

    Regarding the climate link, I’ll take it as a start. My nieces all got fucked up in school and through peers, plus some family issues… Scared of everything and think the future is very dark.

    After COVID we need to do the school shooting scare too. The fear of violence is doing more cumulative damage to the youth in this country than the violence itself.

    • ron73440

      The fear of violence is doing more cumulative damage to the youth in this country than the violence itself.

      I’m not convinced that’s not the goal.

      • Lackadaisical

        Add in their ability to love themselves for who they are. They’re race (if white), their family (of from an intact family), and their gender. It’s a wholesale assault on identity and belonging of the most susceptible members of society, by captives to the government.

    • Lackadaisical

      I mean, Canada is almost as bad as the UK when it comes to having a’Constitution ‘, right?

      They have an explicit FYTW written into it, iirc.

    • Rebel Scum

      Commies gonna commie.

    • rhywun

      people don’t have an “absolute right to own private property” in Canada

      Meh. Neither do Americans. The Supreme Court said so.

  58. The Late P Brooks

    It’s not lawless authoritarianism when we do it

    It looks like President Joe Biden is done waiting for Congress to do something about the country’s dependence on foreign energy. Through a series of executive actions announced on Monday, the president plans to use the Defense Production Act to boost clean energy in the United States by putting a two-year freeze on tariffs for solar panels coming to the country from Southeast Asia and simultaneously scaling up the domestic production of clean energy technologies.

    This is the latest in a series of moves that show the White House is beginning to treat climate change and clean energy as national security issues. It’s also the kind of thing climate activists have been asking the Biden administration to do for months. The executive actions could bring thousands of manufacturing jobs to the country while also making the US less dependent on foreign oil and gas, particularly as the war in Ukraine continues.

    This week’s Defense Production Act (DPA) authorization specifically targets solar technology, heat pumps, insulation, green hydrogen, and grid components like transformers. Those might not seem very similar to, say, repurposing automobile production lines to build tanks, but in the past few years we have seen the definition of national security shift to encompass more than just military spending. It now includes everything from the manufacture of equipment to treat Covid-19 to baby formula. Biden’s latest move sends a message that clean energy technologies are worth investing in because they are critical to the security of the country, and the government is willing to support their production even if the market would prefer cheaper imports.

    “There are tons of things the defense industry does that, on their face, would not exist in a free market environment,” said Sarah Ladislaw, managing director of the US program at RMI, a clean energy think tank. “But they are important to the proper functioning of our economy in a way that is much more significant than just a commodity.”

    Those of you who want to call this a fascistic government takeover of the economy are just partisan naysayers who don’t want America to lead the world.

    • juris imprudent

      Everything necessary is deemed critical to national security, everything not deemed critical to national security is a threat to national security.

    • Rebel Scum

      President Joe Biden is done waiting for Congress to do something about the country’s dependence on foreign energy.

      Revert to Trump admin. energy policies?

    • rhywun

      Biden’s latest move sends a message that clean energy technologies are worth investing in because they are critical to the security of the country we’re throwing unlimited amounts of taxpayer dollars at them

      The actual message that “clean energy” producers are going to receive.

    • Brawndo

      Any pandering to green energy that doesn’t include nuclear energy is the tell tale sign that this isn’t about green energy, but about laundering money through politically connected businesses, while simultaneously waging economic warfare on regular people.

  59. R.J.

    OT, I just found a Sasquatch cookie cutter. I am pleased.

    Bigfoot Cookie Cutter – Animal Cookie Cutters – Fondant Cutters – Cookie Cutters – Polymer Clay Cutters – Clay Jewelry Cutters – Cutters https://a.co/d/0JWnmsb

    • Gender Traitor

      STEVE SMITH CUT YOUR COOKIES! AND BY “CUT COOKIES”….

      • R.J.

        Once it gets here I will do a post on making the cookies. I am a horrible baker so it should be amusing.

    • EvilSheldon

      I have a STEVE SMITH steel rifle target somewhere…

      • R.J.

        Daughter wants to put little cookie top hats on the cookies. This could become epic.

  60. juris imprudent

    Round up the usual suspects.

    The Lisa Page memo anticipated concerns about the quality of information Comey was relaying to Congress and suggested he preempt any concerns with another untruth. The memo advised Comey to tell lawmakers that “some” of the reporting “has been corroborated,” and to point out that the informant’s “reporting in this matter is derived primarily from a Russian-based source,” which made it sound more credible.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      The twats in Congress don’t seem to understand the FBI looks down on them and really doesn’t give a shit what they think. Congress is just a minor stumbling block.

      • Drake

        Our new Praetorian Guard. They can make and unmake Caesars as they wish.

      • juris imprudent

        I always thought that was going to be SOCOM since they stand a little outside the rest of the DoD establishment.

    • ron73440

      I remember all of the corporate media emphasizing Comey’s integrity over and over before he kind of embarrassed Herself about the emails.

      • Rebel Scum

        Comey’s integrity

        They even made a propaganda film documentary about it!

      • ron73440

        That’s something else.

        tells the story of two powerful men, whose strikingly different ethics and loyalties put them on a collision course..

        Sounds riveting.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        William and Mary paid him to give a class on ethics.

  61. Sensei

    I’m so happy my corporate career is in its last 25%. I started in a corner office that overlooked at golf course.

    I’m now sitting in a “team building and collaborative” bull pen along with my boss and coworkers. One plus of COVID is that we are only here a few times a week.

    I resisted any IM clients until we started hybrid remote work. Fortunately my group only uses MS Teams only for messaging.

    And now we have real time collaborative document authoring. JFC – no.

    The Five Most Dreaded Words at the Office: ‘Let’s Start a Google Doc’

    • rhywun

      *shrugs* Shared docs work fine for me. Sounds like that person’s actual problem is micromanaging bosses.

      • Sensei

        I have zero issues with putting out a shared document. My issue is with concurrent creation of the same section.

        If you want to draft Part A and I’m creating Part B – no problem if we work on it simultaneously.

        In my world the circulation of contracts with red line after red line is also the norm.

      • rhywun

        Got it. Yeah, I haven’t had that come up.

      • R.J.

        My problem is I will create the document for others to update, then they never update a damn thing.

      • Lackadaisical

        Sounds like a lot of work.

    • Lackadaisical

      You’re like a reverse rap song- started from the top, now I’m down at the bottom.

  62. Rebel Scum

    Traitors to democracy.

    Bulgaria says it’s “done enough” for Ukraine and has no plans to send heavy weapons, a Tuesday statement from Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov indicated.

    “We’ll do what we have promised to do and there’s no need to reignite the debate every two weeks,” Petkov said. “We’ve supported the incoming refugees, we have sent all kinds of humanitarian aid, we have also been involved with repairing Ukraine’s heavy weapons and we’re in line with all sanctions against Russia.”

    The pushback from Bulgaria’s leader comes amid growing pressure after most NATO countries have ramped up their military supplies to Kiev, including some Baltic and Western European states transferring heavy weapons, up to an including even tanks.

  63. Sensei

    Once again – thanks Germany!

    “I don’t blame myself,” Mrs. Merkel told an audience Tuesday at the Berliner Ensemble theater in the German capital. “I have tried to work in the direction of preventing mischief. And if diplomacy doesn’t succeed, this doesn’t mean that it was therefore wrong. Thus I don’t see why I should say: ‘That was wrong.’ And therefore I won’t apologize.”

    Angela Merkel’s Limited Regrets

    I don’t understand how she get “the buy” from MSM that she has always had.

    • Fatty Bolger

      Odd how these articles never mention that Trump warned her and other European countries about exactly this situation. But no, he’s the one supposedly in Putin’s pocket. Makes perfect sense.

    • juris imprudent

      And if diplomacy doesn’t succeed, this doesn’t mean that it was therefore wrong.

      Channeling Neville Chamberlain there isn’t she?

  64. Tundra

    World’s kinda going to shit, huh?

    • AlexinCT

      Been doing that since we started recording history… Prolly before that too.

    • Q Continuum

      …all according to plan…

      MUAHAHAHAHAHAH!

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      I like my modern conveniences but there are times I think the agricultural revolution was a mistake.

  65. DEG

    I had some comments, and the site ate them. Then the site went away. Now it is back.

    The only thing I remember is thinking the opening of the solo for Old Guy Music hurt my ears, but then things got better. It ended up being a good selection.

  66. Web Dominatrix

    Imagine my surprise when I received a card in the mail after the Presidential election saying my party was changed by the system to “oth-libertarian” and I could no longer vote in primaries.

    • whiz

      Goth-libertarian sounds kinda rad. Oh, you said …

  67. Ted S.

    Daily Quordle 136
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