About The Author

Banjos

Banjos

Wife of sloopy, mother to three bright, curious, and highly active young girls. Perpetually exhausted.

353 Comments

  1. Count Potato

    “Dutch Government Launches Canadian-Style Crackdown On Farmer Protests”

    If that were happening it would be on CNN.

    • hayeksplosives

      Lol, no.

      When I lived in Stockholm (1997-1999) all the good produce came from Holland.

      This is a big freaking deal.

      • Ted S.

        Nice pussy.

      • hayeksplosives

        Thanks! That’s Felix the Lizard Slaughterer.

      • Not Adahn

        My brother just got a job in Utrecht. I wonder how he’s going to blame this on Trump.

      • Zwak, who swallowed your pain, and is asking for more.

        “It makes no difference what men think of Trump, said the judge. Trump endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. Trump was always here. Before man was, Trump waited for him. The ultimate Graber awaiting its Grabee. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way.”

        -Cormac McCarthy

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Oh Lord, he took it? How soon is he supposed to leave?

      • Not Adahn

        Six weeks-ish.

  2. Count Potato

    “I guess the good news is that the ratio wasn’t 24:0, like it was during my encounters with students at Columbia Journalism School. It was only 12:1,” Fleischer wrote. “No matter how you cut it, the White House briefing room does not look, sound, or register to vote like America.”

    “Columbia Journalism School”

    Anyway, I’m surprised there are that many Republicans.

    • Count Potato

      “Vatz highlighted the corporate coverage of last week’s “star witness” before the House Committee on Jan. 6 who made a series of uncorroborated allegations related to Trump’s conduct the day of the Capitol riot. Trump, former White House aid Cassidy Hutchinson claimed based on third-hand hearsay, attempted to hijack the presidential limousine and drive himself to the Capitol by assaulting a Secret Service agent. ”

      Still, no idea how that’s a witness. I could go before Congress and say I heard a rumor Adam Schiff pees sitting down.

      • Rat on a train

        Why would she lie? It’s not like lying could get her notoriety or other benefits. She’s so brave.

      • waffles

        Oh…hmm.

      • kbolino

        Well, it was enough to impeach him, so why wouldn’t it be enough to hold a show trial?

  3. hayeksplosives

    Woo-hoo!!

    Late night/early morning/insomnia links!!!

    Happy Thursday, everyone.

    Belated happy birthday to Banjos!

  4. Nephilium

    Investigation Reveals White House Press Corps Is 12 To 1 Democrat

    Let me guess, 0.75 of that 1 is Socialist, and the remaining 0.25 of that 1 is “other”.

    • Rat on a train

      Peter Doocy vs the world.

    • mindyourbusiness

      Film at 11.

  5. Count Potato

    ““What the president and the Democratic Party needs to come to terms with is that this is not just a crisis of Roe, this is a crisis of democracy,” Ocasio-Cortez told NBC News. “This is a crisis of legitimacy, and President Biden must address that.” Later that same day, Ocasio-Cortez refused to endorse a 2024 Biden run.”

    LOL

    • WTF

      So, remanding the abortion issue to the states to actually be voted on is a “crisis of democracy”.
      Sure honey, let the stupid flow.

      • juris imprudent

        If she tried to plug up the stupid she’d inflate into Tres bait in no time.

      • Tres Cool

        Would.

  6. Rebel Scum

    Dutch Government Launches Canadian-Style Crackdown On Farmer Protests

    Including taking notes from the US by using glowies to instigate things.

  7. Rebel Scum

    Most Americans Say Federal Government Actions Are Hurting Them: Poll

    “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

    • waffles

      I was thinking to myself. What if all the Democrat policies worked, people were better off? I tried really hard to imagine the America where Biden really did unite and heal America. I failed.
      I don’t understand how they are so out of touch. This kind of thinking is what makes it easy to believe they are bad on purpose, intentionally fucking things up.

      • juris imprudent

        They are narcissists, concerned only with their own concerns, and their intents are the purest (and goodest) ever known to man.

      • Lackadaisical

        Yeah, I loved the initial unite America speeches follow immediately by demonizing the other side. These people are malicious on purpose.

  8. waffles

    Georgia Guidestones dubbed ‘America’s Stonehenge’ are blown up in mystery attack

    Ever since they turned CERN back on things have been picking up. I love some solid Alex Jones-ian tinfoil hattery. Astrology for men, good stuff.

    • Rat on a train

      It is a sign from the aliens that built it. We haven’t complied. Prepare for judgement.

      • waffles

        I dig the alien’s taste in cars. Silver e46 bmw was my favorite car I ever owned.

      • Rat on a train

        Aliens need to blend in until their preparations are complete.

    • Tonio

      I, for one, f*cking love astrology. Okay, maybe it’s just the cute dog pictures.

      • Tres Cool

        Liesl would like a kind word with you.

  9. Count Potato

    “”House Bill 2492’s onerous documentary proof of citizenship requirement for certain federal elections constitutes a textbook violation of the National Voter Registration Act,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke released in a statement. “For nearly three decades, the National Voter Registration Act has helped to move states in the right direction by eliminating unnecessary requirements that have historically made it harder for eligible voters to access the registration rolls. Arizona has passed a law that turns the clock back on progress by imposing unlawful and unnecessary requirements that would block eligible voters from the registration rolls for certain federal elections. The Justice Department will continue to use every available tool to protect all Americans’ right to vote and to ensure that their voices are heard.””

    Enforcing the law is unlawful?

    • R C Dean

      “House Bill 2492’s onerous documentary proof of citizenship requirement”

      And of course, the article doesn’t mention just what proof of citizenship is required.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Let me guess. Same or less onerous than Real ID or I-9 requirements.

    • juris imprudent

      helped to move states in the right direction

      You mean those states had democratically elected govts that didn’t do what you want – oh paragon of democracy?

  10. Rebel Scum

    The Biden administration announced Wednesday it was moving to make sweeping changes to the federal student loan system, including making it easier for public servants to get debt forgiveness and setting new limits on the accrual of interest.

    It’s good to be the king’s men.

    • Tonio

      It’s worse than that, RS:

      An overhaul of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: The policy allows for debt cancellation after 10 years for those who work for the government or specific nonprofits.

      • Nephilium

        Let me guess, the government gets to pick the specific nonprofits. So GOA, NRA, Right to Life Coalition, etc. need not apply.

        There should be some sort of symbol for these selected nonprofits, so they can show their solidarity with the working people government…

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        This program for gov and non-profits has already been around for over a decade. I’m guessing Biden’s changes removes some of the bureaucracy and red tape but not substantive changes to the PSLF program itself.

        The nonprofits are any 501c3 organization. Their ability to lobby is restricted, but I’m guessing there is more leeway from the IRS when lobbying in one direction.

      • juris imprudent

        SPLC needs a new generation of interns/wage-slaves to abuse.

    • Rat on a train

      The policy allows for debt cancellation after 10 years for those who work for the government or specific nonprofits.

      Also the king’s friends.

    • Count Potato

      I’d change it so students could only borrow money for certain degrees.

      Accounting, nursing, engineering? Fine.

      Art history, Latinx studies? Go piss up a rope.

      • WTF

        I would make it so they could borrow for any degree, but there is no government guarantee and it’s dischargeable in bankruptcy.

      • Count Potato

        Isn’t the government backing pretty much the whole program?

      • Rat on a train

        But then how could I borrow six figures for a useless degree? Won’t somebody think of the medieval Klingon trans literature majors?

      • Lackadaisical

        The people in those majors would probably be better off. Now, the professors might suffer, but that’s a sacrifice society needs to make to keep students safe.

      • R C Dean

        Well, under “Me today, you tomorrow”, restrictions on what degrees you could borrow for would eventually be pretty much the opposite of what you want.

      • Count Potato

        Possibly, but only offering loans for useless degrees might be too stupid to happen.

      • R.J.

        How about charging twice the interest rate for crappy degrees like underwater basket weaving?

      • Gustave Lytton

        *starts selling institutions on underwater basket engineering degrees at normal interest rates*

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Hey! That was merely a rec class.

      • pistoffnick

        Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be Klingon lit majors
        Don’t let ’em weave baskets or be such fuckin’ cucks
        Make ’em be accountants and nurses and such.

      • Brochettaward

        I’m going to downvote the pushing of nursing as a productive career. Sure, it pays well. It’s a career heavily subsidized by the government and various government policies. They’re in demand because aging boomers need someone to change their depends for them. They aren’t bringing much value to the economy.

        Basically, I’m paying more in various ways so that people don’t have to take care of their elderly parents.

        Let’s encourage people to go into the private private sector.

      • Fatty Bolger

        It pays well because it’s become a lot more than just changing bedpans. Degreed nurses do a lot of the stuff doctors used to do, and nursing aides do a lot of the stuff that nurses used to do.

      • Brochettaward

        I’m not disrespecting their education or abilities. Or even usefulness on the whole or in a sense. Just pointing out that it is a career largely subsidized by the government. And a large chunk of the jobs revolve around the health problems of the elderly.

        I’m also sort of fucking around. It’s not that I want the elderly rounded up and put into camps or something here…yet…

      • Not Adahn

        Shouldn’t we be encouraging more nurses to drive up the supply and reduce costs?

      • tripacer

        Well, I a lot of jobs are indirectly subsidized by gummint. I inspect airplanes for a living, which is only required because the gummint says so.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Like tripacer, I work in an industry (IP) that wouldn’t exist without gov’t. Sometimes I feel particularly useless, but thankfully my company doesn’t see it the same way.

      • TARDis

        Nursing is a shitty, thankless job. Even if I had the qualifications for it, I would not be one for twice the pay I make now.
        /Husband of RN

      • Zwak, who swallowed your pain, and is asking for more.

        My moms degree is in Art History. Even she calls is an MrS degree.

      • Mojeaux

        At BYU, the MRS was elementary education.

  11. Rebel Scum

    Investigation Reveals White House Press Corps Is 12 To 1 Democrat

    You needed an investigation?

    • juris imprudent

      Narrator: It was a show of hands.

    • DrOtto

      And when Joe Scarborough counts as a Republican, yeesh.

      • Rebel Scum

        He’s a “good” republican.

    • Tonio

      You gotta love the guy. He makes a mockery of Biden, and all the right-thinkful policies on the left. Added bonus, the left conspicuously ignores this, and the possible PRC-Hunter-Joe money pipline.

      • Count Potato

        Also, Ukraine-Joe money pipeline.

    • Rebel Scum

      Now imagine if that was Don Jr.

      • WTF

        REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      • Nephilium

        That’s Different!

    • waffles

      It was in 2019. Post-laptop. What a trainwreck, It seems however bad, it just gets worse. My real question is, what on earth compelled Hunter to film himself?

      • juris imprudent

        So he could fap while watching himself fap.

      • Tres Cool

        I thought I was the only one that did that.

      • Lackadaisical

        You are the only one watching Hunter fap, besides himself.

      • R C Dean

        Infaption?

      • waffles

        I don’t get the appeal.

      • Not Adahn

        You’ve obviously never seen me fap.

      • waffles

        And God-willing I never will.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Compared to hanging out at the local public pool and letting the kids play with the blonde hairs on your legs, while not busy chastising Cornpop of course, that’s downright normal.

    • Not Adahn

      Wait, how do you smoke or drink in a SenDep tank?

      • Lackadaisical

        Definitely defeats the purpose.

        I’m guessing this is more like a float spa.

  12. Drake

    The National Voter Registration Act is probably unconstitutional – I would have a good laugh if the DOJ effort to keep election fraud alive got the act struck down by the Supreme Court.

    • juris imprudent

      Look, it’s been a good end of year (not sure we can even say it was a good total year at SCotUS), so let’s not get our expectations all jacked up.

  13. Rebel Scum

    DOJ Sues Arizona Over Requirement for Citizenship to Vote

    Tell me you do not want election integrity without telling me you do not want election integrity.

    • rhywun

      Election integrity is only for other countries that we observe, not the US. We literally break every single recommendation that we use to judge the integrity of other countries’ elections.

      • Brochettaward

        The same journalist will one day write an article on how voter ID’s in Mexico reduce fraud and then turn around the next to write about how they disenfranchise minorities here.

        You never hear a peep over the fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans, all Americans to include minorities, support voter ID laws. Far more than who support dubious gun control measures the left claims have popular support.

  14. Drake

    I have always thought the British Parliamentary system was pretty stupid, but… I do like the fact that the Prime Minister has to show up in Parliament and debate. Once he is too bogged down in scandal or to senile, he has to go. It would solve our Biden problem now.

    • Rat on a train

      What is the PM doing about inflation?
      Come on man. I challenge you to a push up contest.

      • invisible finger

        He needs to do a push up after falling, which is frequent. The left’s version of Gerald Ford, except Ford vetoed almost everything and Biden rubber-stamps everything the party wants.

        Which is why it is mind-boggling that the party is fed up with Biden; the guy gives ZERO pushback on whatever the party wants him to do. Their complaint is that he doesn’t go ape shit when their policy backfires. I guess they want him to be more Trump-like.

      • rhywun

        He DOES go apeshit, just not (as much) on Twitter. Have you seen some of his media appearances? He is every bit as nasty or foul to his enemies as Trump ever was. The MSM just doesn’t air it in constant rotation they way they used to.

      • invisible finger

        He does only what his handlers tell him. Nothing attributed to him comes from his own thoughts. He is the ultimate meat puppet.

    • WTF

      I would love it if we had question time like they do in Parliament.

      • Drake

        Yes – real questions, not the scripted slow-pitch stuff from our fawning media.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        And barracking.

    • Lackadaisical

      Then you’d get President Pelosi.

      Think about that on the tree of woe.

  15. Count Potato

    “Elon Musk, 51, ‘had TWINS with one of his top executives’ weeks before he welcomed second child with Grimes via surrogate, according to court documents: Canadian, 36, is a Yale graduate and athlete who works at Neuralink”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10989527/Elon-Musk-welcomed-twins-one-executives-weeks-welcomed-child-Grimes.html

    “Inside Elon Musk’s rollercoaster love life: How billionaire Tesla founder ‘has fathered nine children with three women’ and gone through multiple divorces after leaving behind troubled South African childhood”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10990499/Elon-Musks-love-life-billionaire-Tesla-founder-fathered-nine-children-three-women.html

    He sure keeps busy.

    • Tres Cool

      He must have 2 dicks.

    • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

      100% guaranteed this guy is the most bottomy of bottoms that ever bottomed (if that term can apply to the heteros)

      • Not Adahn

        I don’t think you can knock up athletes 15 years younger than you that way.

      • Sean

        Are you a biologist?

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        In this context, bottom refers to giver vs. receiver, not actual assholes.

      • EvilSheldon

        Pause.

      • Lackadaisical

        I’m really confused.

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        He dated Amber Heard, and still simps for her to this day. You think he likes being in charge in the bedroom? He’s in there getting tied up & smacked around on the regular, guaranteed.

      • Lackadaisical

        Got it.

      • Mojeaux

        Is it wrong I knew exactly what KK meant?

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        Is it wrong I knew exactly what KK meant?

        Yes, and that’s why we love you.  😍

      • MikeS

        @ Mo’: I assumed KK learned it from reading your books.

      • Mojeaux

        Pretty sure she’s savvy enough to top without my help.

    • Not Adahn

      The Canadian girlfriend is real?

      • pistoffnick

        The Canadian girlfriend is real?

        Nice!

    • Sean

      She’s got crazy eyes.

      • hayeksplosives

        Well, he also dated Amber Heard for a while, so…

      • Lackadaisical

        The first wife looked the most normal. Since then, it’s all been crazies.

        You can pull it off, but if you’re not gonna pull it out, sure helps to be a billionaire.

    • The Other Kevin

      I guess some things are universal. I know poor people with multiple kids from multiple women.

    • Fatty Bolger

      Maybe Idiocracy got it backwards.

    • The Last American Hero

      Not unique, especially in the African American Community.

    • Spartacus

      I thought that being deaf was what made Coldplay tolerable.

      • rhywun

        So true.

    • Penguin

      They’re already deaf. I imagine they enjoy a Coldplay concert as much as any human possibly could.

      • Penguin

        Dammit. Refresh before posting.

  16. hayeksplosives

    The DoJ suing a state over enforcing a law on citizenship as a requirement for voting is a major red flag.

    I wish this issue had more national coverage.

    • Drake

      Does Arizona get to take all the DOJ’s guns?

    • rhywun

      So do I. It’s blatant fraud, hiding under the fig-leaf of sYsTeMiC RaCiSm that characterizes so many of our ruinous policies.

  17. Tres Cool

    whaddup doh’

  18. The Late P Brooks

    Another Democrat strategist, whose identity was not revealed by The Hill, sharply criticized Biden and White House officials, suggesting they need to do a lot more to solve a mounting number of issues plaguing the country.

    The real crisis is Biden’s maddening failure to completely subjugate the MAGA-ites and impose the progressive wish list of Utopian Socialism totalitarian fascism.

  19. rhywun

    With Roe dead, Democrats look to abandon Biden

    I don’t get it. Biden is not a Supreme Court justice. What were Dems expecting him to do about it? He’s bleating and moaning about it but he’s not so stupid to think he can cajole Congress into shoving FedAbortions down the country’s throat.

    • Nephilium

      But quite a few of the D’s in Congress appear to think running on abortion up to the moment of birth is a winning strategy.

    • Tonio

      But it is useful to point out that the Dems had decades to fortify Roe via legislation, and made no move to do so despite many states enacting abortion trigger laws post-Roe, etc. Much as it is useful to point out how the GOP has had many opportunities to do something about their own core issues…

      • rhywun

        Of course they didn’t try, because they know such legislation would be dead on arrival, so to speak.

      • hayeksplosives

        As much as lefties like to proclaim they support a women’s right to “autonomy over her own body” (aside from that Covid vaccine thing), they don’t want a “yay” vote on the record in favor of abortion on demand.

        On some level, these folks know that destroying a human embryo is distasteful at the very least and murderous at the worst.

      • Rat on a train

        Since Roe, Democrats have had two times where they had the White House, House and filibuster-proof Senate. Republicans have never had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

      • Nephilium

        Sort of like the protests in New York and California, both of which will have legal abortion for the foreseeable future.

      • Rat on a train

        They are fighting the righteous cause for those trapped in theocracies.

      • juris imprudent

        Right up there with fighting for democracy in Ukraine.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      I don’t get it. Biden is not a Supreme Court justice. What were Dems expecting him to do about it?

      Break the Senate filibuster, pack the Supreme Court, and two more states with DC + Puerto Rico.

      Seriously, this is what the Democrats want. It looks like they would do it now except for 2 Dem Senators that are stopping it. They are angry that Biden does not have his party in line to make the above happen.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        This whole “FDR had good ideas but was too pussy to enact them” deal the left has going on is rather discomforting.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Yes, I think that would be the catalyst that breaks up the country. At least I hope so as the alterative would be far worse.

        Btw, great article last night on VPN home networks. Just finished reading it this morning. I have proton VPN running on every computer and phone but I really need to take the step and get it set up on the home network. I begin getting lost with port forwarding, holes in the firewall, etc., but I just need to sit down and take it step by step.

        I had been all in on Vudu, but streaming from a home network with Plex is looking better and better.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Thanks! The port forwarding for this one was super simple. Just open up the one port and point it to the server, and it fired right up. Of course, my AT&T provided router didn’t call it “port forwarding” in the menu and didn’t have a templated rule for VPNs (why would it?), so it took a little bit of exploring to make sure I didn’t miss something. That said, it worked on the first try.

        All the triggering and multi-port crap confuses the heck out of me, so I’m glad that wasn’t necessary.

      • hayeksplosives

        I know folks are lamenting how scarce the Raspberry Pi is these days, but the Teensy processor and development kits might be a good alternative. We used them in DoD demonstration prototypes a bunch.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        IIRC, Teensy is more of a uC (akin to arduino) than a full x64 computer like Pi. A Teensy runs my keyboard for my computer.

      • rhywun

        We are absolutely fucked if (when) the Dems get bigger majorities.

        My God, the damage they will do.

  20. Rebel Scum

    Would.

    it’s not camping unless u bring 10 jumbo rolls of plastic wrap

    • Count Potato

      Sleeping in a greenhouse seems like a very bad idea.

    • EvilSheldon

      Eh, buy a hammock. Trust me.

    • Lackadaisical

      Crazy.

      Also, yoga crap has to be the worst hiking clothing on earth, unless you’re the guy walking behind her.

  21. trshmnstr the terrible

    Daily Quordle 164
    8️⃣6️⃣
    7️⃣3️⃣

    QB
    3 5
    4 7

    • Sean

      #waffle167 5/5

      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
      🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩
      🟩🟩⭐🟩🟩
      🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      🔥 streak: 15
      🏆 #waffleelite
      wafflegame.net

      • The Hyperbole

        🌎 Jul 7, 2022 🌍
        🔥 1 | Avg. Guesses: 5.59
        ⬜🟩 = 2

        #globle

    • Grumbletarian

      Daily Quordle 164
      7️⃣5️⃣
      6️⃣8️⃣

      Ugh.

    • db

      2 4
      5 6

    • MikeS

      3️⃣4️⃣
      5️⃣8️⃣

    • robc

      Daily Quordle 164
      3️⃣4️⃣
      5️⃣6️⃣
      quordle.com
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
      🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨 🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
      🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
      ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟨🟩🟨 ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    • Grummun

      6 4
      5 7

      After yesterday, I just went with three seed words this morning.

    • pistoffnick

      7 4
      9 X

    • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

      My Pa has been playing Quordle. I’ll see if I can get him to copypasta his results to me.

    • kinnath

      Daily Quordle 164
      5️⃣3️⃣
      4️⃣7️⃣

      Well, at least I matched the bot.

    • TARDis

      Are we still publicly quordling?

      • whiz

        Of course, because we have no sense of propriety.

      • TARDis

        But there is no DQR or weekly tourney. 🙁

      • MikeS

        There will be if you take it over. 😉

      • kinnath

        Did that end?

        I have been absent many days lately, so I might have missed something.

      • MikeS

        Yes, but someone can take it over. It would be a shame for UCS to get his way.

      • TARDis

        I’d probably mess it up.

    • whiz

      Daily Quordle 164
      4️⃣5️⃣
      3️⃣6️⃣

    • Tundra

      Daily Quordle 164
      3️⃣4️⃣
      5️⃣8️⃣

    • JG43

      Daily Quordle 164
      7️⃣3️⃣
      4️⃣9️⃣
      quordle.com

      Started out good

      • Ozymandias

        Daily Quordle 164
        4️⃣5️⃣
        6️⃣8️⃣
        quordle.com

    • Ted S.

      Daily Quordle 164
      5️⃣3️⃣
      4️⃣8️⃣
      quordle.com
      ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜
      🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
      ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟨🟩🟨 ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  22. The Late P Brooks

    Meanwhile, Biden allies like former White House adviser Cedric Richmond, are scrambling to defend the president’s actions (or lack there of).

    “The country didn’t elect Joe Biden because they wanted a Democratic Donald Trump to go out there every day and divide the country more,” Richmond said, according to Politico Playbook. Richmond then added that Democrats taking aim at Biden are “scapegoating the President, or distracted and not focusing on what they should be focused on. He saved democracy once by beating a tyrant. He’s doing it again, but he doesn’t do it by beating his chest.”

    These people live in a reality completely separate from the one I live in.

  23. Rebel Scum

    We have to abort the babies at all costs.

    In Massachusetts, so-called crisis pregnancy centers outnumber legitimate abortion care providers 3 to 1. We need to crack down on the deceptive practices these centers use to prevent people from getting abortion care, and I’ve got a bill to do just that.

    You shake like a chihuahua when you speak.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      so-called crisis pregnancy centers outnumber legitimate abortion care providers

      LOL, I wonder which of her minions focus tested that turn of phrase.

    • Sean

      legitimate

    • Brochettaward

      It’s funny how much the left objects to attempts to persuade women to have babies through non-governmental means. Like, they want abortion to be the only option on the table for some women. It’s enough to make me start thinking of the eugenics movement when I see how committed they are.

      • robc

        The results are far closer to what the eugenics movement hoped to achieve.

      • Lackadaisical

        Many of them are still using eugenicist arguments.

        Those babies lives will be horrible, so much better they were never born.

        Not cited: actual suicide rates of the people they assert will inevitably hate their lives.

      • Grumbletarian

        Are you kidding?? Once a hapless lass is inside, she can’t just say “Oh, I wanted an abortion. Goodbye.” and then leave. That’s when the trap is sprung! The poor woman is trapped inside there until she delivers. It’s basically a reverse Thunderdome, with people chanting “One person enters! Two people Leave!” until she has the baby.

    • The Other Kevin

      I heard there’s this extreme white supremacist thing called “adoption”. It’s inhumane, we need to shut that down.

      OMG.

    • Rat on a train

      The state should require birthing licenses with background checks and all. Forced abortions for everyone else.

    • rhywun

      Totally not a death-cult.

  24. ron73440

    At the gym yesterday CNN had a 5-10 minute segment bout how Biden is aimless and had weeks to react to the Roe decision but didn’t.

    I didn’t really pay attention because the TV next to that one had an old episode of Charmed where Alyssa Milano was a mermaid and that was much more entertaining.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    “White House Press Corps is 12-to-1 Democrat”

    In other news, a dog licked his balls.

  26. Rebel Scum

    You can still get your ‘bortions, morons.

    A group of four pro-abortion activists chained themselves to the Los Angeles City Hall and poured a massive amount of fake blood down the steps on Wednesday.
    The protest appears to have been organized by a group calling themselves “Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights.”

    • R C Dean

      “poured a massive amount of fake blood down the steps on Wednesday”

      These people are just terrible at optics.

      • Lackadaisical

        Yeah, I’m confused. Which side of the debate are they on?

      • Rat on a train

        Throw some chopped meat as well.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Bloody, legal, and rare.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        That’s how I like my steaks.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Bear abuse

    Alaska wildlife officials have killed four black bears in a campground recently reserved for people in Anchorage who are homeless after the city’s largest shelter was closed.

    Employees from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Tuesday killed a sow and her two cubs and another adult bear that was acting separately, stealing food from tents inside Centennial Park, which is managed by the city, officials said.

    Anchorage is Alaska’s biggest city, with nearly 300,000 residents, but it is also bear country.

    The park is located in east Anchorage, nestled between Chugach State Park and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, which state wildlife officials describe as a vast bear habitat.

    Talk about self-correcting problems…

    • Spartacus

      Sounds like the bears were there first. I say let them sort it out themselves.

    • Lackadaisical

      Government messes up again.

    • Rat on a train

      stealing food from tents
      Don’t keep food in tents. The area also has wolverines (which will be helpful when the Russians try to take back Alaska).

  28. rhywun

    Exposé reveals Twitter, other social media platforms routinely hire former feds: It’s a ‘revolving door’

    As arms of the DeEp StAtE, I would expect nothing less.

    • juris imprudent

      How else did you expect to get the Chinese Communist social score in this country? Oh sure, you could try to jam it down people’s throats, or you just very quietly and slowly build up outside of govt and let everyone adapt to it.

      It’s exactly how we are arriving at fascism – with stealthy marriages of corporate power with govt power, not with the march of jackboots.

    • Lackadaisical

      Is it really an expose? Seemed like a well established and not well hidden fact.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    Wildlife officials said before the bears were killed, they were entering tents to get food, personal hygiene items and trash.

    When bears go inside tents or structures, they pose a risk to human life and are considered a public safety threat, and they may be killed.

    “Centennial Campground staff are doing the best they can to manage the campground and minimize attractants, but there are still a lot of tents with food in them,” Dave Battle, the Fish and Game department area biologist in Anchorage, said in a statement. “Until that changes, more bears are going to come into the campground and get into tents.”

    He said this is a safety issue for campers.

    “Killing any particular bear is a very temporary solution, “Battle said. “There are always going to be more bears in that vicinity because of its location, and we can’t teach bears not to eat what they can find.”

    Give those bums a one way ticket to San Diego, where they will be able to live in dignity, without the threat of being killed and eaten by apex predators.

    • waffles

      Being homeless in Alaska seems especially brutal. Even the summer isn’t summer.

      • Rat on a train

        Summer weather is pleasant. Highs in Anchorage are often around 70. Lows are around 60 due to the short nights. The biggest problem is the massive flocks of mosquitoes outside the built up areas.

    • Brochettaward

      I’m not some raving environmentalist, but it’s the bear’s territory. If you are going camping, you are assuming some risks and if you do stupid things that increase that risk, that’s on you. The government critters shouldn’t be ordering the extermination of bears that are doing what bears do because humans are irresponsible cunts.

      • R.J.

        Agreed. Put your giant campground elsewhere.

      • Mojeaux

        +1 Yogi and BooBoo

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Hey, Morro Bay is hundreds of miles north of SD. (And way to diss your dead nephew, dude.)

        There was a much more recent one than that, but I forget which beach / county.

    • R C Dean

      “Campers”. Sure.

      Sounds like they need to fence out the bears. Maybe put some towers up so somebody can guard against the bears. You’d probably need to limit the size of the campground, so you’d need to concentrate the tents inside the fence.

      • juris imprudent

        Then let cholera do what cholera does.

    • Gender Traitor

      personal hygiene items

      Bears need tampons, too!

      (Poodles?)

      • Tres Cool

        A bear was taking a shit in the woods and saw a rabbit hopping past. The bear asks it “do you have problems with shit sticking to your fur?”
        The rabbit thought a moment and said, “nope”
        So the bear grabbed the rabbit and wiped with it.

  30. Pope Jimbo

    Honey Harvest Tip: Don’t throw shade at bee people! They are a litigious bunch.

    Venting on social media proved costly for a Minnesota beekeeper, who now must pay $370,000 to a couple who sold him bees that later died.

    A Traverse County jury made the award to Nancy and Keith Budke of Wheaton, Minn. The Budkes, in the bee business for more than 40 years, sold 75 Texas hives to Nick Olsen of Maple Lake.

    When Olsen got the hives home from Texas, he found that the bees had died in transit. Olsen blamed the Budkes, claiming the bees were infected with several diseases. He took to Facebook and vented about the deal, saying the Budkes were “screwing” him, calling them names and warning others not to buy bees from them.

    The Budkes sued Olsen for libel, bringing in expert testimony showing that the bees’ health was normal and suggesting that Olsen’s own handling of the bees likely was the cause of their death.

  31. Pope Jimbo

    My hometown covers itself in glory

    Authorities in northwestern Minnesota say a man sentenced Wednesday for escaping from custody is on the loose again after running away from the courthouse.

    The Becker County Sheriff’s Office says 25-year-old Alexander Robere, of Bemidji, reported to the county courthouse in Detroit Lakes around 2 p.m. to be sentenced on an escape from custody charge for which he had posted bail.

    After a judge handed Robere a 20-month sentence, he fled the second floor courtroom and ran out of the building.

    Who would have thought a guy being charged with an escape from custody charge would be a flight risk?

  32. Rebel Scum

    I do nazi what they are going to do about it this winter.

    JUST IN – Vonovia, Germany’s largest housing group, begins to throttle its tenants’ heating at night to save gas, a spokeswoman said.

    Hundreds of thousands are affected, Berliner Zeitung reports.

    • Brochettaward

      Not one politician pushing green policies or the antagonization of Russia will see their heat cut to save gas.

    • Not Adahn

      They heat homes in July?

      • Fatty Bolger

        It gets pretty cold at night even in the summer, so it wouldn’t be surprise me if some heat is used by people who like a steady temperature.

  33. slumbrew

    Greetings from Block Island.

    No pic links for you, because the site hates me.

    • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

      Glad you made it!!

  34. The Late P Brooks

    As if I needed another reason to despise that motherfucker

    The Biden administration unveiled details this week of the final rules surrounding the federal bailout of hundreds of union pension plans passed as part of Democrats’ $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act coronavirus relief package last year, saying it will secure workers’ benefits for decades to come.

    ARPA’s Special Financial Assistance Program injects $90 billion of taxpayer funds into the federal government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which insures private-sector pensions. Prior to the passage of the purported COVID package, the PBGC was set to become insolvent in 2026.

    The White House claims the plan will prevent 2 to 3 million workers from having their pension payments cut in retirement, by saving upwards of 200 private-sector union plans that had been in danger of insolvency.

    President Biden touted the accomplishment during a speech in Ohio on Wednesday, saying that retirees in the shaky plans who have already seen cuts in benefits “will have them restored retroactively,” and that he “turned a promise broken into a promise kept.”

    “We saw before the pandemic and the economic crisis that followed,” Biden said, “Millions of retirees were at risk of losing their retirement security through no fault of their own, based on conditions and unrelenting attacks on unions that were taking place.”

    But some pension experts are skeptical of the plan, and are raising concerns.

    One sticking point is that the rules have changed to allow one-third of the taxpayer-provided funds to be invested in stocks, which, according to The Wall Street Journal, “overrides a previous restriction that generally limited them to investment-grade bonds.”

    President Working Man strikes again.

    • WTF

      A good portion of that money will recycle back to Democrats as campaign donations.

    • Brochettaward

      See, I could never be a judge because I would definitely be an out of control activist. I would rule this shit to be blatantly unconstitutional. Using tax payer money to bail out private union pensions. So my money is taken and my spending power is diluted so they can funnel money to politically connected unions and bribe voters. I really don’t think that is a power the founders had in mind for the feds when they wrote the constitution.

    • R C Dean

      Ponder for a moment how insolvent those pensions must be if they need to be bailed out after the string of bull markets we have had.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Really depends. Pension funds taken over by PBGC generally are either from companies trying to shed obligations (and likely have been underfunding them for years, similar to USPS) or the remains of deceased companies. Neither are great funding sources.

      • Gustave Lytton

        And the graft and fraud of multi employer pension funds.

      • invisible finger

        Are you really insolvent if you tell your members that you are mainly invested in safe bonds (paying 3%) while promising returns over twice the rate the safe bonds?

        Seems to me that is fraud, not insolvency. And the members were directly responsible for the fraud.

        The only economically viable solution is to re-calculate the promised returns over the last X years to reflect the actual interest rates over those years. Instead they choose the politically viable solution, which is a short-term patch for a long-term problem.

      • Lackadaisical

        That sounds like the problem, they put everything into bonds, so the stock market going wild only hurt them if anything.

      • R C Dean

        Pensions are required to carry a “safe” portfolio, usually “heavy” on bonds and especially government bonds. They then “project” the ROI on their portfolio to determine if they can meet their pension obligations. If their projections show they can, they are “solvent”. That projection has been ludicrously high for years and years, and requires that the non-bond part of their portfolio perform, well, let’s just say unrealistically well. To make up the shortfall, many of them make riskier and riskier investments.

        And here we are. Creeping nationalization of pension funds. Expect similar investment rules (and eventual results) to be applied to defined contribution plans like 401(k)s, as the stock market downturn wrecks their values.

    • Nephilium

      Biden: Working to make Ohio no longer a swing state!

      From local news:

      But it is questionable whether it will boost the prospects of Democrats come November. Ohio is no longer the swing state it once was, with Trump winning in both 2016 and 2020 by 8 percentage points. Polling consistently shows Biden with a low approval rating in the Buckeye State.

      • kbolino

        A good example (another is IA) of a purple state turning red.

  35. straffinrun

    Remember when Boris was the edgy conservative ready to take on the establishment Tories? How can you be a right leaning anarchist?!?! Because I’ve seen that game played out repeatedly.

    • Tres Cool

      He’s got tits like Schumer.

      Chuck or Amy.

    • Negroni Please

      More plastic than rebel scum’s bizarre camping video above

    • Lackadaisical

      Forgot to mention, but ass Wednesday was top notch (bottom notch?)

  36. Pope Jimbo

    This story about the home ownership rates for blacks in Minnesoda is sort of interesting. There is one section where some loon says it is all because of slavery and systemic oppression, but for the most part it ignores that and looks for other reasons.

    Contrary to constant retellings, the bygone history of racist mid-20th-century housing practices is not actively behind the continuing decline of Black homeownership in Minneapolis. Researchers have theories but don’t know exactly why Black homeownership continues to fall. In Minneapolis, according to a 2019 report by the APM Research Lab, the Black homeownership rate is 19%. The white homeownership rate in the Minneapolis area is currently 77%. That’s a gap of 58%.

    Things weren’t always this way in Minnesota. Though it is often presumed that rates for Black homeownership were worse during the days of Jim Crow and have either stagnated or at least gradually improved, it’s the opposite. Far more Black Minnesotans owned a home when it was still legal to operate white-only drinking fountains.

    In 1950, the Black homeownership rate in Minnesota was 46%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

    Back then, more Black people lived in the city than in suburbs or rural towns, which means a large share of that nearly 50% midcentury rate were Black Minnesotans residing in Minneapolis.

    Since then, it’s never been so good for Black homeownership in Minneapolis. It’s been especially bad over the past 20 years.

    • Pope Jimbo

      It is a complete mystery as to why. Of course, there is another article on the same site that might be a clue.

      A report released in June on the state of housing in the U.S. estimates the annual income needed to afford the median Twin Cities home is now almost $104,000 — nearly $21,000 more than the median Twin Cities household makes.

      High demand for housing and cheap borrowing have prompted steep increases in home prices in recent years, both in Minnesota and nationally.

      The estimated annual income needed to afford the median home in the United States rose a whopping $28,000 — from $79,600 to $107,600 — between April 2021 and April 2022, the JCHS found; an increase that priced an estimated 4 million U.S. renter households out of the housing market in just a year.

    • Brochettaward

      I’m going to chalk it up to the decline of the black family…which largely coincided with the aptly named Great Society programs.

      • juris imprudent

        “Oh boy, this is gonna be great!”

    • MikeS

      when it was still legal to operate white-only drinking fountains.

      Was there ever one of those in the Twin Cities?

    • Spartacus

      How many of those homes were seized and torn down to build freeways?

    • The Last American Hero

      I’m getting pretty tired of Jim Crow being portrayed as universal when it wasn’t in effect in 3/4 of the country.

      • Lackadaisical

        Look, they’re not going to let facts get in the way of a good narrative.

  37. Brochettaward

    How come none of you racist fucks are talking about the hottest film release of 2022 – The Woman King? Is it because you hate strong black women?

    • Tres Cool

      Just how I like my coffee- cold, black, and half full of booze

    • Rebel Scum

      Woman King

      Aka “queen.”

      • Sean

        Bigot.

    • invisible finger

      Woman King sounds like Trans Trump.

    • Lackadaisical

      Half the comments are slobbering over their looks, the other half blasting the film because they were all slavers.

  38. The Late P Brooks

    Though it is often presumed that rates for Black homeownership were worse during the days of Jim Crow and have either stagnated or at least gradually improved, it’s the opposite. Far more Black Minnesotans owned a home when it was still legal to operate white-only drinking fountains.

    Perhaps there are some sort of structural (dis)incentives at work.

    • Drake

      Thomas Sowell to the courtesy phone.

  39. Tres Cool

    My mail contained a newsletter on dried fruits.
    Seems its raisin awareness on currant events.

    • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

      Oh for fuck’s sake

    • Q Continuum

      I’m berry interested in learning more.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’ll wait a while until they prune it down into just a paragraph or two

      • Sean

        Swiss won’t let a mango and post puns like that without a narrowed gaze.

      • whiz

        Orange you glad we have a place like this to act out?

    • Timeloose

      I’m starting to think Swiss is right to narrow his gaze. Boo!

  40. Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

    In other Musk news, SpaceX launched yet more Starlinks this morning. Really itching to get me one o’ them Dishy McFlatfaces.

    • R.J.

      Yes, it’s going to be great. The recent decision to “allow” him to broadcast to mobile sites is what we all need.

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        Not being tied to a high speed data allotment each billing cycle would be nice, because I apparently stream A LOT. Also, you can activate & deactivate at will.

    • R C Dean

      I saw that they tweaked their satellite coverages. The first time I checked a few months ago, I was in a wait list area. Now I’m not, and given how their site makes the coverage areas look, I shouldn’t ever be (most of “my” satellite has few homes under it). I’m intrigued. I’m on Comcast cable, and they’ve had a couple of outages and reduced speed episodes in the last few months. Gotta admit, the upfront cost and the monthly is giving me pause, though.

    • Dr Mossy Lawn

      Just order one.. you can decide in the future if the fully mobile terminal is worth the upgrade.

      I also used an AT&T unlimited phone plan to stream 300GB/month for a while with no problems.

      I’ve already sent you links to the routers I use to have Starlink, Wifi and Cell all in one, especially for seamless teams/zoom and other remote work environments.
      If your RV is your office, you need backup access.

  41. Q Continuum

    Elephants have prehensile penises and the sperm must swim 2 m to reach the egg.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant#Sexual_behaviour

    Further:

    “Female same-sex behaviors have been documented[…]where they are known to masturbate one another with their trunks”

    Must be nice as a lesbian to have a dildonose; that must smell… interesting.

    • Tres Cool

      Can you imagine how bad an anchovy’s pussy must smell ?

  42. Rebel Scum

    The hispanic face of white-supremacy.

    Hispanic conservatives hit back at The New York Times on Wednesday over an article referring to newly elected Republican Texas Rep. Mayra Flores as a “far-right Latina.”

    The piece, “The Rise of the Far-Right Latina,” describes the Trump era bringing a new age of “far-right” Hispanic and Latina women into Congress. The piece then shifted to Flores’ campaign slogan—”God, family, country”—claiming it appealed to a population of voters who prioritize “traditional values.”

    The piece said she supported impeaching President Joe Biden, perpetuated QAnon theories and called the Democratic Party the “greatest threat to America.” When asked if she believed Biden was legitimately elected, she repeated her answer that he is the “worst president of the United States.”

    • Brochettaward

      Mayra Flores…

      Would.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Oh noes she called him the worst president! Hang her! Throw her in the lake!

    • The Other Kevin

      I guess far-right Latinas don’t get to be called Latinx.

      This is in keeping with today’s theme of the Top Men being 100% out of touch with regular people. Instead of wondering why they’re losing Hispanic voters (hey dipshits, Hispanic people hold “traditional values”), they just keep ridin’ that Trump train.

    • Not Adahn

      If you don’t vote for Biden, you ain’t black brown.

    • R.J.

      I see nothing wrong with what she is accused of.

      • R C Dean

        Well, maybe the Q Anon stuff (if the accusation is true).

      • ron73440

        If you doubt the election or think there’s a chance our “elites” are either pedophiles or covering for them, the corporate media will smear you with the Q Anon label.

      • Tundra

        Out of curiosity, which of the Q Anon stuff turned out to be false?

    • Fatty Bolger

      They’re absolutely terrorized by what she represents.

  43. The Late P Brooks

    The piece, “The Rise of the Far-Right Latina,” describes the Trump era bringing a new age of “far-right” Hispanic and Latina women into Congress. The piece then shifted to Flores’ campaign slogan—”God, family, country”—claiming it appealed to a population of voters who prioritize “traditional values.”

    Traditional values made this nation the shithole it is today.

  44. Brochettaward

    According to a meme that Facebook thinks I’d be interested for some inexplicable reason, I learned that the WNBA had a player record a 30 point triple double. For the first time. It its entire history.

    • straffinrun

      Facebook is like a drunk friend who dominates the stereo and thinks you just haven’t heard enough Kraftwerk to appreciate it.

      • Timeloose

        So we shouldn’t swap the stereo next time I come to Tokyo. I might have to replace the Kraftwerk with Devo.

      • Tres Cool

        Devo? I really hate that I like this.

      • Timeloose

        They made some great but weird covers. Did you ever hear Head Like a Hole covered by them.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4411PgkkPQ

        It’s not the same song but it is and also very good.

      • Tundra

        Lol. Perfect.

    • kbolino

      Remember when the East German Women’s Swimming Team was a joke and not an inspiration?

  45. Rebel Scum

    Just don’t get too rowdy.

    A climate activist group called Now or Never on Wednesday unveiled a three-part plan that starts with shutting down the annual game to force action from Democratic leaders, who the group says are guilty of refusing “to act boldly” on issues like climate change, abortion, and voting rights “for fear it will be too ‘polarizing.'” Now or Never’s parent organization, the Action Network, is located at the same address as a group funded by liberal multibillionaire George Soros.

    “On July 28th, we will converge en masse on the Congressional Baseball Game. If our politicians have failed to deliver, we will shut it down,” Now or Never’s website says. “We will not stand by, watching them play games while the world burns. Everything we love is at stake. Our safety, our future, our one and only home. It’s time to leave everything on the field.”

    • Gustave Lytton

      So if they fail, they’ll just pack up and go home right? Because there’s nothing we can do if we don’t act right now? I mean it’s right there in the second half of their name.

    • Nephilium

      Huh, didn’t something happen at a softball game a couple years ago, involving a firearm?

      • Lackadaisical

        Must have been a right wing terrorist.

        People who freak out about Jan 6 have never even heard about this, and when they do, they have no problem with it.

      • ron73440

        You know Jan 6th was the worst attack on our democracy EVER!!!

        There never was a shooting or bombing that was even close.

  46. The Late P Brooks

    They baffle science

    Moments after law enforcement authorities disclosed the name of a “person of interest” in the deadly shooting at a July 4th parade in Highland Park, Illinois, extremism researchers, journalists and some members of the public rushed online. They discovered an extensive trail of digital activity believed to be linked to Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, now the named suspect in the mass shooting. But sifting through the trove of memes, photos, music, rap videos and more, extremism experts agree: There is no clear political or ideological motivation.

    Instead, many experts on extremism and technology say this suspect’s activity fits with a still-emerging profile of mass shooter. Rather than falling neatly into categories familiar to law enforcement and the public, such as white supremacists, radical Islamists or antigovernment militants, it requires an understanding of dark, online subcultures that overlap and feed into each other in ways that glorify violence and foster nihilism. Alarmingly, these experts say these online milieus have been tied to an increasing number of mass shootings over time.

    “I’ve described this as sort of like a mass shooter creation machine,” said Alex Newhouse, deputy director of the Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. “A lot of these communities are designed to spin out mass shooters over time, over and over and over.”

    “Dark online subcultures… that glorify violence and foster nihilism” you say.

    Sounds like a mass bullshit machine designed to raise funds for “anti-terror research” to me.

    • The Other Kevin

      “Dark online subcultures… that glorify violence and foster nihilism”

      That’s an odd way of describing how the MSM covers mass shootings.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Or hey, maybe there’s not a single profile of a mass shooter…

    • rhywun

      Big of NPR to admit they can’t pin this one on a Trumpalo. Lord knows, they probably tried.

      • The Other Kevin

        “There is no clear political or ideological motivation.”

        Admitting that people aren’t 2-dimensional political caricatures is a pretty big step as well.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I read that as “oh shit he is deep in (insert preferred political party/narrative) so let’s run with “let’s not pin a political motive to this”

    • kbolino

      “I’ve described this as sort of like a mass shooter creation machine,” said Alex Newhouse, deputy director of the Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

      Read this as a self-description and it makes more sense.

    • juris imprudent

      many experts

      People that never pay any penalty for being wrong.

      • kbolino

        Penalty? Pshaw. Never coming up with a working solution is what keeps them employed.

    • invisible finger

      99.4% of these shooters are on anti-depressants – as the suspect is – but if the news outlets mention it they will lose 85% of their revenue.

      And I’d venture that close to a third of journalists are also on anti-depressants.

      • Mojeaux

        SLD: NAXALT

        I’ll venture forth to say I like my antidepressants. My life is so crazy right now I wouldn’t be able to handle it without them. I don’t cry much anymore, and certainly not at the drop of a hat. I’m clear-headed with regard to crisis management and followup (that may be more due to the anxiolytic than the antidepressant). Generally, I am in a much better place in life than without the meds. I look back and see how I struggled all those years and have no idea how I could keep a roof over my head. My preferred coping mechanism was having a second (evening and weekend) job.

    • Lackadaisical

      ‘Alarmingly, these experts say ‘

      Any journalist writing this phrase and variations on it can take their experts fuck right off.

  47. The Other Kevin

    Hope you had a great birthday, Banjos.

    There’s a lot of unrest and a big divide between the higher-ups and the rest of us. This is going to get ugly pretty quickly.

    • Drake

      As Tucker and others often point out, most of them have never worked a day in their lives. Never worried about money, making the mortgage, losing a job, etc. Also never entered a house of worship other than for a phot-op.

      They don’t understand normals and rarely interact with them.

  48. The Late P Brooks

    As Tucker and others often point out, most of them have never worked a day in their lives. Never worried about money, making the mortgage, losing a job, etc. Also never entered a house of worship other than for a phot-op.

    They don’t understand normals and rarely interact with them.

    I think one of the most revealing things about them is their reverence for “non-profits”. Profit, per se, is evil. Every decent person understands this viscerally.

    • kbolino

      If you think of the nonprofit sector as the mafia with less testosterone, you’ll understand why they revere it.

  49. The Late P Brooks

    Or hey, maybe there’s not a single profile of a mass shooter…

    Whoa, whoa, whoa!

  50. The Late P Brooks

    Not being tied to a high speed data allotment each billing cycle would be nice, because I apparently stream A LOT. Also, you can activate & deactivate at will.

    Doesn’t Starlink have a great big up front equipment(?) charge?

    • R C Dean

      About $600. The monthly is $110. (I think – I looked at it last week.)

      • Lackadaisical

        That’s pretty steep, but might make sense for rural folks, or travelers.

      • Dr Mossy Lawn

        If you have good cable or fiber, it isn’t competitive. Starlink replaces all providers that were less than that service, DSL, rural WIFI, capped cellular LTE data plans, The geostationary satellites (Viasat) all will now die. Their money maker will be the laser links for transoceanic travel and reducing the round trip time for traders from NY to London etc… speed of light in a vacuum is faster than fiber.

        Nobody was ever going to run the internet to your hunting cabin in the woods.. Now you can stream 4K video anywhere.

        Optimum has been expanding their cable network in our area to all of the roads, and was going to run the cable down our driveway (two houses) which the previous cable company quoted me $4K. I still don’t think I will drop Starlink since they have stability and outage issues.

      • R.J.

        5G will be a major competitor and those portable 5 G boxes will work for about half the situations, certainly in the states. To your point, Elon is the only game in town if you have a cabin in the woods. Cabin in the woods sounds pretty good right now.

      • Sean

        Cabin in the woods sounds pretty good right now.

        It’s all fun and games until the zombie redneck torture family gets released.

      • Dr Mossy Lawn

        Might be a dead thread, but I have 5G data modems as well and starlink beats it for speed and I’m only 1-2 miles from an interstate tower with directional antennas. Since the 5G isn’t their official “home” service there are usually data caps.

        Both services are good enough for 4K streaming and most people’s uses. The RV and living on a boat people are going to love starlink.

      • Dr Mossy Lawn

        Which is about twice the cost of a Docsis 3.1 Arris modem that the cable company will lease to you for $15/month for years.

        RV monthly is $125 (portability up charge) Regular monthly is $110.

  51. The Late P Brooks

    Researchers who’ve combed through Crimo’s digital footprint say the content is strikingly unoriginal.

    “It’s just like a zoomer spin on zoomer trends and mass murders that have already been done before,” said Sarah Hightower, using a term that refers to members of Generation Z. Hightower is an independent researcher focused on the extreme far right and online cultic movements.

    Endlessly repackaging a set of completely unoriginal ideas in service of a narrative?

    say it ain’t so, Shirley.

    • kbolino

      “Copycats are unoriginal” is one of those amazing insights you can only glean with an email job and a bachelor’s degree.

  52. Rebel Scum

    The consequences of Bidenflation.

    Shocking video of the mayhem posted to Twitter shows the trio of suspects hurling glass bottles, a metal stool and other items at employees, leaping over the counter, throwing sauce all over the restaurant and destroying a plastic barrier.

    A crowd of people can be heard cheering and filming the chaos with their phones.

    Their rowdy tirade started over the women’s anger at the eatery’s $1.75 fee for extra sauce, according to one report.

    • juris imprudent

      I guess I’m surprised it wasn’t a Chipotle.

    • rhywun

      Charming.

      Imagine the scenes when real trouble comes.

    • whiz

      Only $250 in damages? That wasn’t much of a melee.

  53. Stinky Wizzleteats

    An analysis video following a day in the work life of a tech (LinkedIn) employee:
    https://youtu.be/-cEdT-mCFYs

    As coddled as these people are it’s no wonder they lose their minds when challenged. Put down your fucking company supplied chia seed pudding and GET BACK TO WORK!!!!

    • Brochettaward

      I worked 140 hours the last two weeks before I went on vacation. Worked 17 hour days with no breaks, outside of a cigarette. For a corporation that has deemed me non-promotable regardless of how competent or good at my job I am, to make my bosses look good while getting next to no credit myself.

      This entitled little shit has never worked a day in her life and gets to make more money than most Americans as an intern. Her parents probably paid the way for her. She probably holds all the standard beliefs of the progressive hive mind.

      • Brochettaward

        And she would undoubtedly tell me that I am privileged because I am a man and paint herself as a victim. I may be able to stomach this stuff better if the upper class and their vile spawn actually had some ability left and weren’t just useless, vapid leeches.

      • Lackadaisical

        Sounds like you’re getting screwed. Not what a Forster would put up with.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Lol, can confirm. It’s even more extreme at the silicon valley HQs of various social media companies. The work space is designed to be unproductive, the play space is designed to be used constantly.

      We have a bunch of these “nontraditional” workspaces in my office. They get used once in a blue moon as a less stuffy version of a small conference room. *shrug* I guess I’d rather meet with my manager in a diner booth than in a closet, but the real estate group wanks it hard to these “modern office space” designs because they get to hire interior designers and tout all the cost savings while circulating beautiful concept images to the decision makers. “But who wouldn’t want to sit on bar stools at a neck high table bathed in company colors? It’s so beautiful!” 🙄🙄🙄

      • invisible finger

        “All the unprofitable companies with rising stock prices are doing it!”

      • Nephilium

        In the midst of being told that bonus pools and the pools for raises are being cut for most teams, we have one team that’s holding weekly meetings proclaiming how everything is going GREAT! The group chat for it is frightening to me. You have people proud about how much branded company gear they bought with actual cash money. Not some dumb corporate rewards or something like that, but with their own money.

        I’ve taken free swag from the companies I’ve worked for, but I don’t think I’ve ever considered spending my own money for swag for the company I work for.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        In the midst of being told that bonus pools and the pools for raises are being cut for most teams, we have one team that’s holding weekly meetings proclaiming how everything is going GREAT! The group chat for it is frightening to me

        HR?

      • Nephilium

        No. Although they do send out good news memos and get especially culty during All Hands meetings (which from discussions from my supervisors, most of the team I’m on has been skipping due to aforementioned cuts while being told everything is going GREAT!).

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I’ve taken free swag from the companies I’ve worked for, but I don’t think I’ve ever considered spending my own money for swag for the company I work for

        Unless the company’s actual products count, me either.

      • ron73440

        I’ve taken free swag from the companies I’ve worked for, but I don’t think I’ve ever considered spending my own money for swag for the company I work for.

        #metoo

        Does Marine Corps stuff count? I have bought many Marine Corps items over the years.

    • ron73440

      That looks like it was made as a joke to make fun of those people.

      • Brochettaward

        That isn’t the impression I got at all, and even the notion presented by Sargon and his co-host that this was some sort of secret marketing campaign doesn’t hold-up when you look at how she basically put her own company down to praise Google’s perks.

      • ron73440

        I know, it just has a feel of “that cant be real”, but I know it is.

        It’s almost good satire, but it’s real.

      • ron73440

        The more I watch, the more my brain hurts.

      • ron73440

        Just got to her Google visit, it is surreal.

  54. juris imprudent

    Bold strategy Cotton…

    Particularly in light of how recruiting is going this year.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Why not. If ever there was a time for another nation to take a run at the US, now would be it. Went from one bog to another without reorganizing or rearming. Kicking out personnel, cutting off benefits….

    • Rebel Scum

      “We’re going to give every soldier every opportunity to get vaccinated and continue their military career,” Lt. Gen. Jon Jensen, director of the Army Guard, told Military.com in an emailed statement. “We’re not giving up on anybody until the separation paperwork is signed and completed.”

      Good job destroying the armed forces, idiots.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Good job destroying the armed forces, idiots.

        Nothing idiotic about it. It’s smart and a very good move. The most pressing threat to the government of the United States, who controls the armed forces, isn’t Russia or China or any other country on this planet. The most pressing threat the citizenry of the United States.

        The armed forces is now being retooled to face American citizens. That means removing any solider who won’t take orders to mow down citizens, who will be relabeled domestic terrorists/insurgents/etc. Refusal to take the Covid vaccine provides a very efficient way to accurately identify the soldiers who need to be removed.

      • EvilSheldon

        The problem, of course, is that in the process of conducting their political purges of the rank-and-file, the progs are destroying the sense of esprit d’corps that makes the military so effective.

        We’re going to end up with a military with the training and motivation of a typical urban police force or UN peacekeeping unit.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Of course. But our leaders don’t need a first class military that can beat the rest of the world combined. They need a domestic peacekeeping force that will follow orders. And these are mutually exclusive.

      • EvilSheldon

        The subtext of my comment, was that said domestic peacekeeping force is likely to find itself, um, inadequate to the task…

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Agreed. But I don’t think they realize that.

      • Brochettaward

        It should be noted that once lost, the expertise and culture are not easily rebuilt. It’s all passed down generation to generation.

      • R C Dean

        This seems like an efficient explanation of the facts. I suspect it may require too much foresight and coordination at the top levels, but if the day comes, they will discover that they have, indeed, fundamentally transformed the military into one that is best suited for the traditional banana republic purpose of the military – to keep the little people in their place.

  55. The Late P Brooks

    “It’s actually very comparable to Hillary Clinton referring to Trump supporters as ‘deplorables,’ and the thing that happened was that they then chose to embody that label and wore it on hats and T-shirts and it became a proud in-group label,” said Emmi Conley, an independent researcher of far-right extremist movements, digital propaganda and online subcultures. “Similarly, the way that we have previously talked about lone actor violence — in that they are ‘mentally ill,’ they’re confused, they aren’t part of anything, they are ‘schizophrenic young men’ off doing their own thing, distinct from any other groups or actors — they started to embody that.”

    Kids these days…

    • R C Dean

      I’ve long believed one of the most destructive social forces on the planet is disenfranchised, alienated young men. And we are well into creating a second (or third) generation of them. You think the isolated ones off doing their own thing are bad, wait until they start getting organized.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Maybe pushing the responsibilities of adulthood past adolescence has had some unintended consequences. People thrive when they have things to do and to take care of. Your average 26 year old incel has none of that.

  56. Toxteth O'Grady

    And happy belated birthday, Banjos! 🥳 🎂

  57. The Late P Brooks

    I’ve long believed one of the most destructive social forces on the planet is disenfranchised, alienated young men. And we are well into creating a second (or third) generation of them. You think the isolated ones off doing their own thing are bad, wait until they start getting organized.

    Dead thread, but…

    A lot of those disenfranchised thrill seekers ended up in the army, in days gone by, but we’re doing everything we can to make certain that avenue is no longer available.