Wednesday Morning Links

“You mean we’re supposed to actually beat some decent teams? But we’re Bama!”

Poor Bama. They’re stuck at #5 behind Georgia and I’m hearing a lot of butthurt from their fans.  Nevermind the fact that they have no ranked wins and have a 1-2 record against teams with a winning record.  They should be down around #10. But whatever. If the system is fair this year, they won’t be able to sneak into the playoff. But the system probably isn’t.  LSU at #1 doesn’t bother me a bit. What’s irritating is that if OSU runs the table and is the 1 or 2 seed, they’re probably gonna have to go play in Arizona unless somehow a PAC12 team or Big 12 team sneaks in to play against them.  I don’t want to go al the way to Phoenix to watch a game. We were planning on doing Christmas in SC this year with my parents. I can’t do that drive and then the one to PHX. That will suck.

Sugar Free doesn’t think this was as funny as most of us do.

Kentucky lost to Evansville last night in basketball.  Evansville. At Rupp. LOL, that’s hilarious.Duke, Gonzaga and Auburn all took care of their lesser foes.  And on the ice, your winners were Florida, Montreal, NYR, Phoenix, Colorado, Vancouver, Detroit, LA and San Jose.

King Edward III was born on this day. So were author Robert Louis Stevenson, baseball legend Buck O’Neil, hockey legend Gilbert Perreault, rape (but not rape-rape) apologist Whoopi Goldberg, NFL bust Vinnie Testaverde, TV’s Jimmy Kimmel, and actor Gerard Butler.

I’ve got to be honest, that was hot garbage.  Now on to…the links!

I’m sorry, but I really don’t care.

Apparently the mayor of Venice is a climate expert. And an expert on tidal anomalies too.  Or maybe he’s just full of shit. Question: if this is the highest tide in over 50 years, doesn’t that mean there were higher tides more than 50 years ago?  And wouldn’t that make his retarded climate change hypothesis moronic? Just asking.

The Baby Trump Slasher is going hardcore. Well, in his own way he is. I suspect he’s looking to enrich himself with his new-found notoriety. Which is probably what I’d do if I got 15 minutes.  But still, destroying private property isn’t acceptable. Dude needs to be forced to make restitution.

Governor Northam on his way to meet the newly-elected delegates

Black (and blackface!) politicians set to take unprecedented power in Virginia. Not sure what their skin color has to do with anything. Unless, gf course, the media views blacks as a monolithic political entity. And now that I’ve typed that, it makes sense that NBC has taken this perception and turned it into a big deal.

This is a terribly sad story and I don’t know what to think. Cook Children’s Hospital was where Baby Reason’s belly got fixed up 4 years ago. They’re good people. But I’m sure these parents are as well.  It’s just heart-wrenching.

I wonder what he was mumbling? Probably something about qualified immunity and professional courtesy. But if he expected that, he needed to choose his victim more carefully.

Sure they are, drunkie. Sure they are. I’m praying this happens. More than anything in the world.

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say I hope everyone involved here loses. Seriously. It’s an absolute shitshow.

Anyway, here you go. I’ll probably listen to it 20 times this morning. Hope y’all listen at least once. It’s a beautiful song.

Now go have a great day. I’ve got two sick kids. so I’m in for a rough one.

Comments

457 responses to “Wednesday Morning Links”

  1. DOOMco

    That’s what you get for losing and being bad.

    1. Not sure if talking about Bama football or Kentucky basketball…

      1. blackjack

        I think he means the OK police chief.

        1. JaimeRoberto Delecto

          I thought he meant Hillary.

    2. DOOMco

      This works for everything

  2. DOOMco

    “many, many people” being about 5 people hoping for ultimate power.

    She could cosplay as palpatine without any effort.

    1. You mean she hasn’t been for 4 years now?

      1. DOOMco

        You know, now that you mention it.
        She just needs a robe with a hood.

    2. Pat

      Nah, it’s actually the entire Republican party encouraging her to run.

      1. leon

        It would put a damper on Bill Welds Campaign.

        1. Jarflax

          Here is all the damper Weld’s campaign needs.

    3. hayeksplosives

      Babylon Bee says she has been urged by “many, many, many” voices in her head to run again.

      Sounds legit.

      1. MikeS

        Hillary Clinton Says She Is Being Urged To Run By Many, Many, Many Voices In Her Head

        Pressed for a solid figure, she said there’s “at least a few thousand” of these voices that want her to run, and she promised to think about it in order to appease the voices. Clinton also said the voices have told her she’s done a great job as president in her first term and they “can’t wait” to see how much she can accomplish for the country should she be elected a second time.

  3. leon

    I wonder what he was mumbling? Probably something about qualified immunity and professional courtesy. But if he expected that, he needed to choose his victim more carefully

    The poor guy was probably hyped up on some fentanyl that got on his hands during a bust.

    1. Fentanyl combined with anabolic steroids can cause some serious side-effects. Dude was playing with fire.

  4. Pat

    ‘First time I’ve seen a liberal get mad about chopping up a baby’

    Trolling is a art.

    1. DOOMco

      Best line.

    2. The man deserves an award for that one.

      1. Tundra

        Related.

        Relentless.

        1. Rhywun

          LOL!

  5. Slammer

    My dad used to play that album, and many other records (mostly classic country) when I was a kid. So many good memories (and bad ones, too). Thanks for playing it. I still know all the lyrics without thinking.

    1. It’s a beautiful song. Absolutely beautiful. I remember my dad singing it a million times from when I was a kid. It will always get me a bit choked up.

      Hopefully my kids will think the same as they get older, because I know they’ve sat around the fire pit and heard it from me quite a lot as well.

    2. Tejicano

      It wouldn’t play in my region – assuming this is the original Jim Croce – but just reading the title and I heard it in my head.

      He passed away when I was in high school so his songs were woven into the soundtrack of my childhood.

    3. I wish “The Last American Hero” were available in on DVD.

    4. l0b0t

      #metoo Thank you, Sloopy, for selecting this as the day’s song. For the past few days I’ve been wondering where the Croce links were at and why nobody ever shared him here (I’m triggered by the Lightfoot links; he and Croce are linked as they were in heavy rotation when I was wee).

      1. pistoffnick

        “I’m triggered by the Lightfoot links”

        *rubs hands gleefully*

        1. Tundra

          Triggering?

          Awesome, regardless.

        2. pistoffnick

          I always liked the bass line in Sundown – Gordon Lightfoot

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7NMvpZ3PM0

          Isn’t “light-footed” boomer code for gay?

          1. MikeS

            Yeah, it’s a sweet bass guitar song.

            Are you thinking “light in the loafers”?

          2. Don Escaped Texas

            John Stockfish died in 2012

          3. Tundra

            The inspiration for this song came from Lightfoot worrying about his girlfriend, who was out at bars all day while he was at home writing songs. He recalled during a Reddit AMA: “I had this girlfriend one time, and I was at home working, at my desk, working at my songwriting which I had been doing all week since I was on a roll, and my girlfriend was somewhere drinking, drinking somewhere. So I was hoping that no one else would get their hands on her, because she was pretty good lookin’!”
            “As a matter of fact, it was written just around Sundown,” he added, “just as the sun was setting, behind the farm I had rented to use as a place to write the album.”
            Lightfoot most likely wrote this about the stormy relationship with his one time girlfriend Cathy Smith, who was later sentenced for delivering a lethal dose of heroin to John Belushi.

            Wow. I did not know this.

          4. Not Adahn

            Huh. I always figured it was a racist song about an overprotective father.

      2. kinnath

        I am certain that I have posted this one before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnERqIVPcWM

      3. Fourscore

        I immediately thought it was gonna be “Photos/Memories”. I have the “Greatest Hits” cd, listen to it frequently. I can even understand the lyrics, while waiting 2 more weeks for my hearing aids.

    5. Raston Bot

      yep, my folks listened to Croce when i was growing up. my own kids especially like Bad Bad Leroy Brown.

      1. AlexinCT

        Now Leroy more than trouble
        You see he stand ’bout six foot four
        All the downtown ladies call him “Treetop Lover”
        All the men just call him “Sir”

    6. A Leap at the Wheel

      Uffda, this was in heavy rotation by my parents too.

    7. mindyourbusiness

      Thanks for the song, Sloop. Brought back lots of good memories.

  6. PieInTheSky

    Kentucky lost to Evansville last night in basketball – I blame Evan myself

    1. Jarflax

      Has Evan posted since the article about his accident? Anyone know how he is doing?

      1. PieInTheSky

        I do not but he posted rarely even before

        1. Not Adahn

          To be fair, he was in the “fuck like bunnies” stage of a new relationship.

      2. Not Adahn

        He posted an update that he was out of the hospital, but I don’t remember anything since then.

    2. Evan from Evansville

      You should, but I went to Indiana University. Computer is getting fixed and being in a thailand zi just luk really.

      But everything in Evansville….special the east side…. is a part of my growing up ‘where my powers came from….”

      Brain is feeling funky but ok I suppose. Going to rehab three times a week. Can’t do enough actual work yet a day to get a job. So shit is getting real very fast and it is becoming scarily interesting how this segment of my life is gonna turn out. Rehab again tomorrow, gf b daytoday (she is working and we live together ) and last meeting w formal doctors next Monday. Gonna be a weird chapter in my life for sure. Trying my best to make the best and most out of it.

      1. Jarflax

        Hey Evan! I share a birthday with your gf! Good luck with the rehab.

        1. AlexinCT

          Happy Birthday???

      2. Nephilium

        Glad to see you’re still holding up man.

      3. SugarFree

        Good to hear you are getting better.

    3. Enough About Palin

      Say Pie, Just wanted to let you know that the Albanian women who became a lawyer is hotter than Dubai asphalt.

  7. Old Man With Candy

    I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say I hope everyone involved here loses. Seriously. It’s an absolute shitshow.

    Shit journalism. What was the wine?

    1. If it was a merlot, the real crime occurred when he opened the bottle in the first place.

      1. kinnath

        Galatrona Petrolo 2006, Super Tuscan, 100% merlot.

        I opened a bottle for friends a week ago. It was fucking awesome.

        Don’t complain about shitty grapes; complain about shitty wine makers.

      2. Enough About Palin

        Sterling makes a damn fine Merlot.

    2. Tejicano

      I once worked a security job in which I dealt face-to-face with the ultra-wealthy on a daily basis. I was often amazed how careless they could be with trinkets and items worth more than many people earn in a year.

      1. Jarflax

        I am often amazed how careless the ultra-powerful are with rights many people gave their lives to secure.

        1. Tejicano

          That is something which pisses me off but it doesn’t amaze me. Any rights we might lose cost them nothing and they generally retain those rights for themselves anyway.

          Stuff they lose which costs them directly, all because they are foolish and careless, that was all too common an occurrence in the time I spent around them.

      2. Pope Jimbo

        A buddy of mine was rooming with a guy who was engaged to a girl from an uber wealthy family. My buddy and his roomie were both from small tows in NW Minnesoda and had come from very modest homes.

        The girl decided her apartment needed new furniture so Daddy bought her some. My buddy and the roomie asked if they could have the old stuff (all their stuff was Goodwill crap). She said yes and they showed up with their pickup truck ready to get the old stuff and take it back home.

        She was flabbergasted. Couldn’t believe they would do that themselves. She told them that she would just have the movers who were delivering the new stuff take the old stuff to their apartment for them. When she was telling me the story she was laughing about what rubes they were.

        My buddy said they were super uncomfortable when the movers brought the stuff over because they felt guilty about being such pampered pussies. They gave them a huge tip and sixer for their troubles.

  8. leon

    The Baby Trump Slasher is going hardcore.

    More proof Trump supporters hate babies

  9. Rebel Scum

    this is the first time I’ve ever seen a liberal get mad about chopping up a baby

    Heh…

  10. PieInTheSky

    Sure they are, drunkie. Sure they are. I’m praying this happens. More than anything in the world. – do not alcohol shame please.

  11. DOOMco

    Can anyone explain how scotus is allowing the lawsuit against gun manufacturers?

    1. PieInTheSky

      politics?

    2. I have no idea what they were thinking. But I don’t now how they let someone sue McDonalds for hot coffee of cigarette makers who put warnings on the packs.

      Personal responsibility is dead in America. Dead.

      1. DOOMco

        Fuck you Ford, you should have known people could drink and drive.

        Therefore, we need all cars to come from the factory with breathalyzers.

        And then when someone runs someone over on purpose, we clearly need to sue because they included a steering wheel.

        1. Oh, those suits are coming. Hell, they already let people sue bars that served people who go on to get in an accident. Why not the car makers as well?

          1. Tundra

            The insurance companies are going to have a hell of a time trying to figure this shit out.

            Although that’s probably in the gun-grabbers playbook, too.

          2. leon

            I thought insurance was socialism? Why do Democrats hate socialism

          3. DOOMco

            Woop there it is

          4. Not Adahn

            Hell, they already let people sue bars that served people who go on to get in an accident. Why not the car makers as well?

            Surely Diageo and ImBev have deeper pockets than some piddly little bar.

          5. Nephilium

            There’s a limit where the people with the deeper pocket will hire much more expensive lawyers too.

          6. Jarflax

            Not to argue in favor of Dram Shop laws, because they are crap, but the argument there is that because serving an intoxicated person is a crime the rule that criminal action breaks the causal chain* is not applicable.

            *Generally, even if you were initially negligent, if a more direct cause of the harm is someone performing a criminal act, that breaks off your liability for the negligence. There are a whole slew of caveats, (the duty you breached by your negligence can’t be a duty to protect against the criminal harm etc.), one of those caveats is if your breach was also a criminal act you don’t get the benefit of the rule.
            (note this is all remembered from Torts class, I have never practiced in this area at all)

          7. Ozymandias

            Learned Hand sheds a single tear.

          8. AlexinCT

            You don’t sue the poor unemployed drunk guy that crippled you or killed your loved one: you sue the people with money.. Car manufactures are evil for profit corps with money.

        2. Rufus the Monocled

          Didn’t that sort of happen with Toyota? Even when it was found to be driver error they still had to pay up.

          ‘Well, whaddya know? People are all kinds useless. Fuck you pay us. Too bad, too sad”.

          1. Tundra

            Audi says hi.

          2. DrOtto

            It only took Audi 22 years (2009) to resolve the court cases.

          3. Jarflax

            Believe it or not there are two theories of Tort law:

            1. Tort law exists to determine who is liable for a particular harm and to evaluate that harm so as to cause the person responsible to make the person harmed whole again. (this is the traditional justice justice view)

            2. Tort law exists to spread the cost of any harm to the parties best able to pay. (this is the leftist, social justice view)

            The second view is a real thing, it is taught in law schools. In my case it was taught by a professor who was a retired appellate judge.

          4. Ozymandias

            Learned Hand weeps openly.

      2. creech

        Personal responsibility is not dead in America so long as we can sit on a jury and uphold it. Don’t duck jury duty.

        1. MikeS

          ^ This ^

          If you brag about dodging jury duty, shut up about terrible rulings. You’re part of the problem.

      3. Hyperion

        “Personal responsibility is dead in America. Dead.”

        This is exactly the right answer and the only one that is needed. Until we turn all adults into infants, how can we expect our brave elected betters to solve all our problems for us from cradle to grave?

    3. blackjack

      They’re suing the Gilroy Garlic festival for not being locked down like a maximum security prison. Lawsuits are out of control. Apparently, total security must be provided at all times.

      1. DOOMco

        At least most of th comments know that it’s dumb?

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          When has that stopped the legal profession?

          1. DOOMco

            When we had woodchippers?

      2. Raston Bot

        but you can’t secure a school or else “the kids will feel like they’re in prison.”

        *HONK HONK*

        Welcome to Clown World

        1. Nephilium

          Versus the ID badges, locked doors, and the general architecture of most schools? Hell, the high school I went to was even in the middle of a compound with flat land all around it. All they needed was some towers and barbed wire, and you could have easily convinced people it was a prison.

          1. Raston Bot

            did you have armed SROs?

          2. Jarflax

            Warrantless searches, metal detectors, strictly regimented schedules, inmates students must request permission from guards teachers to use the restroom, laws that mandate the time you will spend in the facility, institutional cafeteria food, institutional paint colors, angry inmates students grouping up into gangs cliques, yeah wouldn’t want our schools to be reminiscent of prisons would we?

          3. Raston Bot

            i see it more as daycare than prison.

          4. Fourscore

            I once wrote a short article about schools/prisons and the similarities. Can’t remember much about it now. That was 20-25 years ago and it had gotten much worse, I’m afraid.

            Can anyone else remember when mothers would bring cookies to school in the afternoon, check in at the admin office and walk alone to the class room? Teachers would be happy to take a 20 minute break, kids loved the cookies, the concerned kid was proud that it was his/her Mom showing up.

          5. ChipsnSalsa

            That happened when I was a kid (41 now) but I think it ended shortly thereafter.

            My mom was a first grade teacher and retired 20ish years ago and she was very glad to get out. Her last couple years were bad, kids were getting terrible and the parents even worse.

            She has never spoken anything bad about us choosing to homeschool. I thought we would get a couple comments here and there.

          6. AlexinCT

            In school you may get your head stuffed in the toilet… In prison you could get shanked or your ass gets spanked…

          7. Nephilium

            No, but I also went in the early 90’s. The ID badges were just laments and not really needed. They did bring in the local cops with dogs a couple times to check the lockers. We were forbidden from leaving campus during the school day.

            Keep in mind this was a college prep Catholic high school.

    4. I. B. McGinty

      I read that as “scrotus”

    5. A Leap at the Wheel

      John Roberts thinks that the best way to protect the integrity of the court is to skirt hot button political issues every other term. This is a ‘hot’ term with all sorts of hot button issues. Next term is gong to be all about bankruptcy law, federal jurisdiction, and securities infractions.

      1. A Leap at the Wheel

        And I think a grant today would put this on the next term.
        And John Roberts is both a fool and a coward.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    Venice is kind of a shithole.

    1. PieInTheSky

      Meh. It can be a decent place to visit if not crowded but I would not want to live there.

      1. Tundra

        It was October when I went and it was delightful.

        But no way in hell could I live there.

      2. Rufus the Monocled

        Decent?

        There’s literally no city like it on the planet?

        I thought it was pretty amazing.

        1. Rufus the Monocled

          Damn that superfluous ?. Lol.

        2. PieInTheSky

          I did not want to be to full of praise… I am not sure I don’t like Florence more in Italy.

          1. Tundra

            Florence was gorgeous, but Venice was better. Like Rufus said, there is nothing like it.

            Cuttlefish over polenta…mmmmm.

          2. Ozymandias

            I visited Venice in the mid-90’s. Our ship pulled into some port on the eastern and me and two other O’s drove down to Venice. Truly amazing city, Singular! I thought.
            Until recently, when I was in China, and a friend took me and the wife to the “Venice of China.” And I’ll be damned, he wasn’t bullshitting. It was amazing. Was the heart of the silk-industry back in the day, a little bit west of Shanghai.
            https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/travel/sd-tr-suzhou-china-20170105-story.html

          3. Rhywun

            I visited Suzhou in 2001. Purty.

          4. Jarflax

            The parkour in Firenze was more fun in AC2 than in Venezia. I really hated hopping from gondola piers to the bridges, ended up in the water as often as not.

    2. Rufus the Monocled

      Yeh all that priceless architecture and unique history. /rolls eyes.

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        Naples on the other hand….

        1. Jarflax

          Naples has Neapolitans, other than that it is everything you’d expect from the second Sicily.

          1. Not Adahn

            They were the people who invented having multiple flavors of ice cream in the same container!

    3. Hyperion

      “Venice is kind of a shithole.”

      You know, the strange thing is, when I red about Venice as a child, I learned that the city has been sinking below the waters from the beginning of it’s existence. If only the people in Venice hadn’t of had SUVs in the 12th century, I suppose we could have saved the city.

      1. Hyperion

        read

    4. JaimeRoberto Delecto

      Venice is awesome, but it depends on the time you go. The best is during Carnivale. I’ve also been there in the height of tourist season which wasn’t so great. I’ve also been in the dead of winter when nobody was there, which was kind of nice. If I had an infinite amount of money, I’d gladly have a home there, but not in the main tourist area.

  13. Slammer

    Felony for Baby Trump Slasher, probation for being a Berkeley professor and bashing a skull with a bike lock. Sounds about right.

    1. Hyperion

      We need a Trumpet crime to go along with hate crimes, as the two are technically the same. Double the penalty if the perp is wearing a MAGA hat.

  14. PieInTheSky

    Apparently the mayor of Venice is a climate expert. And an expert on tidal anomalies too. Or maybe he’s just full of shit. Question: if this is the highest tide in over 50 years, doesn’t that mean there were higher tides more than 50 years ago? And wouldn’t that make his retarded climate change hypothesis moronic? Just asking.

    I am curious what is accurate recorded history, and what it is based because as far as I know Venice is sinking, to the see may cause more flooding for the same tide if the city is sinking.

    1. I too have read that the water table in Venice is sinking, with the problem compounded by keeping the city a giant open-air museum and not rebuilding old buildings.

      1. “Ha ha! You stupid wop losers don’t know how to do anything.”
        -Holland

        1. Rufus the Monocled

          MOSE Project includes a Dutch company I believe. Italian dam companies are sought after all over the world. They helped build James Bay dams here. So…..the best are on it.

    2. Hyperion

      “Apparently the mayor of Venice is a climate expert.”

      And also knows jackshit about the history of the city.

  15. Jerms

    Great song. No mention of your scumbag Astros cheating their way to the World Series in 2017. I didnt think it was possible to hate a team more. I used to hate them cuz they were so good–now its just hate.

    1. Slammer

      Using a camera and bashing a garbage can is bush league. I wonder what MLB is gonna do with the situation

    2. The stories I read said several teams were doing the same thing.

      1. MikeS

        Oh! Well then; it’s just fine!

    3. creech

      I’m not upset about “sign stealing.” What is it when a quarterback “reads the defense” based on watching his opponent’s films 40 times? Or observing that any left handed hitter on the Phillies is susceptible to flailing at a curve ball low and inside?

      1. Jerms

        Using technology to steal in-game signs is a whole different ballgame.

  16. Rebel Scum

    Not sure what their skin color has to do with anything.

    Me neither. But you’d that they would eventually like to get off the Democrat plantation.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Black lawmakers say they plan to use their influence to address longstanding racial inequalities in areas including housing and criminal justice

      Pfffffttt… They already run Portsmouth and Richmond with an iron fist and pilfering fingers.

      1. Hyperion

        Hey it worked in Baltimore. It’s working so well, that Trump Nazi insults Baltimore all the time, because envious of the equality in this City!

  17. Trigger Hippie

    ‘The Oklahoma cop accused of killing his police chief in a Florida hotel room on Sunday was found by deputies “mumbling” incoherently after the alleged attack, a report said.’

    Ah, employing the Vincent Gigante defense.

      1. Fourscore

        Chester Gould always had some infirmity in his criminals. I remember Shaky? and the guy with flies buzzing around his head.

        The scruffy guy and his wife were criminals at one time but DT turned them around, as I recall.

  18. Rebel Scum

    Hillary Clinton says ‘many, many, many people’ are urging her to run for president in 2020

    I’m one of them. Run, Hillary, run!

  19. Rebel Scum

    a waiter at a posh New Jersey country club spilled some red wine on the luxury handbag last year

    Alcohol abuse.

    1. leon

      Seems like there is a reason they make those things cheap…

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Definite trophy wife

      https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/10/31/04/20408994-0-image-a-64_1572494682064.jpg

      The kind of woman who poses for the socialite page photos in the local magazine.

      1. creech

        If some establishment ruins one of your possessions, they should pay up no matter what the cost of said possession. But trying to recoup from the clumsy waiter is a dick move.

  20. Tundra

    Hi Sloop!

    Sorry to hear about the girls. That’s no fun.

    Fucking brutal story about the baby. I have no idea how I would handle that.

    You are correct about that song. It brings back great memories of being a kid and listening to KDWB on my AM radio (look it up millennials). Thanks.

    I hope your girls get better fast and I hope all the rest of you people have a wonderful day.

    1. See folks. ^^this is how you brighten my day.^^

      Thanks, Tundra.

      1. I. B. McGinty

        I’ve got a piece of wood for you. Wait, that came out wrong.

    2. zwak

      Hey Tundra, a bit of a lurker here, but the car talk brought back pleasant memories of my ’68 Roadster 2000 and one of my high school friends ’76 2002. It was amazing what was around to drive back in the ’80s, which were generally POS’s as that is all we could afford. The Mustangs, Land Cruisers, VW campers, and whatnot still had much more style than the Yugos that we could afford.

      1. Tundra

        Hiya Zwak!

        Yeah, it was a weird time for sure. I had a 65 LeMans that, while certainly not the coolest car, was much cooler than the econoboxes. Shit, even the Super Beetle was better!

        Should have kept that Roadster, man. It would only have cost you about 50K so far!!

        Come around more often.

        Oh, and fuck off, Tulpa!

  21. PieInTheSky

    The Dark Psychology of Social Networks

    Why it feels like everything is going haywire

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/12/social-media-democracy/600763

    The problem is not social media but the fact that people are and have always been ignorant assholes.

  22. Rebel Scum

    What does the deep state have on the Judge?

    On Tuesday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Your World,” network senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano dismissed the Republican argument that if President Donald Trump did attempt a quid pro quo with Ukraine, it would not rise to level of impeachment.

    Cavuto said, “Republicans will probably counter judge, ‘Well yeah, but the aid wasn’t—they did eventually get it, all be it delayed. I guess why I’m raising that is some go so far as saying even if there was such an arrangement, a quid pro quo it’s not impeachable.”

    Napolitano said, “It is clearly impeachable. Because the president requested something that’s criminal to ask for. ‘Can you help my campaign?’”

    Cavuto said, “But he didn’t say it.”

    Napolitano said, “Of course he didn’t say it that way. But he basically said I need a favor.”

    1. leon

      But he basically said I need a favor

      when anyone uses the word basically, what they basically mean is that “according to my opinion”.

      1. Slammer

        he didn’t say it…he basically said

        Jfc. I bet the Judge is pissed at Trump for not being nominated for a WH position, or maybe he thought a SC nomination or something. But that is some stupid shit. Do you think Judge Nap would let that shit fly in his courtroom?

        1. Hyperion

          Maybe he’s wanting his own show on Fox News?

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Can you help my campaign?

      Framing. The proper response is that it was “Can you help me uncover corruption emanating from our country?”

      If I were Trump my response would always have been “Hell yes we held it up. Because we have a problem with corrupt politicians and I’m forcing those who take our money to help us with it. They have no right to that money and it is absolutely within my purview to do so.”

      1. creech

        Scruffy you should be his spokesperson. Trump is his own worst enemy by sticking his foot in his mouth.

    3. Raston Bot

      Nap called for Obama’s impeachment 6+ times. is he principled to a fault? i’m not going to keep my guns by voting for Dems and supporting the next Weimar Republic. am i corrupt? yeah.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Q1eFcLqY8

  23. PieInTheSky

    In the past year we’ve digitised and made available c. 300 #Ethiopian manuscripts – many of them with rich and colourful decoration.

    Search ‘Ethiopian’ to explore them on Digitised Manuscripts, along with +13,000 more manuscripts from around the world:

    https://twitter.com/britishlibrary/status/1194242932473290753

    Who the hell can read Ethiopian ?

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Let me take a look….

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Crazy and crazier

    2. Pat

      Britney Spears looks like trailer trash and always has.

      1. Not Adahn

        You say that like it’s a bad thing.

        1. pistoffnick

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfXs0m32A8E

          Confederate Railroad – Trashhy Women

      2. hayeksplosives

        It’s the name. Britney.

        Only Chrystal could have been more of a trailer park curse.

        1. hayeksplosives

          Or maybe Cinnamon but isn’t that usually reserved until professional use?

        2. Tundra

          Tiffani.

        3. Scruffy Nerfherder

          Chrystal, definitely

          The two I’ve known have multiple kids from multiple fathers

          1. Not Adahn

            I’ve never known a Chastity who wasn’t in open rebellion against her name.

          2. Nephilium

            PTerry quote to help back that up.

        4. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

          Or anything with “Lynn” as a companion name. “Jamie Lynn”, for example

          1. Nephilium

            Don’t forget the “Jo” companion name as well.

          2. pistoffnick

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv33eaygVDQ

            Bobby Jo Gentry -Ode to Billy Joe

          3. kinnath

            An amazing song. It still gets to me after all these years.

          4. Gender Traitor

            “Marie” still safe as a middle name?

            Asking for a friend.

          5. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            Only as a first name. No derivative of “Mary” may be used as a middle name or as a secondary companion name.

          6. Gender Traitor

            Damn!

            I mean… I’ll warn her not to use it. ::gazes skyward, whistles a random tune::

          7. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            I fear that your “friend” is named “Lynn Mary”. So triggering

          8. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            “Lynn Marie” actually sounds more plausible

          9. Gender Traitor

            Not quite, but perilously close. Does this mean you won’t respect…her… anymore? I mean, there are so many other, more legitimate reasons not to respect…her.

          10. pistoffnick

            Fine by me

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3ePPA0yzSU

            Half shirts should definitely make a comeback

          11. pistoffnick

            Speaking of underboob

            Carrie Marie Underwood

            https://youtu.be/R2EEdhT551Y

          1. pistoffnick

            Classy Chrystal

        5. Tres Cool

          Fun fact- ex-Wife worked at a bank, and her manager’s name was Crystal Lehr.
          Naturally, her redneck parents gave her the middle name of “Shanda”.

          1. Parents giving their kids middle names that tie to their first or last name is a great idea, dammit!

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Global warming has sent temperatures plunging, apparently.

    1. PieInTheSky

      Again, climate is not weather. Also global warming messes the arctic sending cool air to wherever you people complaining about it are

  25. Rufus the Monocled

    The Mayor of Venice of all places claiming climate change is spectacularly hilarious. Not peak derp but we’re swirling around it.

  26. Rufus the Monocled

    Man, that poor girl and her family. Rough. Sounds like the hospital is right but I understand the family’s position.

  27. leon

    Math[s] is racist

    TW: Sargon

    I don’t know why people freak out about the dumbing down of schools. It just means that my Kids will have dumber competition down the line.

    Also, it’s sad to see that the new “Woke” position is that minority students are inferior.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    Maybe Venice should build a wall.

  29. Scruffy Nerfherder

    SJWednesday: I’d Be Happy To Treat You Like A Basic Bitch

    Which is exactly why chivalry is dangerous. Because it blankets itself as courtesy while concealing a dramatic assertion of inequality between the sexes. There’s no way around it – chivalry is about viewing women as fragile, delicate creatures who need special protection, special consideration, and special treatment. Chivalry sets women upon a pedestal.

    As with most gender relations, the problem lies in the power differential. The woman may be on the pedestal, having doors opened, chairs pulled out, and meals paid for. But actually it is patriarchy that is asserting its power. How? Simple. The woman may be on the pedestal, but it is the privilege of men that has put her there.

    1. leon

      But actually it is patriarchy that is asserting its power. How? Simple. The woman may be on the pedestal, but it is the privilege of men that has put her there.

      Pro Tip: Usually when you are writing an opinion/argumentative piece and you ask a Rhetorical “How”, you should follow it up with a convincing claim or bit of evidence. I would say more, but i don’t want to give Jarflax too much free advice.

      1. Jarflax

        I disagree. For example if your piece is about Elizabeth Warren, leaving a ‘How’ hanging can make a subtle point by reference to elements found in the zeitgeist.

    2. Pat

      And join us next week for “Why do men only want us for sex?”

    3. hayeksplosives

      Our very own local expert in Chivalry, Sir Digby, would beg to differ, I reckon.

    4. Rebel Scum

      Fine.

      *Slams door in feminazi’s face*

    5. Brett L

      “Change your own tire on the side of the highway in the rain then, bitch.”

    6. Tundra

      Weird. I’ve never had a woman get mad at me for putting her carry-on in the overhead.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        You just weren’t there when she complained about it to her friends while drinking cheap, overly sweet wine.

      2. ChipsnSalsa

        putting her carry-on in the overhead

        IYKWIM

      3. These euphemisms!

    7. I’m guessing the author is *not* being put “on the pedestal, having doors opened, chairs pulled out, and meals paid for,” and is trying to convince everyone that that’s actually her choice.

  30. Rebel Scum

    Wise Latina; ‘What is this “law” you speak of?’

    Sotomayor said:

    “I think my colleagues have rightly pointed [out] there’s a whole lot of reliance interests that weren’t looked at, including the very President of — current President telling DACA-eligible people that they were safe under him and that he would find a way to keep them here. And so he hasn’t and, instead, he’s done this. And that, I think, has something to be considered before you rescind a policy.”

    “Right,” Solicitor General Noel Francisco said.

    “Not just say I’ll give you six months to do it,” Sotomayer said, referring to Trump’s past announcement that he would hold off on rescinding DACA for six months to allow Congress to come up with a legislative solution.

    “And where is the political decision made clearly?” Sotomayor said referring to the June 22, 2018 memorandum issued by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to explain why the department was rescinding DACA.

    “That this is not about the law; this is about our choice to destroy lives,” Sotomayor said, directly expressing what she believed a ruling to end DACA would mean to those enrolled in it.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Legislating from the bench because “feels”. Truly a wise Latinx.

    2. DOOMco

      What does “deferred” mean?

      1. Pat

        “Impunity”

    3. leon

      Now I’m trying to remember right. DACA was the program that was initiated by the Obama Admin, sans legislation. It seems, and this is what it seems to me, that she is arguing that the president should be given even broader legislative authorities than have already been granted him.

      “That this is not about the law; this is about our choice to destroy lives,”

      That’s an interesting thing to hear a judge say, at the very least.

      1. Rebel Scum

        That’s the thing. It was done by (constitutionally dubious) e.o., it can be undone by e.o. Otherwise it is like saying the president is not the president. It sucks for those involved, but like many things this is where congress needs to change the law. But I expect this to be a case that further erodes the rule of law and constitutionalism because muh feelz.

    4. Gustave Lytton

      Not just say I’ll give you six months to do it,” Sotomayer said, referring to Trump’s past announcement that he would hold off on rescinding DACA for six months to allow Congress to come up with a legislative solution.

      It was rescinded June 2018. Congress has had more than 6 months to act and has chosen not to act. Why is this even a point? Too fucking bad, there isn’t reform, DACA is over, go back to your country of citizenship or migrate to this country legally under the existing law. You don’t get your cake and eat it too just because.

    5. R C Dean

      That this is not about the law;

      Then you should probably shut up, now.

      this is about our choice to destroy lives,

      I thought we were just going to deport them, not machine gun them into ditches.

      current President telling DACA-eligible people that they were safe under him and that he would find a way to keep them here. And so he hasn’t and, instead, he’s done this. And that, I think, has something to be considered before you rescind a policy.

      This is a confusing statement. is she claiming that something the President says in a speech or press conference is a policy that people have the legal right to rely on? When she says “that is something to be considered” what is “that” referring to? Where does it say that the President is legally required to consider anything before changing an executive branch policy?

      Not just say I’ll give you six months to do it,

      That was Trump giving Congress the chance to do something, before he did. I search, again, in vain for any legal requirement that he give them more than six months to pass a law before he changes an executive branch policy.

      I’ve been saying Sotomayor hasn’t been as bad as I had feared, but this makes me reconsider.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    it’s sad to see that the new “Woke” position is that minority students are inferior.

    I blame structural racism. They’ll catch up in a few hundred years, but only if we help them along.

  32. PieInTheSky

    Chaebols and firm dynamics in the Republic of Korea

    Philippe Aghion, Sergei Guriev, Kangchul Jo 07 November 2019

    Moving from low- to high-income status implies that countries escape the middle-income trap. This implies institutional reform to create innovation-based growth. The column uses firm-level data to show how the Korean government’s chaebol reforms in the late 1990s transformed the economy from an investment-based to an innovation-based model. There are lessons here for China.

    https://voxeu.org/article/chaebols-and-firm-dynamics-republic-korea

    1. leon

      There are lessons here for China.

      Oh so he’s saying because they are all asians, it should work the same for them? Racist much?

  33. Rufus the Monocled

    “Many, many, many people…”

    Including the dead!

    1. DOOMco

      “Did you ever hear the tragic take of Darth Plagueis the Wise?”

  34. The Late P Brooks

    Called by God, or something

    Clinton, who won the popular vote in 2016 but lost in the Electoral College, seemingly ruled out a 2020 bid in multiple interviews. If she does decide to be a late entrant to the race, she will have missed the deadline to be on the ballot in several states.

    “I know, it’s way past time,” she said on Tuesday. “Look, I think all the time about what kind of president I would’ve been and what I would’ve done differently and what I think it would’ve meant to our country and our world. … Whoever wins next time is going to have a big task trying to fix everything that’s been broken.”

    Why don’t we see dozens of headshrinkers jostling for a chance to publicly theorize about the mental state of this delusional old biddy?

    1. hayeksplosives

      Because they have their whole lives ahead of them and know that revenge will be personal and unimpeded by law?

      1. hayeksplosives

        Suiciding Epstein wasn’t just to shut him up. It was to send a clear warning to others.

        The only more obvious calling card would have been polonium poisoning or some such.

          1. hayeksplosives

            ROFL!!

    2. leon

      who won the popular vote in 2016

      Cool Story Hansel.

    3. Rebel Scum

      who won the popular vote in 2016

      No she didn’t. No one running got over 50%. And this is irrelevant anyway. As I am sure this serious journalist knows, there are 51 separate elections for president, once for each state and the d.c.

      Whoever wins next time is going to have a big task trying to fix everything that’s been broken.

      The person that did win is at least trying.

    4. Rebel Scum

      Why don’t we see dozens of headshrinkers jostling for a chance to publicly theorize about the mental state of this delusional old biddy?

      Likewise for Biden. I am with Styx. The dude is demented.

    5. “fix everything that’s been broken”

      Yet they never care to elucidate on what that is …

    6. creech

      “she will have missed the deadline to be on the ballot in several states.”

      Does this really matter? Suppose the convention is deadlocked? Do DNC rules prohibit the delegates from then casting their votes for someone who was never on any state ballots? If not, then I think this is the road that Hillary (or Michelle) will take to the nomination.

    7. Akira

      I’m so sick of that fucking “muh popular vote” line. It’s like a person who gets checkmated in chess, but then whines that he should have actually won because he captured more pieces than his opponent.

      Hey dipshit, presidential elections aren’t decided based on a popular vote. And even if it had been, it doesn’t mean Hillary would have won – it means they would have run the campaigns differently.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      (3) Urinating or defecating in a system facility or vehicle, except in a lavatory. However, this paragraph shall not apply to a person who cannot comply with this paragraph as a result of a disability, age, or a medical condition.

      To recap, it is illegal to eat a sandwich on your commute, and punishable by a $400 fine, but perfectly fine to defecate on a train in public if you just can’t help yourself.

      Just burn it down.

    2. Old Man With Candy

      Bad headline. This happened in Pleasant Hill, an upper middle class suburb, former home of Spud and site of a million weekend cooking and drinking events with him and me. No-one crapped in the streets there, but some bodily fluids might have ended up in the hot tub from time to time.

      1. Jarflax

        a million weekend cooking and drinking events with him and me

        OMWC confirmed to be older than Jericho.

    3. Rhywun

      Good. I hate people eating and breathing their food in my face.

      1. ChipsnSalsa

        You’re willing to “send in the troops” for such a slight?

        1. Rhywun

          No. A simple request to take it outside should do.

  35. PieInTheSky

    This drink is called Quick Piss and is a 19th century drink make from marmalade, gin, and hot water.

    https://twitter.com/ANScriabin/status/1194275662384762880

    1. Pat

      Other than the marmalade and hot water it sounds promising.

    2. Drake

      Sounds okay to me, particularly today as it turned ridiculously cold.

  36. Scruffy Nerfherder

    SJWednesday: Getting Shit Done Is White Supremacist

    Some of the characteristics particularly resonated with audience members, many of whom were law students and lawyers. For example, according to the materials by Jones and Okun, one characteristic of white supremacy culture is a sense of urgency that can get in the way of (1) taking time to be inclusive or (2) encouraging thoughtful decision-making. Among the antidotes to the sense of urgency proposed by Jones and Okun are work plans that are realistic as well as understanding from the leadership table that projects may take longer than anticipated. Law students and lawyers in the audience shared how difficult it is to escape the sense of urgency often inherent to the legal system due to multiple deadlines for large caseloads. Nevertheless, they acknowledged how small, intentional changes to approaching workloads could yield greater job satisfaction and retention.

    Needs more committees

    1. Pat

      Some part of me quite sincerely hopes to see the entire Western world subsumed into a global Islamic theocracy. No more white supremacy, enjoy it!

      1. l0b0t

        May I join the mass Mormon migration to space if that happens? I promise to not share my coffee and tea.

    2. Drake

      The pictures… I assume a shitlord like me sent these people to the conference so he could get shit done without them in the way.

    3. Pope Jimbo

      So people who make money based on billable hours are mad because clients want them to get as much shit done in as short of a time as possible?

      Those racist crackers! How dare they not allow these brave women and coloreds to take their time getting their case work done? I bet they get all worked up if they get charged for that hour the junior law clerk billed them while they were at the local coffee shop bitching about work with their friends.

    4. Rebel Scum

      So what you are saying is that it is time for an 80s ‘getting stuff done’ montage.

      1. I. B. McGinty

        You’ve got to put one foot in front of the other…

  37. l0b0t

    The ToS article’s comments section was far less stupid than my last few visits (many months ago). Also, SIV was there. Bawk, Bawk Bagawk!!

    1. PieInTheSky

      I gave up really. Not the stupid, but uninteresting. I used to actually find comments that made me think back in the day. They may be there occasionally now, but are so lost in the bullshit. To many feuds / trolls.

  38. l0b0t

    LOVE the Croce, Sloopy. Thanks again. https://youtu.be/zomwyZEYZNE

  39. Certified Public Asshat

    Why Does “Busytown” Love Bernie?

    However even this data is slightly misleading as to how much support Bernie actually has. For example, while it’s true that librarians donate more to Warren than Sanders, librarian clerks and aides — the subordinates working under the cruel whip of those tyrannical book barons (oh, they may seem like a pair of cat-eye glasses and a messy bun away from wild abandon, but mark my words, they’re all authoritarian despots) — are majority donating to Bernie, with 35.4 percent to Warren’s 18.1 percent.

    Busytown is for Bernie, because Bernie is the working-class candidate. I don’t say this as some “mouths of babes” idealism about the innocent brilliance of children — they also love “Baby Shark,” shoes that light up, and they will drink laundry detergent if you don’t watch them closely enough. But the ability to view the world socially, as a machine that only functions as a product of labor, it isn’t even elementary — it’s literally preschool.

    Yeah, but that Lowly Worm asshole is a Trump supporter.

    1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      Bernie is the kind of working class candidate that is certain to lose the working class vote in the general election and win the college student vote. Same goes for Warren.

      If only there were some commonality between teachers and librarians that might explain why they vote so drastically different from factory workers and the trades. If only…

      1. Fatty Bolger

        Commies aren’t “working class.” They’re the “nobody working” class.

    2. Slammer

      And WW1 German biplane fox was in the Nazi Party later

    3. Pat

      Kids love Richard Scarry’s Busytown books because they put the workers they recognize from daily life at the core of the story.

      The illustration accompanying this line shows pictures of anthropomorphic animals as blacksmiths, tailors, farmers and stay at home mothers, the likes of which are in such decline as to be nearly gone from modern society, and in any case remain utterly unmolested by the eyes of the modern urbanite Marxist.

  40. Scruffy Nerfherder

    SJWednesday: Tom Tom Club

    The Conference of the Parties is a conference that negotiates and advances the implementation of UNFCCC. The 24th Conference of the Parties (COP 24) resulted in an agreement on a “Paris Rulebook,” or a set of rules on how climate change policy is to be implemented by participating nations in line with the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is an extension of UNFCCC and “an international agreement to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.”

    The rulebook “acknowledges that adaptation should be based on and guided by the best available science, and as appropriate, traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems.”

    “Would it ever be inappropriate to use traditional knowledge and is traditional knowledge not a science?” Gottschalk asked of the Rulebook’s language. “Shouldn’t you use all knowledge that is relevant to the issue?”

    The next step, Gottschalk said, is to secure indigenous peoples’ rights in the Rulebook during COP 25 in Madrid, Spain.

    “There’s going to be a lot of research that needs to be done about traditional knowledge and how it can help address the climate change catastrophe that we’re facing,” Gottschalk said.

    1. Pat

      “There’s going to be a lot of research that needs to be done about traditional knowledge and how it can help address the climate change catastrophe that we’re facing,” Gottschalk said.

      I suppose with enough ayahuasca and peyote some of your Malthusian bullshit might start making a little sense.

      1. R C Dean

        climate change catastrophe

        Don’t know that I’ve seem that one before.

        Next up: Climate Change Catastrophe Crisis.

  41. The Late P Brooks

    Busytown is for Bernie, because Bernie is the working-class candidate.

    *falls out of chair*

  42. gbob

    Great musical selection. We didn’t have many albums growing up as a kid. My Dad worked for a newspaper where he could take home unwanted preview albums. Most of them terrible. “TV Themes of the 70s” got played a great deal as a result. Still, this was one album that my Dad actually bought.

    Last month I found the album at a garage sale. Best two dollars I ever spent. Matter of fact, I was just listening to it last night with my gal while polishing off a few bottles of wine.

  43. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/progressivism-ellie-goulding-cancels-salvation-army/

    Ellie Goulding Cancels The Salvation Army

    FTA:

    Grammy-nominated singer Ellie Goulding is threatening to cancel her performance at the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving halftime show. The show, which is set to appear on national TV on CBS during the Dallas Cowboys game against the Buffalo Bills, serves as the kickoff for the Salvation Army’s yearly Red Kettle Campaign.

    Goulding made the announcement after fans took to her Instagram to accuse the Salvation Army of trans and homophobia — and condemn her for supporting the organization.

    The comments prompted Goulding to respond with a comment of her own:

    “Upon researching this, I have reached out to The Salvation Army and said that I would have no choice but to pull out unless they very quickly make a solid, committed pledge or donation to the LGBTQ community,” she wrote. “I am a committed philanthropist as you probably know, and my heart has always been in helping the homeless, but supporting an anti-LGBTQ charity is clearly not something I would ever intentionally do. Thank you for drawing my attention to this.”

    1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      Progressivism is a religion for legitimately bad people to pretend as if they are not because they have ‘right thoughts’. The Salvation Army feeds the poor (regardless of sexual orientation), Ellie Gould virtue signals which feeds exactly zero people.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        They’re fundamentally cowards who have no time or inclination towards self-reflection. They do what their twitter replies tell them to do.

      2. Not Adahn

        Maggie McNeill is also very anti-Salvation Army, to the point of offering protest fliers to be folded up like bills and dropped in their kettles.

        I need to read her blog again sometime. She got kind of repetitive since she moved to Seattle.

        1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

          Her opposition always seemed more like blatant anti-religious animus and to be fair that is the motivating factor behind all of this. If McNeill were spending her time to feed the poor and shelter the homeless, I might take her position seriously. As it stands she’s not doing any of that.

          1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            I have to say, though, “legalize sex work” and “criminalize feeding the poor” is a hell of a take, though.

          2. Not Adahn

            Yes, many people are single-issue morality and unfortunately that single issue is often the letter after a name.

            See the rabid hatred towards Rand Paul, who has literally done more good for poor people than most of his detractors will do in a dozen lifetimes. But (R) will negate any number of free eye surgeries.

          3. Jarflax

            The last thing Team D wants is clear sighted poor people and minorities.

          4. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            Yes and I’ve often found that single-issue morality people tend to be exceedingly bad people. That holds true for Christians and non-Christians alike.

            I’ve never been a fan of McNeill as her brand of “libertarianism” seems to end where her genitals begin. Everything else is up to the government to regulate, control, and tax.

          5. Not Adahn

            Everything else is up to the government to regulate, control, and tax.

            I’m not sure that’s true in this particular case. She seems to have internalized the idea that power is always going to be abused.

            But as a general rule, yes, most libertarians are only suchly within a particular range of topics.

          6. A Leap at the Wheel

            “legalize sex work” and “criminalize feeding the poor” is a hell of a take, though.

            I like the cut of your jib?
            UN aid worker

    2. ChipsnSalsa

      committed pledge or donation to the LGBTQ community

      Like paying off the invading hordes, they will always come back when they know you are an ATM machine.

    3. Pat

      I am a committed philanthropist sanctimonious attention whore as you probably know

      FIFY. If you really need the validation, make a splashy public donation to one of the completely secular charities like UNICEF and behold the mighty works of bureaucratic fuckery your money can buy.

    4. Rebel Scum

      The Salvation Army is a hate-group in line with the likes of Chick-fil-a. It is known.

    5. Rhywun

      Sounds like she’s just doing what her bigoted fan-base wants her to.

    6. R C Dean

      Ellie Goulding is threatening to cancel her performance at the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving halftime show

      Who really gives a fuck?

      You’ve got the cheerleaders, hell, two sets of them. I’m betting more Cowboy fans would rather watch the cheerleaders than some B lister lip syncing her way through some auto-tuned pap.

      1. Pat

        It does seem that the half time entertainment has gotten less and less masculine over the years. Not that I don’t listen to some incredibly faggy music myself, but everything in its right place. You don’t go to the opera house to hear Bulls On Parade, why are you going to go watch a bunch of oversized goons smash the shit out of each other and then celebrate with saccharine dance pop?

        A similar thought struck me a few months back while I was rebuilding my deck. I’m at Home Depot picking up lumber and screws getting ready to bust out some power tools and do some manly shit and while I’m trying to pick through 45,000 2x4s to find the 3 in the entire joint that aren’t split and bowed beyond any possible utility I’m being serenaded by How Will I Know by Whitney Houston. I mean it’s a business, I don’t expect to hear Rage Against the Machine or anything, but can we maybe butch it up a little? It’s a fucking hardware store.

        1. Clearly you were at Lowes.

        2. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

          “It’s a fucking hardware store.”

          No, it’s not. It’s a Home Depot. A hardware store is where the people who work there know what they’re talking about and they walk you through your project. A Home Depot is where you buy supplies for a project where the workers ignore you like the plague.

          I use to work at a small hardware store in college and we use to be allowed to play any music we wanted to if we brought in the CD. One glorious day, I played “Freak Out” by Frank Zappa and the Mothers. My boss came over to me toward the end of the album where it’s just people saying random things with bizarre music in the background and he said “Can you go back to your Iron Maiden CD, instead? Frank Zappa is freaking people out.” So, instead I put on “The Number of the Beast” by Iron Maiden. That’s a hardware store.

          1. Don Escaped Texas

            Tap and Die Test: if you can’t buy a tap and die set there, you’re in a “home center”

          2. Not Adahn

            ?

            You can buy those at both Lowe’s and Home Depot.

          3. Don Escaped Texas

            good for them

            ’tweren’t the case for me once upon a time: been pissed e’er since

          4. Pat

            My local Home Depot doesn’t carry them in store. You can order them online for in-store pickup.

          5. Pat

            Sadly my only options within a 2 hour drive are Home Depot or a very small local Do It Best co-op. The Do It Best is fantastic for equipment rentals, but they have no lumber or building materials.

          6. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            “Do It Best” is the shit. “True Value” is for noobs.

        3. Don Escaped Texas

          I think the tunes are just demographic fits: my downtown HD is bumping, the others ain’t

    7. “We will just find another young female singer … if we can.”

  44. Drake

    College Football – I assume Minnesota will win out and beat Ohio State – then get the shaft and end up ranked 5 or 6 in the beauty contest, Alabama will sneak in despite their joke schedule and immediately lose.

    1. Pope Jimbo

      Doh! Should have seen this and not posted pretty much the same thing below.

    2. “I assume Minnesota will win out and beat Ohio State”

      Uh-huh.

      1. Drake

        I love the butthurt college football upsets cause.

  45. Pope Jimbo

    Brave local politician is doing the Lord’s work trying to put juvenile shitlords in jail

    A swastika drawn at an Edina elementary school has caught the attention of a Democratic state lawmaker who says he’ll lead a push in 2020 to expand Minnesota’s hate crime laws.

    State Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, said the state’s laws need to be changed to include more incidents. In Edina last weekend, a teenager confessed to drawing the swastika at an elementary school but wasn’t arrested because the chalk drawing didn’t cause permanent property damage.

    Haven’t seen any pushback in any story on this that mentions the 1A.

    1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      This is exactly how the First Amendment becomes rendered a dead letter. Numerous local government laws criminalizing speech (like pronoun laws that now exist in NYC and CA) that no one challenges to the Supreme Court and lower courts allowing them to stand because religion.

    2. ChipsnSalsa

      The what now?

      1A, is that a high school hockey division?

    3. leon

      State Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, said the state’s laws need to be changed to include more incident,

      He is just devastated that this kids life hasn’t been ruined.

      1. Pope Jimbo

        To be fair, Frank Hornstein looks like someone who thinks a lot about putting young boys into bondage.

    4. Rebel Scum

      In an ironic twist it is the rep that seeks to act like a Nazi.

      1. Gustave Lytton

        Ironic in an Alannis Morrisette way.

    5. Akira

      In high school, my friends and I had this game where we would try to surreptitiously draw swastikas on each other’s papers so that we turned them in and got in trouble (and by “in trouble”, I mean the teacher would see it, scribble it out, and yell at us to stop acting like idiots).

      I can’t fucking imagine being a teenager in school today with all this super-woke bullshit, and I’m only 32.

  46. The Late P Brooks

    The patriarchy strikes again!

    The Rube Goldberg mess of the United States tax code picks winners and losers as it raises trillions of dollars for the federal government. It advantages unearned income over earned income. It advantages big, mortgaged homes over little, rented apartments. It advantages the richest of the rich over the mere rich. And, in many cases, it advantages men over women.

    That last claim is the contention of three new reports produced by the National Women’s Law Center and several other research and advocacy groups. They analyze the tax code through the lens of gender and conclude that many provisions reflect, amplify, and entrench long-standing disparities between men and women.

    But it need not be so. The tax code has profound power to close the gender wage-and-wealth gap, as well as to support equality in the workplace and help families thrive at home. As the country debates taxing billionaires out of existence, it might consider taxing the patriarchy out of existence, too.

    ——-

    For one, the tax code subtly pushes women out of the workforce through the so-called “marriage penalty” and “secondary-earner bias.” Many women are the lower-earning partner in a married couple, thanks in part to entrenched forces that shunt women into less remunerative professions and pay them less for the same work. These married women often pay higher tax rates than they would if they were single, in some cases losing access to lucrative tax credits too. That discourages them from working; indeed studies demonstrate that tax policy is a major reason for the persistence of the gender labor-participation gap and the gender wage gap in the United States. (The Trump tax cuts eliminated many of these penalties and biases, but not all of them.)

    The tax code also cements existing disparities between men and women through the preferential treatment of investment income and benefits. “Low effective tax rates on the highest-income earners widen the disparities between executives, who are typically white men, and the poorly paid workforce, often made up of women of color,” said Katy Milani, the director of advocacy and policy at the Roosevelt Institute, stressing how important it was to understand intersectional disadvantage in the tax code.

    The way the tax code treats businesses also disadvantages women, in some ways. For instance, tax policy seems to quietly prioritize male-dominated, capital-intensive businesses, like firms in construction, computing, and robotics, by allowing them to deduct the cost of new machinery. Service-oriented businesses, which women are more likely to start than manufacturing businesses, get less advantage.

    Bitch, bitch, bitch.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      We’re totally opposed to the way the tax code is used for social engineering, so here’s the social engineering we want to do with it.

    2. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      “For one, the tax code subtly pushes women out of the workforce through the so-called “marriage penalty” and “secondary-earner bias.” Many women are the lower-earning partner in a married couple, thanks in part to entrenched forces that shunt women into less remunerative professions and pay them less for the same work. These married women often pay higher tax rates than they would if they were single, in some cases losing access to lucrative tax credits too. That discourages them from working; indeed studies demonstrate that tax policy is a major reason for the persistence of the gender labor-participation gap and the gender wage gap in the United States. (The Trump tax cuts eliminated many of these penalties and biases, but not all of them.)”

      This isn’t wrong, though. The “marriage penalty” most definitely exists. I’m not sure if that disincentivizes women from working, though. There is something else that married people tend to produce that probably disincentivizes working far more

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Sorrow?

        1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

          Eh…I was thinking “weight gain”. No one wants to hire fat chicks. But, the “sorrow” probably leads to the “weight gain”.

      2. Gustave Lytton

        These married women often pay higher tax rates

        No, these married couples pay higher tax rates. Withholding ≠ tax rates, and unless they’re filing separately, the couple is taxed regardless of who earns it. Also, withholding tables will underwithhold if your spouse earns a chunk of money with the lower earning spouse withholding less in proportion.

        1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

          Wouldn’t it depend on the income of both spouses? You get bumped into a higher tax bracket if both spouses earn a high income versus if you both filed individually.

          1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            For the highest tax rate, if you are single and earn $400,001 then you are in this bracket. Versus if you are married you get bumped into the highest tax bracket if you earn $450,001. So if both you and your spouse earn in the mid $200,000 range you will be paying a higher income tax than if you were single and earning the same combined income.

          2. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            Or, rather, not the same “combined income”. Just a higher income than you currently earn.

          3. Gustave Lytton

            Yes, you do pay a higher tax rate. But it’s as a couple not individually. Once married you can file separately, but you can’t file individually. You, as a couple, pay the same if one spouse earns $400k, $200k/$200k, $350k/$50k.

            The marriage “penalty” is due to the graduated progressive tax rate. Make it a flat tax and it goes away. (SLD, but the marriage penalty is also accompanied by the married savings of not maintaining two households).

            Withholding rates and tables are different than the final filed tax rate. They’re set up to not take into account any outside income. If your spouse has income, or if you have a second or third income, it will underwithold and you can either add additional withholding or pay 4/15 (including potential penalties and potentially subject to quarterly payments in future years). If you’re the lower income spouse, due to progressive taxation, your withholding is going to be even lower since the tables assume that is the entire income for a couple filing jointly. When it comes time to cut a check in April, I doubt it’s the lower earning spouse that is going to write it either.

    3. Pat

      Many women are the lower-earning partner in a married couple, thanks in part to entrenched forces that shunt women into less remunerative professions and pay them less for the same work.

      Such entrenched forces as “women’s career preferences”, for example.

    4. Certified Public Asshat

      These married women often pay higher tax rates than they would if they were single, in some cases losing access to lucrative tax credits too.

      The child tax credit doesn’t phase out now until $400k joint income. I’m not sure how that discourages working from women who are likely salaried anyway at that income level. Thanks Trump?

    5. wdalasio

      tax policy seems to quietly prioritize male-dominated, capital-intensive businesses, like firms in construction, computing, and robotics, by allowing them to deduct the cost of new machinery. Service-oriented businesses, which women are more likely to start than manufacturing businesses, get less advantage.

      Because those “male-dominated” businesses actually have to go out and buy the capital assets to run their damned businesses. This is utterly insane. A business that doesn’t have capital assets to depreciate (and maintain and replace) shouldn’t get depreciation allowance for the assets they don’t have to maintain or replace.

      1. leon

        A business that doesn’t have capital assets to depreciate (and maintain and replace) shouldn’t get depreciation allowance for the assets they don’t have to maintain or replace.

        Perhaps the companies could pay for Boob Jobs and claim those assets….

        1. Jarflax

          Probably more advantageous to expense those.

          1. ChipsnSalsa

            That’s a 202 page IRS document. Do you tell people to “read this first” as stall tactic, knowing they will never get through it?

          2. Jarflax

            It is a measure of how boring my work is that I didn’t even blink at the idea. What’s one more novel length document?

          3. Nephilium

            Jarflax: May I introduce you to the concept of a database schema? Thankfully you’re usually not expected to read through the whole thing at once.

    6. Akira

      The Rube Goldberg mess of the United States tax code picks winners and losers as it raises trillions of dollars for the federal government.

      Don’t you hate it when these dipshit leftie articles start out by stating something perfectly true and poignant, but then the stupid kicks in?

  47. Pope Jimbo

    Last night my basketball crew was talking about the chances of the Gophers getting into the playoffs if they win out and beat OSU in the Big 10 championship game (I know it is a stretch).

    I was the most pessimistic and said even if the Gophs do have a once in a century season they would get snubbed. It would only let them add one more SEC team to the championship.

    Also, why not have 8 teams instead of 4 in the playoffs. Sure seems like it would solve a lot of troubles.

    1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      They need a new mascot. No one respects gophers.

      1. Tundra

        Julie seemed to.

      2. Not Adahn

        I saw a documentary about how tough and hard to kill they are.

    2. Drake

      Just do like UCF and hang “Undefeated National Champions” banners all around campus anyhow. Fuck a playoff system based on polls. Invite the power 5 Champions and maybe a few “at large” teams to round it out.

      1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

        The whole “at large” stuff is the problem. I don’t understand why they can’t just have a playoff system with the champions of each conference and maybe a few wild card slots. Do they honestly think that people will get upset about too much football?

        1. Drake

          It would dampen down some of the hype of a game like LSU – Alabama last week. On the other hand, it would give the Pac-12 Championship game a lot more meaning.

        2. leon

          I think its more about Football Snobery. Some teams from some conferences don’t even want to play with others because that conference is beneath them.

          1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            My favorite football conference is the MAC. In part, because the conference only includes colleges in post-industrial cities and I have a soft spot for those hardscrabble down-on-their-luck Midwestern towns.

            Also, it’s funny when they beat a Big Ten team and people are sad.

          2. Jarflax

            because the conference only includes colleges in post-industrial cities and I have a soft spot for those hardscrabble down-on-their-luck Midwestern towns.

            *Looks around Oxford, Athens, and Bowling Green

            Maybe only is a bit strong.

          3. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            OK, fair enough. “Only” is an over-generalization. I was thinking more along the lines of Akron or DeKalb or Toledo.

            It’s still enjoyable to watch them beat a Big Ten team, though. For the tears

      2. robc

        16 teams. 10 conference champs plus 6.

        1. Drake

          Let’s not go all NHL with this.

    3. They moved them up high enough that they’d get in if they ran the table. They’d have wins over four ranked teams at the back half of their schedule. No way they get left out. Hell, they’d probably be the 2 seed ahead of Clemson if they happened to beat PSU, Iowa, Wisconsin and tOSU in a five week stretch.

  48. Pope Jimbo

    Speaking of the NCAA fucknuts….

    How the fuck are they justifying the James Wiseman?

    The violation was from 2 years ago when everyone involved was not associated with Memphis State? How does that work? Also if hiring a beloved high school coach to get a recruit is against the rules, now many other “student athletes” are ineligible?

  49. Ass Wednesday provides pulchritudinous posteriors for your puerile pleasure.

    http://archive.is/vUKga

    1. Pat

      8, 15, 24 and 32 share the booty prize.

  50. leon

    I want to call foul on the “Great Glib Debates”

    I didn’t know we were gonna let Laywers participate :eye’s jarflax:.

    1. Tundra

      I disagree.

    2. Jarflax

      I’m a real estate lawyer. I draft leases and deeds. I only argue for fun. It’s Ozy we need to watch, he’s the trial lawyer.

      1. Ozymandias

        *Walks by whistling with an umbrella*
        “Wha- who? Me?”

  51. Hey, yo, Spud– I spent the night in the hospital with my mom last night and thought about you a lot. I hope you’re holding steady and have breaks every so often.

    1. leon

      The mainstream media has already proven that this is a baseless conspiracy theory

      1. Drake

        Think they would be interested if it was Donnie Jr. on the boards of Russian companies?

      2. Not Adahn

        DEBUNKED!

    2. R C Dean

      Next they should release the minutes from the board meetings held while he was a director.

      How anybody can look at this and not say it is a blatant piece of indirect bribery and influence peddling is just beyond me. I get why some people don’t want to say it out loud, especially the apparatchiks who are cashing in using this exact same scheme (or variations involving “investment management” or “hedge funds” that mysteriously attract huge piles of foreign money despite having no track record or any accomplished financial people on board).

      But you would have to be seriously stupid or delusional to not see what was, and is, going on.

    3. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      Bad orange man. Orange man is bad.

    4. Wow. They really overpaid.

      1. Fatty Bolger

        Did they, though? His dad got a prosecutor looking into the company fired. Seems like money well spent.

        1. R C Dean

          And that’s just what we know about.

    5. Fatty Bolger

      I’m sure the MSM will be all over this.

  52. The Late P Brooks

    Vox is on the case

    The 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) gives gun makers and dealers sweeping legal protections from lawsuits. The law was supported by the National Rifle Association and other gun rights advocates to prevent lawsuits that, they feared, could help cripple the firearms industry.

    Prior to this legislation, lawsuits against the gun industry had generally failed — but the industry was worried one would eventually break through, and expose industry secrets that could make manufacturers and sellers look bad, including connections to illegal trafficking. Since the law passed, it has been repeatedly cited by courts to dismiss litigation against the gun industry.

    ——-

    Remington argued the Connecticut Supreme Court interpreted the exceptions too broadly, and appealed its case to the US Supreme Court. Now that the appeal has failed, the lawsuit will proceed in the lower courts.

    The suit is meant to hold the gun industry accountable, and send a message that may encourage a few more checks, on the manufacturers’ or sellers’ part, to marketing and selling firearms.

    More broadly, gun control advocates have pushed to ban assault weapons. The research suggests such a ban would not have a significant impact on overall gun violence, because most US gun violence is carried out with handguns, but experts say that such a ban may reduce the overall deadliness of mass shootings, like the one in Sandy Hook.

    With Congress unlikely to pass an assault weapons ban anytime soon, some victims of mass shootings are turning to litigation against the companies who made the weapons.

    but the industry was worried one would eventually break through, and expose industry secrets that could make manufacturers and sellers look bad, including connections to illegal trafficking

    *sound of screeching tires, rending metal*

    Wow. Industry secrets. They easily cleared the ditch and landed out in the middle of the arugula field, with that one.

    Send a message. That’s why we have a judicial system.

    1. DOOMco

      Shouldn’t any advertising strategy be ok unless it’s fraud or actually advocating the murder of innocents?

    2. Rebel Scum

      Should we hold Ford (or whomever) accountable if someone drives a Uhaul through a crowd?

      1. Sean

        Sure and every garage that serviced the vehicle. And the dealership that sold it. And the tire manufacturer.

        Let’s make it a party.

        1. Tundra

          Firestone says hi.

          1. DOOMco

            That’s more understandable though right? They made a very bad tire.
            Wouldn’t that be a lawsuit of sig when they have guns that go bang on their own?

          2. Tundra

            I don’t know. Ford, the customer, asked Firestone to remove material from a couple of the tires, in an effort to improve -wait for it – fuel economy.

            Firestone did so and the rest is history.

            I suspect it’s a combo of manufacturing issues (tread separation), engineering (material removal, high COG, etc) and user error (driving on low tires, expecting the Exploder to handle like a car, etc.).

            Both companies paid a shit-ton.

          3. Sean

            Per Wikipedia:

            It is estimated that these tire failures and rollovers cost Bridgestone/Firestone $1.67 billion[73] and Ford Motor Company $530 million. Bridgestone’s market price dropped by 50% and the resulting restructuring cost Bridgestone $2 billion. In 2001, Ford recorded a loss of $5.5 billion

          4. DOOMco

            That just seem logistically different than “gun functions properly, is used for murder”

          5. Tundra

            Perhaps. I still think both companies got fucked.

    3. R C Dean

      but the industry was worried one would eventually break through, and expose industry secrets that could make manufacturers and sellers look bad, including connections to illegal trafficking

      Asserted without evidence. Pure speculation. Reported as fact, naturally.

  53. Late entry to the debates: Pie has thrown his hat in the ring.

    That’s a good thing since it brings us to an even number of participants.

    Registration is now really, really, closed. Topics will be sent out today!

    1. leon

      Do we have an ETA on the time the Topics will be sent out? I gotta get up early to beat Jarflax

      1. Pat

        I have no idea that to which any of this is in reference, but it sounds like there will be brawling which I fully support.

        1. pistoffnick

          Glib Burlesque Show

          “Pie has thrown his hat in the ring.” It (the hat) was previously hanging on his erection while he sang “You Can Leave Your Hat On”

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b04jq7NB1s

    2. Florida Man

      What’s all this? Is it formal debates? I sure hope so. I’m tired of all the screeching and gotchas that have taken the place of actual arguments.

      1. Pat

        Pffft that’s exactly what I’d expect some meth head Florida Man to say. Have you stopped beating your wife?

      2. Jarflax

        I was planning on all caps and wall to wall accusations of othering queer black bodies. Is that wrong?

  54. The Late P Brooks
    1. ChipsnSalsa

      Wasn’t going to click on a Vox link anyways.

  55. R C Dean

    On the sick baby story:

    These cases highlight something that few people realize: you don’t just need the informed consent of the patient (or their parents, in this case) to provide treatment. You also need the consent of the providers who are supposed to be giving the treatment. In this case, the latter consent has been withdrawn. The Texas law may be unique in the country in providing a way for the hospital to actually put its refusal to continue providing treatment into effect.

    I’ve been personally involved in these kinds of cases, and I can guarantee you two things:

    (1) The hospital has moved heaven and earth trying to find another hospital to take this baby. I would expect every children’s hospital in the country has been contacted by now. They would much rather transfer than withdraw care. Much rather.

    (2) This started with the staff – the nurses and doctors actually in daily contact with the patient. Taking care of terminal patients is incredibly hard on staff, especially when the patient is suffering. Children’s hospital staff take care of terminal children all the time. They wouldn’t have taken this road if the kid wasn’t suffering. What’s worse is that providing care usually causes more pain, so from the staff’s perspective they are essentially being required to torture this baby for no real purpose. I would be very surprised if there wasn’t a lot of turnover on this baby’s care team.

    I am not surprised to see that this is a black family. The black community has a long memory of being denied treatment or getting second-class treatment. The general rule is that the whiter and better off a family is, the more receptive they are to withdrawing care. Resistance to doing is more likely to come from minorities (due to their histories) and the very religious (who sometimes take the position that God will decide when to take their loved one or provide a miraculous recovery). Sophisticated palliative care and hospice programs take this into account when these disagreements arise.

    1. leon

      I am just thankful that i have not been placed in the situation of either the parents or the doctors.

      1. Tundra

        Amen.

    2. Tundra

      Thanks for the explanation. Still heartbreaking, but makes more sense now.

  56. The Late P Brooks

    Who what, now?

    Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday called for White House senior adviser Stephen Miller to resign after leaked emails appeared suggest that he promoted white nationalist literature and offensive immigration stories.

    “Stephen Miller, Trump’s architect of mass human rights abuses at the border (including child separation & detention camps w/ child fatalities) has been exposed as a bonafide white nationalist,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

    “He’s still at the White House shaping US immigration policy. Miller must resign. Now,” she added.

    The tweet comes after a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) revealed that Miller shared white nationalist content with right-wing news website Breitbart and worked to guide the outlet’s coverage.

    Hatewatch, a branch of the SPLC, reviewed more than 900 emails Miller sent to former Breitbart editor Katie McHugh between 2015 and 2016, finding that more than 80 percent of the emails were about race or immigration.

    Among other things, Hatewatch said Miller shared content from white nationalist sites directly with McHugh to provide information for her reporting and sought to “create a narrative” regarding the removal of the Confederate flag after a shooting at an African American church in Charleston, S.C.

    The White House dismissed the report, saying that the SPLC “is an utterly-discredited, long-debunked far-left smear organization” and is “beneath public discussion.”

    A+ response.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      white nationalist content…. white nationalist sites….

      Note the lack of specificity here. AOC was just recently branding the Daily Caller as white supremacist. Unless Miller is copy-pasta’ing from Stormfront, I doubt it is as they are painting it.

      1. Drake

        The guy works in the White House! How much more proof do you need?

    2. Rebel Scum

      I don’t see any examples of this “white-supremacist” content.

      1. DOOMco

        Well they can’t post it! It’s racist!!

        “Remember, it’s actually illegal to possess these emails.”

      2. Stinky Wizzleteats

        Criticism of leftist positions is defacto white supremacy.

      3. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

        Probably a Pat Buchanan article

    3. R C Dean

      “Leaked” by who?

      Do we even know that he sent these emails? Has he confirmed they are his? Has anyone done a forensic analysis of them?

      Or is this just more unverifiable anonymous horseshit?

    4. Stinky Wizzleteats

      The SPLC is a hate organization that skirts the lines of libel and slander in a way no others have managed. They’re an organization that once served a useful function but morphed into a politically motivated cash cow for its management.

    5. Pat

      Since we’ve effectively turned libel and slander into dead letter law, I wish we could go back to dueling.

  57. “Alpine Country Club, which was founded in 1928 by a group of civic leaders who called themselves the “forty millionaires,” boasts 196 acres of rolling green hills, an 18-hole golf course, and the four-bedroom, six-bathroom condo of Eric Bolling, the former Fox News host who agreed to leave the network after reports that he had sent sexually explicit photos to colleagues. “

    So relevant to the story

    1. Pat

      They couldn’t work in that his son killed himself? I remember the lefty sites feeding off that one for months.

    2. creech

      I’ll bet a little digging would find that “Bad Orange Man once played golf there.”

  58. wdalasio

    How anybody can look at this and not say it is a blatant piece of indirect bribery and influence peddling is just beyond me.

    I think a lot of people forego responsibility for thinking about the news. They listen to the man on the flashing box tell them that there’s nothing to see here, that’s it’s all a big nothingburger, and just assume that he must know something they don’t. It doesn’t occur to them that the man on the flashing box might be just as corrupt, venal, stupid, hackish and compromised as anyone they know and is only giving them the story from their own particular perspective. I don’t think its stupidity, per se, but a combination of Gell-Mann Amnesia and a lack of confidence in their own abilities.

    1. Drake

      Michael Crichton was always right about the news. It’s crap and always has been.

      For example, let’s say that I, a person with an above-average understanding of salmon farming, read an article about the topic and find it riddled with errors, showing the author has no understanding of the facts or issues.

      “You read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know,”

      Yep – I catch their mistakes constantly when the topic is guns, military, and business. Now I assume they are just as stupid when it comes to politics, law, technology, or anything else.

      1. Don Escaped Texas

        there is some cogent finance reporting, but you’ve gotta look for it

        typical reporter: “The economy grew 2.8% last quarter.” mein Gott !!!!

  59. SugarFree

    The UK loss to Evansville was a shameful display of incompetence. UofE is a liberal arts college primarily known for its theater program. smdh

    1. Well, they certainly can put on a show!

    2. Not Adahn

      I blame Brexit.

  60. The Late P Brooks

    Be AFRAID

    The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community is estimated by Gallup to comprise 4.5 percent of the U.S. population, yet according to the FBI’s newly released report, they comprise 18.5 percent of hate crime victims.

    Hate crime wave.

    1. SugarFree

      That’s some good statisticing there, Lou.

    2. Florida Man

      Well as long as you can kill, discriminate and harass Straight white people without it being considered a hate crime, that’s hardly surprising.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Bingo

      2. Drake

        I’m hoping the the praise Jim Snow Laws enters popular lexicon.

        People will probably fuck it up into Jon Snow laws.

        1. DOOMco

          Jon snow laws include vehicles must be equipped with tire chains and emergency blanket.
          People are forced to allow outsiders in during winter storms.

          1. Drake

            That guy was a just a shitlord climate change denier.

    3. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      “And just 50% of those hate crimes are bullshit”

    4. Not Adahn

      If you punch a gay, black, hunchbacked genderqueer Muslim, does that count as four hate crimes or five?

  61. DOOMco

    https://m.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/runaway-train-burlington-has-little-say-in-waterfront-railroad-plans/Content?oid=28916378

    The writing is top notch.
    “We want trains! Wait not there!! Why can’t we put it in the North end and get out all the Poors”

    1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      “Trust fund socialists”. Literally the only variety in the 21st Century

    2. wdalasio

      From the article:

      Leading the opposition to the Union Station plan is Melinda Moulton. She’s the CEO of Main Street Landing, the redevelopment company that refurbished and now operates several buildings, including the old train depot, near the waterfront rail line. While Moulton has worked for three decades to bring an Amtrak stop back to Union Station, she was aghast to learn that the trains could be stored there overnight.

      A stop in Burlington, Vermont would only make sense if there were additional points beyond Burlington that would serve as a final terminal. There’s already a route going to Canada running through New York. A second would be pointless.

      1. DOOMco

        And shes the one who for years has wanted one.
        They don’t want the rich condos to block their view. They don’t want a second track built. They somehow do want more bikes and trains to be used there because Europe though.

    3. ChipsnSalsa

      has said that it will add a second railroad track between King and College streets, a plan that, under federal law, is exempt from state or local regulation.

      OOOOOhhh, now you want to talk about federalism?

      1. DOOMco

        That was my favorite part!!

        1. DOOMco

          That or the Sanders part where Burlington “acquired” land from the railroad in court.

          Or the into. 6. The number of people was 6.

      2. Don Escaped Texas

        my NextDoor was full of fix-the-crossings posts for years: they expected the city to make the RR do something !!!

        I advised folks to go lay down on the tracks until something was done about it

        ’cause I wanted to see what color the RR police were painting their Suburbans these days and like seeing whiners in handcuffs

  62. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

    https://libertyjunkies.com/collections/christmas/products/jeffrey-epstein-didnt-kill-himself-christmas-sweatshirt

    Buy your holiday “Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself” sweaters. That way your family knows right off the bat to not engage you in conversation.

    1. R C Dean

      I’d get their “No Step on Snek” phone case if the snake had a monocle.

    2. A Leap at the Wheel

      Goes up to 5XL, but no tall sizes. They know their demographic.

    3. Hyperion

      You may want to avoid wearing that in certain DC neighborhoods unless you want to be the victim of yet another unfortunate suicide.

      1. DOOMco

        Hahaha fantastic!

      2. DOOMco

        I liked the N.A.P one too.

        I’m going to like naps soon…

  63. KSuellington

    Love the Croce sloop. My favorite tune of his is “Operator”. The man could write a lyric.

    “She’s living in LA, with my best old ex friend Ray.”

  64. R C Dean

    Good Drudge-style juxtaposition at Instapundit:

    ROBERT SPENCER: ISIS Bride Who Wanted to ‘Spill Blood’ of Americans Pleads to Return: ‘I Want to Have My Own Car.’

    FLASHBACK: 84 Dead in Nice, France, as Terrorist Drives Truck into Crowd.

  65. Nephilium

    Just a reminder to all of those near Philadelphia. I’ll be out there December 5th – 10th, if you’re up for a pint (or three), feel free to hit me up at my handle at the mail of the Google.

  66. R C Dean

    The rules for impeachment prohibit any reference to the Bidens (even though investigating them was the supposedly corrupt quid pro quo) or the whistleblower (even though the whistleblower’s claims set off the entire current impeachment process).

    The first is especially interesting. I can’t imagine how they can claim the President abused his power by trying to get a political opponent investigated without mentioning the opponent or the reason/”pretext” for the investigation.

    Clown World, indeed.

    Why the Senate isn’t running parallel hearings on this whole mess, under its own oversight authority, is a mystery to me.

    1. DOOMco

      That is odd.

      This whole thing is going to be hell to deal with until it finally goes away though. They really haven’t slowed down.

      1. R C Dean

        Schiff is such a dolt. Both are ridiculously easy to work around.

        Nobody needs to use the whistleblower’s name, since everybody knows who it is. Just refer to him as the “whistleblower” or, better, the “anonymous whistleblower”. Request that he be invited to testify, but that no cameras be present when he does, although since this is a supposedly open hearing, that his testimony be broadcast and/or recorded.

        As far as Biden goes, keep asking about the quid pro quo and abuse of power. There’s just no way to run this hearing without talking about that, since its the entire fucking point.

        The Senate should subpoena Biden Jr., put him under oath, and ask him about his “work” for Burisma. The subpoena should require that he bring the minutes of the board meetings; as a board member, he has the right to have copies of those minutes.

        1. leon

          The subpoena should require that he bring the minutes of the board meetings; as a board member

          He isn’t a board member anymore. He quit around the time Joe started looking to run.

          1. R C Dean

            He still has the right to the minutes while he was a board member. Or would, under American law.

            Regardless, if he shows up without them, it looks bad and opens up a whole new line of questioning.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      OFFS

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder

      They’re stacking the deck to the point that some unhinged person is going to take matters into their own hands.

      Perhaps that’s the point.

      1. Drake

        When is the next Congressional softball game? Asking for a friend.

      2. Hyperion

        Well, there’s no doubt they’re trying to stir up the mob. And I can totally imagine a bunch of crazed vagina hat wearing perpetually unemployed freaks clawing at the gate to the Whitehouse soon enough. Haven’t we seen this show before? It’s time for ACT 2.

        1. DOOMco

          Moveon2 .org?

    4. Drake

      If (giant IF) the Democrats and Republicans were playing this straight… the House will vote to impeach some time next month. THEN the whole thing gets handed over to the Senate to hold a trial. The Republicans, if the were smart (they aren’t), would drag it out and do a very formal, fair, and publicly televised trial. Hunter Biden, Eric CIA, Ukrainian diplomats and investigators would all be questioned in public in the Senate. It is foreseeable that Sens. Liz Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker are essentially sequestered in the solemn chamber right up to and through the Iowa caucuses, New Hampshire primary, and even Super Tuesday.

      Only then should McConnell allow a vote on the world’s biggest nothing burger.

      1. R C Dean

        And, before the vote is held, any Senator with an active campaign for President is recused from voting due to their conflict of interest.

        1. Hyperion

          The democrats are not serious. They’v been running a reality TV show for more than 3 years, in which no actual reality is involved. They’re the MTV of politics.

      2. R C Dean

        McConnell has already said they are just going to hold a quick vote and #MoveOn. Maybe he’s sandbagging, but I doubt it.

    5. ChipsnSalsa

      Why the Senate isn’t running parallel hearings on this whole mess, under its own oversight authority, is a mystery to me.

      Just let the dems look like ass clowns?

      1. Hyperion

        “Just let the dems look like ass clowns?”

        Little late, they’ve been doing that since Nov 2016.

    6. Hyperion

      “Why the Senate isn’t running parallel hearings on this whole mess, under its own oversight authority, is a mystery to me.”

      I would guess they aren’t wasting the energy/resources while waiting and watching the Dems beclown themselves on National TV?

      1. R C Dean

        The best time to kick someone is when they are down.

        Consider: call the witnesses who are testifying in the House. Guaranteed, the Deep Staters will plead the Fifth in the Senate, due to the Barr/Durham grand jury. The optics are terrible, and once they plead the Fifth, they can hardly not plead the Fifth when called in the House. If they have already testified, cross-examine them on their House testimony, and getcher popcorn ready when they start pleading the Fifth.

        This is a tremendous opportunity to do a little swamp-draining. Its a shame its going to be wasted.

        1. Hyperion

          It’s all because the dems have no coherent message or strategy that can appeal to enough Americans for them to consistently win elections in the near future. So the only thing to do is try to keep their most crazy constituents stirred up constantly and the media in a frenzy to keep cranking out impeachment hysteria 24/7. It’s a losing strategy in the long run, sure, but it’s all they have until the American public is finally dumbed down enough to permanently vote in communism. Sadly, we’re getting there, it’s just a question of how long we can hold out or if there’s some small chance to actually reverse the insanity. Without serious changes and reform to public education to turn it back to education instead of leftist indoctrination, I don’t think there is any hope at all.

          1. R C Dean

            Agreed. Its like you read my post on how the culture war has been lost.

          2. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            I say vote Libertarian Party. They are more willing to concede every liberty to progressives than Republicans. Bring on the inevitable now.

      2. leon

        So have they been doing anything? With all the gridlock and almost half the quorum out campaigning for president, have they had anything to do? Has the house even considered a new CR to avert Shutdown this month?

    7. wdalasio

      Why the Senate isn’t running parallel hearings on this whole mess, under its own oversight authority, is a mystery to me.

      My guess is that they’re waiting for a referral from the House. Once they have that then the Senate trial starts. And my guess is that the Senate Republicans plan on making that one a doozy. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they not only subpoena the whistleblower and Biden, but have plans to make Schiff testify under oath. My guess is that Cocaine Mitch has plans to make the trial an absolute curb stomping.

    8. Because many Republican Senators would like Trump removed from office. If only they could manage to do it without being held responsible.

    9. Stinky Wizzleteats

      “ prohibit any reference to the Bidens”

      What about Ojay Idenbay and his onsay?

  67. The Late P Brooks

    The first is especially interesting. I can’t imagine how they can claim the President abused his power by trying to get a political opponent investigated without mentioning the opponent or the reason/”pretext” for the investigation.

    [Redacted] is one of the kindest, most honest and sincere men I have ever met. You have impugned him, Bad Orange Man!

  68. The Late P Brooks

    As far as Biden goes, keep asking about the quid pro quo and abuse of power. There’s just no way to run this hearing without talking about that, since its the entire fucking point.

    “Remind the court, please. What was the topic of this supposed phone conversation?”

  69. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

    Remember when it use to be that the party out of power suddenly realized the need to restrain foreign entanglements and restricting the executive? Now we are holding impeachment hearings because career bureaucrats were afraid the president wouldn’t war hard enough in our budding Ukrainian proxy war. Not to mention the hissy fit that was thrown because a few troops were removed from an illegal war that Congress never authorized. This is the most disgraceful opposition in American history.

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      We can’t let the Russkies win in Ukrania you commie Putin stooge.

      1. Tundra

        Listen, hippy, we either fight them there or we’ll be fighting them here.

        1. Florida Man

          I choose here. We have the home field advantage.

          1. DOOMco

            I’d say it gives us an extra 3 points in the spread.

          2. Pat

            For one thing, they’ll never be able to traverse our roads with the imperial speed limits. Checkmate, Europe.

          3. leon

            And where will they get the Nuts and Bolts for their equipment?

  70. Pat

    Sen. Mazie Hirono accidentally released a feline from its encasement

    At today’s DACA prayer breakfast, Sen. @maziehirono says we need activists “committed to human rights and environmental rights, climate change — believe in climate change as though it’s a religion (it’s not it’s science).”

    1. Gustave Lytton

      DACA prayer breakfast?

      1. Hyperion

        I’m trying to understand why this DACA case is in the Supreme Court and they’re hearing it. It sounds like the argument is ‘If a democrat president does something by executive action and then a republican president undoes it by executive action, that is unconstitutional? So basically, what democrats do is constitutional in all cases and what republicans do is unconstitutional is all cases?’. Am I close? The dems in the House are basically running a kangaroo court with their own rules, made up as they go, right at very moment, so I guess I’m probably not too far off.