Thanks to President Biden, we now have the most diverse federal judiciary in American history.
BREAKING: The Senate just confirmed President Biden’s 174th lifetime judge.
One in every five lifetime judges has now been appointed by President Biden.— Senate Judiciary Committee (@JudiciaryDems) January 31, 2024
“Everyone deserves representation ” was never so hollow a phrase as when applied to Donald Trump.
BREAKING: House passes expansion of Child Tax Credit in a bipartisan bill.
This is after Senate Republicans refused to extend the previous Child Tax Credit and let it expire in 2022 — costing American families as much as $3,600 per child per year.— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) February 1, 2024
I think we should arm all kids in school, not just the teachers teaching them to be trans. The poor kids can get a gun assigned in the lunchroom: pizza, milk, brownie, Browning. Screw that woke stuff.
Dobbs has, IMO, permanently realigned and activated millions of women voters.
Electoral College Forecast
DEM 308
GOP 230
Moody’s Analytics pic.twitter.com/q6JUKcDXZb— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) February 1, 2024
re: #8 No Malarkey!
Dobbs has, IMO, permanently realigned and activated millions of women voters.
[Embedded content]
I’m hoping for an Electoral Red Wedding with lots of Ultra Violence.
re: #8 No Malarkey!
Dobbs has, IMO, permanently realigned and activated millions of women voters.
[Embedded content]
Unless the economy collapses, I don’t think it’ll be this close. It’ll be a blowout.
re: #8 No Malarkey!
Dobbs has, IMO, permanently realigned and activated millions of women voters.
[Embedded content]
BUTBUTBUT LOOK AT ALL THAT RED AREA HOW CAN YOU TELL ME THAT ISN’T AN ELECTORAL VICTORY!!! HACKS! I CALL DIRTY CHINESE ITALIAN SPY SATELLITE HACKS!!!!!
re: #8 No Malarkey!
Abortion has proven OVER AND OVER over a period of YEARS now that it’s a big loser politically for Republicans. Good thing they’re dumb and can’t see the loser issue that it is. This is what fundamentalist religion does to people, deprive them of objective reality in their brains.
I’m of the Hitchens variety anti-theist, religion poisons everything. At least from my meat sack. I know (because of the Internet and old Twitter and you lovely people) that lived experiences are all over the place.
re: #8 No Malarkey!
and I’m not sure that AZ is ACTUALLY in the Lean Republican column, it’s close as hell and if Kari Lake and Trump are on the ticket, I think AZ stays in the Blue column.
re: #14 piratedan
The last couple of Some More News videos highlighted an interesting thing not discussed often about politicians, are they actually working for their constituents?
How has Katie Hobbs been doing as Governor?
re: #13 teleskiguy
I hope the Dobbs decision pushes some non-voters to change their habits. I can’t believe so many are still willing to sit on the sidelines when all women’s lives are being put at risk.
re: #13 teleskiguy
T2xONnlLWHRFUzdlMXE2d3VVbTRXRFAwNms3NE5yZ0VNYlpvczFFVmVaOHJzRmlKOTkzbm9NLy9LVGtaVURocUVmZ0IzUkJ5Q3lzOVB4MXNXNXVzcFE9PTo6NVHZu0tgcsWYLxloGZcvWA==
re: #16 jaunte
I often tell people that the actual winner of statewide elections in Texas is DIDN’T VOTE.
re: #10 JC1
Unless the economy collapses, I don’t think it’ll be this close. It’ll be a blowout.
Leaving the “economic collapse” scenario aside for the moment, this map, I think, is likely to be (unfortunately) accurate. I think -at least as far as the EC is concerned- the Red/Blue divide is too deep to be overcome; this year, anyway.
re: #17 Vicious Babushka
WWRDb2lYSzZIdjlOb3J2bUlNV1RySHR4bTl0VUU5L1lINWI3UGQzeWdnelU5M21UMUdhV05QRk9PSzZER0VISWJGK3VxenJmYWxHRHo5d3pMRE5YM0E9PTo61JuDSu4wIG20UIV9HlJ61g==
My theory about the fixation on Taylor Swift in particular is that at 5’ 11” young blonde and skinny she’s basically the Lebensborn ideal and it triggers them deeply on a psychically imprinted level to see her be in favor of birth control.
re: #15 teleskiguy
she’s doing alright, she’s not high on being in the public eye per se, but doing PSA announcements on the policy she wants to enact and curbing the excess of what comes out of the State lege. I’d say that she’s succeeding in not being controversial and being a subject of gotcha campaigning.
Its a welcome breather of normalcy after having the GOP holding all of the offices. There are still some areas where AZ is having issues, state schools with a GOP school supe are having issues where they are trying to channel that funding into the charter/religious schools.
Some students went to the Indiana statehouse to discuss school shootings. A GOP state rep flashed his gun at them. Same rep has quoted Goebbels, posted racist stuff to social media, and said Uvalde was a hoax.
Oh, and he’s currently on probation for a DWI.
boingboing.net
re: #21 goddamnedfrank
You’re pretty good at thinking at their level in hypotheticals, which is very base and vile.
I want to note that you are neither of those things. But you got the mind…
re: #21 goddamnedfrank
My theory about the fixation on Taylor Swift in particular is that at 5’ 11” young blonde and skinny she’s basically the Lebensborn ideal and it triggers them deeply on a psychically imprinted level to see her be in favor of birth control.
She’s from Pennsylvania, the heart of “country” country. She’s white, she’s pretty, she’s a smashing success, she’d be an ideal advertisement for a conservative Republican party. Her refusal to conform to their expectations negates everything they believe in, and it drives them nuts.
Haley engaging in more historical revisionism because the GOP base are neoconfederates. Imagine what the original Republicans would say to this.
Clown Nikki says Texas can secede if they choose to. So much for protecting the UNITED states.https://t.co/rzX5fAO6b3
— Vote Biden & sleep good. JD, B.S.E.E. (@independant1492) January 31, 2024
They Blame Black Americans for the racism that they harbor.
— Slowly Boiled Frog 🏳️🌈 (@davidcaryhart) January 31, 2024
👀 GOP Sen. Grassley tells me he’s concerned passing Wyden-Smith tax bill might aid Biden’s re-election:
“I think passing a tax bill that makes the president look good mailing out checks before the election, means he could be reelected and then we won’t extend the 2017 tax cuts”— Joseph Zeballos-Roig (@josephzeballos) January 31, 2024
re: #23 jaunte
Some students went to the Indiana statehouse to discuss school shootings. A GOP state rep flashed his gun at them. Same rep has quoted Goebbels, posted racist stuff to social media, and said Uvalde was a hoax.
Oh, and he’s currently on probation for a DWI.
Gosh what could go wrong with a drunk showing kids his bang bang toy?
re: #3 Rightwingconspirator
“Everyone deserves representation ” was never so hollow a phrase as when applied to Donald Trump.
The only defense Trump deserves is the Soviet show trial special: “due to my client’s innumerable and heinous crimes, no defense can be made.”
That he has the right to defend himself is the result of living in a civilized society, but it remains galling to extend that right to barbarians intent on tearing down that civilization.
Republicans are actually admitting publicly they’d rather not make progress on this “catastrophe” than give Biden a win. https://t.co/LNrTa5Jzt9 https://t.co/bQGQNGq1DY
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 31, 2024
re: #29 Captain Ron
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) cast doubt Wednesday on passing a bipartisan tax bill, saying it could make President Biden “look good” and improve Democrats’ chances of holding the White House in the 2024 election, NBC News reports.
Said Grassley: “Passing a tax bill that makes the president look good — mailing out checks before the election — means he could be re-elected, and then we won’t extend the 2017 tax cuts.”
This is it
This is what they’re running on
The entire GOP platform:
Nothing for the country if it also “makes Biden look good”
re: #34 Dangerman
This is it
This is what they’re running on
The entire GOP platform:
Nothing for the country if it also “makes Biden look good”
“We’re against whatever the other guy is for.” — The GOP, since 2008
re: #35 Nerdy Fish
“We’re against whatever the other guy is for.” — The GOP, since 2008
Since 1932, really. Over time, the need for the GOP to lie about its obstructionism has decreased.
re: #29 Captain Ron
re: #26 No Malarkey!
Haley engaging in more historical revisionism because the GOP base are neoconfederates. Imagine what the original Republicans would say to this.
[Embedded content]
Ask her how this would work constitutionally.
This is what I was saying before. They know they’re speaking nonsense. It doesn’t matter
re: #36 EPR-radar
Since 1932, really. Over time, the need for the GOP to lie about its obstructionism has decreased.
I mean, we could make all kinds of arguments for 1932, or 1980, or 1992, or whatever tidewater of GOP despicableness we want. I still maintain that electing the Black man in 2008 is what really triggered the overdrive in the GOP obstructionism, because they were dead set on not letting him have anything, if they could avoid it.
re: #26 No Malarkey!
Her pandering defines “cringeworthy.”
re: #8 No Malarkey!
Dobbs has, IMO, permanently realigned and activated millions of women voters.
[Embedded content]
Texas is pink.
I repeat. TEXAS. Is PINK.
AWESOMESAUCE!
re: #35 Nerdy Fish
“We’re against whatever the other guy is for.” — The GOP, since 2008
We’re even against stuff we were for.
Because if you give us what we want it’ll make the other guy look good.
re: #39 Nerdy Fish
I mean, we could make all kinds of arguments for 1932, or 1980, or 1992, or whatever tidewater of GOP despicableness we want. I still maintain that electing the Black man in 2008 is what really triggered the overdrive in the GOP obstructionism, because they were dead set on not letting him have anything, if they could avoid it.
That first boat the brought the first Africans led to this
re: #41 Yeah Sure WhatEVs
Texas is pink.
I repeat. TEXAS. Is PINK.
AWESOMESAUCE!
I will be working to make it blue, and I don’t need people here telling me that I should ignore the polls and work my butt off. The pink will get other Democrats here way more excited than red will.
re: #39 Nerdy Fish
I mean, we could make all kinds of arguments for 1932, or 1980, or 1992, or whatever tidewater of GOP despicableness we want. I still maintain that electing the Black man in 2008 is what really triggered the overdrive in the GOP obstructionism, because they were dead set on not letting him have anything, if they could avoid it.
For sure 2008 is a key date. That’s when the party of Reagan and Gingrich (i.e. assholes) became the party of the white-hot ball of shrieking rage (still assholes, now rapidly becoming Nazis).
It particularly broke their tiny minds that there really wasn’t even a whiff of a presidential scandal in the Obama years. They would have been perfectly happy with a black president, if that president turned out to be corrupt.
Another reason why I’m glad I can’t fly because of DVTs…
A Frontier Airlines passenger pulled down her pants and squatted in the aisle when she wasn’t allowed to use the bathroom during landing, affidavit says
It adds the 60-year-old threatened to kill fellow passengers as she tried to rush off the plane.
re: #49 Joe Bacon ✅
Another reason why I’m glad I can’t fly because of DVTs…
A Frontier Airlines passenger pulled down her pants and squatted in the aisle when she wasn’t allowed to use the bathroom during landing, affidavit says
It adds the 60-year-old threatened to kill fellow passengers as she tried to rush off the plane.
“She faces up to 21 years in prison if found guilty of three charges, including indecent exposure.”
Hey, what are ya in for?
Well…
I let an ulu (breadfruit) get too ripe. I like making fries with it. So I roasted it. It smells good. Dropped some lilikoi butter in it. I think I’ll try and make an ulu bread, sorta like banana bread but with ulu.
re: #48 EPR-radar
For sure 2008 is a key date. That’s when the party of Reagan (i.e. assholes) became the party of the white-hot ball of shrieking rage (still assholes, now rapidly becoming Nazis).
It particularly broke their tiny minds that there really wasn’t even a whiff of a presidential scandal in the Obama years. They would have been perfectly happy with a black president, if that president turned out to be corrupt.
It’s when they finally agreed to ally with the Nazis and other assorted white supremacists, because it sank into their thick little skulls that the Democrats were the party of “others”, and so they needed all the militant anti-“other” forces they could muster.
re: #20 teleskiguy
MDhxYTB5bkxXL3hCdHJOYmRnUE1ZbVRFZVo0SEs0NWtaV3NTTENjSDBVeXAvbVFWS0hBTVd0MUNtU01hTGhTRVhXN0pMN0JxSGZPaW9nOE5DSUNUYWp6R2Y0V2RZSHFSRDRnTTR5eFBOME9yb09wdE9CMHZSS0xXUmJFb3hSa3FlRmFkcHNIQnFsZUNCZ1NHdlFLdDl1NUpBbFVTNWJZd1dWVFZqK1JyUm9SSDBqSkFmRUV2aWZIakdkWUQwUW1ucW0xVTN5RUIvcUFNbTRZSkYwcU5Ealg0Z0JSQ2lJK0N6NDhJTjYvb1ZyMD06OsiT2rsV9vqZ90qbofeZJaU=
Question: You’re Trump or part of the far right and you’re having trouble with women voters, is there a worse strategy than attacking Taylor Swift?
Carville: I think most of these people are sexually inadequate, there is nothing strategic about something that stupid pic.twitter.com/Nz880DrZzH— Acyn (@Acyn) February 1, 2024
re: #27 teleskiguy
Just signed the contract for the company’s biggest on-snow demo event this winter so far, the Blister Summit in Crested Butte. We’ll be slinging our wares to professional skiers and testers for five days. We arrive Sunday afternoon.
Spending the whole week in Crested Butte was something I pulled out of my ass, and the company saved a ton of money (the event waived the $5,500 entry fee for vendors). I’ll be there Sunday through Friday, all expenses paid.
Sometimes I really like my job.
re: #52 BigPapa
I let an ulu (breadfruit) get too ripe. I like making fries with it. So I roasted it. It smells good. Dropped some lilikoi butter in it. I think I’ll try and make an ulu bread, sorta like banana bread but with ulu.
Would you like eating that on a pletzel or is a bialy OK for you? We have umgeshlungeneh bungelach on a brett with gepregelte tzibbelach and your choice of a gebratene pulka or a shnitzel with kartoffel.
re: #37 Dangerman
Ask her how this would work constitutionally.
This is what I was saying before. They know they’re speaking nonsense. It doesn’t matter
She is making noises with her mouth because she is running in a South Carolina GOP primary: to small for a republic, too big for an insane asylum
re: #35 Nerdy Fish
“We’re against whatever the other guy is for.” — The GOP, since 2008
someone beat me to it
re: #24 teleskiguy
If you know your enemy and know yourself you shall win all your battles.
If you know yourself but not your enemy you shall lose a battle for each one you win.
If you know not yourself nor your enemy you shall never be victorious.Sun Tzu
It looks like the GOPpers don’t know the Democrats and are barely aware of themselves. Good.
re: #56 Vicious Babushka
SUNkMHJKTGFJTFdPRk9Hdnp5OTZHR0Q2QmRxdUIzNi9tUythSWFyZ0tzZmxCWThFREUydi9ZYkttZmp0RzRuNUk2MkR3K3REUnVQOVd4SVdtc0d6b2llR1VXdU5RQTVWejQ3UWltZFptaGtMVHkzUExoNVU3U3JpaXJ5eVUxZHBuaTFQU2RhM2JVZ0hLamIxem90VW5yTlppT2pTV1BVbWJGSEZIcXpwSzRzUzJSaUZ0aWkxUEtQM0lNRWRXQTh3Yit3WEppanBwdFNlWEV0alFJSXhqenZjeTVpYnJMK0pRbUhqQUttQ3E4WmNoUlNYQnArR3drUTNtOVlyU21zS2U1c1NFdSt4WWJ5KzZPa1h2SGVvMXF6MXhQTS9Lc1dRS2ZpN2VPL1J6b01tRERhYkpUcG1MRGRHdCt5QTgvZzJGb2xseHpXNUpCR25xQVNaUTJWUjFGYjh3b0tCSU9KYU1jYVpzcGVNY3M0PTo650Y7L8ecIgOktZnpS7ncsA==
a reminder - the Discworld humble bundle ends in 15 hours if you’ve been on the fence about trying the series
caveat: it’s Kobo, which is annoying, but there are ways to convert that to better formats and the price can’t be beat
bsky.app
Tim Mellon, who has given $20M to Trump’s Super PAC, has now contributed $15 MILLION to RFK Jr.’s Super PAC.
RFK Jr. is a stalking horse for Donald Trump in this election and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise—> https://t.co/ylHcmzUXU2— Lis Smith (@Lis_Smith) January 31, 2024
re: #66 Shiplord Kirel: From behind wingnut lines
[Kandiss Taylor] is the same failed repug candidate who inspired the terrorist attack that destroyed the Georgia Guidestones. The level of superstition that persists among these people in the 21st century is amazing and disheartening. They are a menace.
[Embedded content]
Well, one menace I don’t think we’ll have to worry about is Ms Taylor getting anywhere near public office: in the GA Republican primary, didn’t she get something like just 3% of the vote - and blamed Satan for her loss, anyway?
re: #51 jaunte
Damn I love that song…haven’t heard it in quite some time
re: #60 teleskiguy
Spending the whole week in Crested Butte was something I pulled out of my ass, and the company saved a ton of money (the event waived the $5,500 entry fee for vendors). I’ll be there Sunday through Friday, all expenses paid.
Sometimes I really like my job.
Well played, you lucky bastard! I don’t ski anymore, but I am jealous….
re: #73 coin operated
I don’t ski anymore, but I am jealous….
I hope to ski in perpetuity. But life is weird so I count my blessings. My deity is Ullr…
re: #35 Nerdy Fish
“We’re against whatever the other guy is for.” — The GOP, since 2008
Key and Peele did a whole skit on this:
re: #74 teleskiguy
I hope to ski in perpetuity. But life is weird so I count my blessings. My deity is Ullr…
As is mine. I want to say sorry for your loss before mentioning this…I still offer blessings to Ullr as my dad, at 91, is still skiing.
re: #77 Patricia Kayden
Add in any DSA member telling you to vote for Cornholio West or Putin’s Pet Jill Stein.
The most recent Finding Your Roots was really interesting. The story of the family of Iliza Shlesinger, a Jewish comedienne, was both sad and included a (I can’t think of the right word to go here) revelation worth hearing about WW2.
re: #82 Patricia Kayden
It’s been decades since I heard that. I’d forgotten how rich it was.
Today, hundreds of people gathered at the Iowa Capitol to protest House Bill 2082, a bill that would remove transgender individuals from the state’s Civil Rights Act. The bill also would classify transgender people as disabled. During a brief and intense hearing in the House Judiciary Subcommittee, only three supporters spoke in favor of the bill, significantly outnumbered by the hundreds in the committee room and the halls outside opposing it. Following the hearing, the three-member committee, consisting of two Republicans and one Democrat, voted against passing the bill, effectively killing the legislation as cheers erupted in the hallway.Outside, crowds gathered more than an hour before the hearing, according to Oliver Weilein, a concerned citizen who arrived to express solidarity with transgender people for the hearing. Oliver, who provided updates on Twitter and took photographs to document the size of the crowd, estimated there were over 300 people in the hallway alone based on his count. “When the meeting started, they had to close the door,” he said, “because it was really loud.”
…
With hundreds outside, the bill’s sponsor, Representative Jeff Shipley, began with an incendiary tirade against transgender people, labeling transgender women as “creepy old men.” He argued that removing transgender individuals from civil rights protections was retribution for protests against Chloe Cole speaking in Iowa City. He stated, “I seriously question if this pattern of conduct is conducive to the generous protections afforded under Iowa Code 216.” Cynthia Yockey, his primary witness, then claimed that allowing transgender women in bathrooms would lead to them spreading bodily fluids in stalls and sexually assaulting children.
This testimony was the highlight for those who spoke in favor of the bill, as only two others came forward to support it. The rest of the hearing, which was supposed to alternate between supporters and opponents of the bill, was overwhelmingly dominated by the latter. At one point, the chair of the subcommittee, Republican Representative Charley Thomson, sought another supporter to speak, following a moment of confusion when it appeared someone in favor had just spoken. He then acknowledged, “Yes, you… we have no pros left.”
I personally know three trans women, one is 28, one is 23, and the third is 20.
re: #88 Belafon
“Cynthia Yockey, his primary witness, then claimed that allowing transgender women in bathrooms would lead to them spreading bodily fluids in stalls and sexually assaulting children.“
Doesn’t everyone spread bodily fluids in bathrooms? Wth?!
MAGAT Brendan Dilley threatens Taylor.
Note—posting link which has VERY OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE.
re: #91 Joe Bacon ✅
MAGAT Brendan Dilley threatens Taylor.
Note—posting link which has VERY OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE.
One thing people like this need to think about is Taylor has at least 50 trucker friends who I guarantee have a bunch of other friends who could really fuck up people like this.
re: #90 Joe Bacon ✅
Nikki going full racist.
[Embedded content]
Not true, Nikki, it’s the racists in our country that caused the division.
The “Alina Habba was a deep state plant to destroy Donald Trump” theory has entered the building. pic.twitter.com/32s6nzgHq3
— Mark Pitcavage (@egavactip) January 31, 2024
.@chefjoseandres and his team are nothing short of heroes for humanity – not only conquering hunger but spreading hope.
That is why it was my privilege to join @rosadelauro and @RepMcGovern in nominating Chef Andrés and @WCKitchen for the Nobel Peace Prize.— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 31, 2024
This is a real close call - one mile at cruise missile speeds - apparently caught by one of the ship’s last lines of defense: the Close-In Weapon System https://t.co/bCJN54Q4Qk
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 31, 2024
re: #96 Captain Ron
It’s why CIWS was made.
We have had 0.75” of rain since about 4 PM, bringing our season total to 8.43”.
re: #97 Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus
Just four notes, but I guess it’s all in what one does with them:
..
Most of what I know about classical music is from Bugs Bunny cartoons.
And Fur Elise, my recital piece when I was 8 years old. My mother was very proud.
re: #99 Captain Ron
We’re at just over 30” for the year here in Brookings, Oregon. It’s wet.
re: #10 JC1
Unless the economy collapses, I don’t think it’ll be this close. It’ll be a blowout.
regardless, if GOP does not win it will be contested and they will categorically refuse to accept the results and we can set the clock back to 1860
re: #30 Joe Bacon ✅
Some students went to the Indiana statehouse to discuss school shootings. A GOP state rep flashed his gun at them.
Gosh what could go wrong with a drunk showing kids his bang bang toy?
Is Indiana a Stand Your Ground state? They were coming at him to rob his masculinity!!!
re: #39 Nerdy Fish
I… I still maintain that electing the Black man in 2008 is what really triggered the overdrive in the GOP obstructionism, because they were dead set on not letting him have anything, if they could avoid it.
Remember “Our task is to make Obama a one-term president”?
In 2004, Karl Rove predicted a “permanent Republican majority.” And their voters believed him.
But 2 quagmire wars, both of which were done very badly, and an economic collapse… their dreams were shattered.
By the end of his administration, Dubai’s approval ratings were even lower than Nixon’s had been the week before he had to resign.
And the RNC that year, being held only a couple miles from a bridge that collapsed… they didn’t even want their sitting president to make an appearance at their nominating convention. You’ll notice they haven’t mentioned him since.
re: #93 Semper Fi
Not true, Nikki, it’s the racists in our country that caused the division.
“I was just sitting there reading her diary and my sister just flipped out FOR NO REASON!”
re: #100 sagehen
Most of what I know about classical music is from Bugs Bunny cartoons.
And Fur Elise, my recital piece when I was 8 years old. My mother was very proud.
We went to see Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie at the opera and when the overture started, we all had the same mental image of Bugs Bunny massaging Elmer Fudd’s scalp with his toes…
Your Next Wordle is predicting winds light to variable.
Wordle 957 4/6
⬜🟨🟩⬜🟩
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Would have been a 3 if I’d been paying more attention. No excuses.
SibData: 2,3,4,4,5
Further outlook, fine fine fine.
Got the birb. I thought I had it in 2. Alas.
MmF0WHl2aUkwYmlFUGRoeG9BcWJPNXl3cDFRVStYRUhqS1QrVzJOemZzSER4R0IvUytVbWxqYTBCQ2ZQMEF1Y0lURU5MK2xCS216ZWhSV1Y0d1Rxcmo0QUI4eFNYMGZWSnBiWDhNajNYMTh3SHBFM0dXUlp6UzBROElRbTMzL1I6OjUmmhV6Kmla20mQAh3zx40=
re: #67 jeffreyw
Thanks for the remindrr, I have most of them, but misshig some. This will fill in the gaps. And I’ll probably end up wading them all again.
re: #109 sagehen
In 2004, Karl Rove predicted a “permanent Republican majority.” And their voters believed him.
But 2 quagmire wars, both of which were done very badly, and an economic collapse… their dreams were shattered.
2004 was basically “1984: Part Deux,” only America’s Lovable Grampa was replaced with the Goofy Guy Who Can’t Eat Pretzels. It was largely the same cabal of bloody-sucking parasites actually running things, but now with more impressive-sounding job titles and thus greater ability to fuck things up. The “Cold War” was now the “War on Terror,” with the same list of defense contractors making a mint while the average American was supposed to feel good that their sons and daughters were coming home in body bags or permanently disfigured. And you were supposed to feel good that the economy was slowly crawling out of the nose-dive it’d taken into the concrete because Uncle Sam had cut you a check the year previous. And you were supposed to look at all of this, think it the start of the “New American Century,” and thus immediately be disdainful of anyone who told you that wasn’t a good thing.
This transition was a cynically masterful shift after the death of the USSR.
The “Cold War” was now the “War on Terror,” with the same list of defense contractors making a mint while the average American was supposed to feel good that their sons and daughters were coming home in body bags or permanently disfigured
Did a stupid on line three, bur squeaked by.
Wordle 957 6/6
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re: #115 Targetpractice
Capitalism had seen the collapse of its bigest ideological opponent and dropped all pretense of presenting a humane side.
The world’s most advanced tech companies had to use portable generators to remain in operation because price gougers and speculators had created an artificial energy crisis in California
And when that house of cards crumbled, Enron bosses were able to cash out their shares before prices collapsed but the employees - whose pensions were based on those shares - were forbidden to sell them off until they were worthless.
The only thing that Dubya did that I could support was pushing for comprehensive and humanne immigration reform, but his own party would not back him on that.
re: #116 Colère Tueur de Lapin ✅
The “Cold War” was now the “War on Terror,”
And back then, the West went along with China presenting the suppression of its own Uighur minority as part of the WoT
Viktor Orbán has agreed a deal with fellow EU leaders on a €50bn support package for Ukraine, the spokesperson for Charles Michel has confirmed.He finally succumbed to pressure after a series of meetings last night and this morning with the Italian, French and German prime ministers.
They agreed two compromises - there would be a European Commission review of the spending in two years time. But there would be vote on this.
There was also an additional measure on the rule of law conditionality mechanism, the spokesperson said.
After the deal was struck, the European Council president then quickly consulted with other EU leaders and they agreed “quickly”, said the spokesperson.
As I figured, Orbán caved. He’s got a big mouth, to be sure, and he’s a prick….but at heart, he’s a cowardly prick.
re: #118 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
Capitalism had seen the collapse of its bigest ideological opponent and dropped all pretense of presenting a humane side.
The world’s most advanced tech companies had to use portable generators to remain in operation because price gougers and speculators had created an artificial energy crisis in California
And when that house of cards crumbled, Enron bosses were able to cash out their shares before it prices collapsed but the employees whose pensions were based on them were forbidden to sell them off until they were worthless.
The only thing that Dubya did that I could support was pushing for comprehensive and humanne immigration reform, but his own party would not back him on that.
And again, we were supposed to feel good that a couple of the guys at the top of Enron and Arthur Anderson had had their nuts chopped off while many of the smaller fish either took deals for lesser punishments or got to walk away scot-free with their ill-gotten gains pocketed away. But what about those who’d lost their jobs, their pensions, and were now starting from scratch again? We were told that it sucked to suck, but if they’d wanted security then they should have stuffed money in a mattress or buried it in the backyard because investing in 401Ks and company stock was a sucker’s bet…except mine, which is totally secure because my boss says so.
re: #122 Targetpractice
Upper Management gets golden parachutes, we get a tablecloth with holes in it.
It is one thing for people to lose their jobs, but was not enough, these people lost their pensions as well.
The hard-core Capitalists tend to forget it was these very conditions on a widespread scale that gve us the New Deal in the first place: the very thing the GOP has been out to dismantle ever since.
More “winning”. Expect more whining, LOL:
A judge in London on Thursday threw out a lawsuit by former U.S. President Donald Trump accusing a former British spy of making “shocking and scandalous claims” that were false and harmed his reputation.
Judge Karen Steyn said the case Trump filed against Orbis Business Intelligence should be dismissed.
“There are no compelling reasons to allow the claim to proceed to trial,” she said.
re: #118 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
The only thing that Dubya did that I could support was pushing for comprehensive and humanne immigration reform, but his own party would not back him on that.
PEPFAR was pretty good too.
Dang. I was looking for this word for the second guess, but decided to try the other thing instead before I thought of it.
Wordle 957 3/6*
⬛⬛🟨⬛🟩
⬛🟨⬛⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
re: #94 Belafon
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So trump is too stupid to see this? Hes a puppet and has no agency? Wow.
The “Alina Habba was a deep state plant to destroy Donald Trump” theory has entered the building. pic.twitter.com/32s6nzgHq3
— Mark Pitcavage (@egavactip) January 31, 2024
re: #111 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
We went to see Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie at the opera and when the overture started, we all had the same mental image of Bugs Bunny massaging Elmer Fudd’s scalp with his toes…
In 1990 we went to see bugs Bunny on broadway
It was brilliant
re: #132 Dangerman
So trump is too stupid to see this? Hes a puppet and has no agency? Wow.
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He was blinded by her stunning beauty and unable to think rationally about the fact that he was hiring a parking garage desk lawyer for a critical legal case that was well outside her areas of expertise.///
Also, what does it say about these people that whenever something doesn’t go their way, their first reaction is to go straight to a pants-on-head-stupid conspiracy theory? It’s like the only thing they can do is blame somebody, anybody, else.
re: #132 Dangerman
So trump is too stupid to see this? Hes a puppet and has no agency? Wow.
If you’re trying to get money and clout by selling your soul and sucking up to the crazies, this is what happens. They will ask you to do nonsensical impossible things because crazy, and of course you’re probably not so competent yourself so yeah. You then fail, and instead of the crazies reflecting on whether it was their own fault for what they asked you to do, they of course blame you for being a wrecker and saboteur.
New Film’s plot: Thelma and Louise rob a bank
deadline.com
Actually looks and sounds like it could be good.
re: #134 Nerdy Fish
He was blinded by her stunning beauty and unable to think rationally about the fact that he was hiring a parking garage desk lawyer for a critical legal case that was well outside her areas of expertise.///
Also, what does it say about these people that whenever something doesn’t go their way, their first reaction is to go straight to a underpants-on-head-stupid conspiracy theory? It’s like the only thing they can do is blame somebody, anybody, else.
re: #134 Nerdy Fish
Also, what does it say about these people that whenever something doesn’t go their way, their first reaction is to go straight to a pants-on-head-stupid conspiracy theory? It’s like the only thing they can do is blame somebody, anybody, else.
They have to rationalize around the fact that they are backing a loser
Mornin’ free thinkers…was just catching up through this thread and between Taylor Swift and Alina Habba conspiracies, I may just need to go back to sleep. Hoo-boy.
Not entirely accurate (a dram is about 1.5 ounces) but I’ll go with it.
Someone made a boner.
No tips required at this pizza shop.
A Canadian Pizza Hut is going viral after employees posted a sign on its front door with an unfortunate typo.
“Due to unforeseen circumcisions the dining room will be closed tonight,” the sign on the restaurant in Timmins, northern Ontario, read last week, according to CTV News.
“Sorry for the inconvenience.”
Russia’s Black Sea fleet takes another hit.
re: #141 darthstar
Not entirely accurate (a dram is about 1.5 ounces) but I’ll go with it.
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I think that’s the joke.
re: #143 darthstar
Russia’s Black Sea fleet takes another hit.
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The Ivanovets on a sunny day.
re: #139 Patricia Kayden
AI Deep Fake, that was actually Taylor Swift.
re: #124 Patricia Kayden
That misses the unsaid bit by every GOPer:
IOKIYAR - it’s okay if you’re a Republican.
If a Democrat does what a GOP has done, it’s illegal/improper. It’s the GOP double standard. The base doesn’t care that the rule of law applies to everyone, regardless of party affiliation. They think they’re above the law. The so-called party of law and order only cares about enforcing the laws they like against their enemies. They don’t want them applied against themselves (like say, corruption, emoluments, undeclared foreign agents, fraud, insurrection, election fraud, conspiracy, etc.)
re: #150 darthstar
He’s already blocked out the financial penalties from his mind…that’s how bad they sting.
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He genuinely thinks he’s going to get away with it all. How pathetic. Sad.
re: #151 Nerdy Fish
He genuinely thinks he’s going to get away with it all. How pathetic. Sad.
I hope he ignores it for 30 days. The first lien on Mar a Lago or Bedminster will send him through the roof.
re: #143 darthstar
In this case, it looks like the Russians managed to direct some fire at the incoming Ukrainian unmanned vessels, but the Ukrainians scored multiple hits, including targeting the same spot several times amidships, as well as the stern.
The Russian navy is shit. They’ve been overhyped for generations, but their stationkeeping is awful, even in a warzone, their readiness has been overstated, and the ships’ survivability is also overstated given how easily these ships have sunk.
If the Russians lost their flagship so easily and it’s supposedly the best defended/prepared, every other ship in the fleet is far less capable. It’s a paper tiger.
re: #21 goddamnedfrank
My theory about the fixation on Taylor Swift in particular is that at 5’ 11” young blonde and skinny she’s basically the Lebensborn ideal and it triggers them deeply on a psychically imprinted level to see her be in favor of birth control.
I think it is a two-fer with Kelce. Repubs just assumed they were both one of them. It has melted their brains to find out otherwise.
re: #152 darthstar
I hope he ignores it for 30 days. The first lien on Mar a Lago or Bedminster will send him through the roof.
Well, he’s got to find a lawyer who actually knows how to file an appeal, after his superstar bimbo parking garage lawyer failed him for the last time.
re: #150 darthstar
It’s not as far as he is concerned. That was up to the judge to decide. The judge already found fraud - and as the trier of fact, his findings on that front are final. His attempts to appeal will also fail because the appellate divisions defer to the trier of fact unless there are egregious errors, and there were none here (by the judge or the AG’s office).
Trump’s in a very precarious financial situation because he’s got to put up the money in the defamation cases in a trust account managed by the court or post a bond, but the civil fraud case might prevent him from doing any business with the very financial firms that post bonds. That means he’d have to shell out the sum owed into a trust account pending the appeals.
He doesn’t likely have $83 million in cash lying around, let alone $370 million or $453 million. He’s in deep and dire financial trouble, and this is his attempt at rationalizing everything - when the house of cards comes tumbling down.
re: #153 lawhawk
And they’re losing their fleet to a country without a navy. These corvette class ships aren’t little. Was the crew trying to shoot the sea drones with AK-47s? And how did Ukraine get a swarm of drones so close so fast? Russian surveillance and radar must really suck.
From the CNN daily brief:
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee relentlessly questioned and criticized the chief executives of five big tech companies on Wednesday about the potential harms their products have on teens. The CEOs of Meta, TikTok, Snap, Discord and X (formerly known as Twitter) testified that they are aiming to make social media safer for youth. The hearing got emotional at times with apologies from two executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg who stood to apologize to the families in the hearing room, saying: “I’m sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered and this is why we invest so much and we are going to continue doing industry-wide efforts to make sure no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer.”
I’d like to honestly, full-throatedly and with heartfelt rigour give Mark Zuckerberg a huge FUCK. YOU.
I really think he’s a sociopath (lacks a conscience, not a killer or anything) with neither empathy nor comprehension for what he’s wrought.
re: #150 darthstar
This is the equivalent of a three-year-old stamping his feet and screaming “nu-uhh!”
re: #120 Dr Lizardo
As I figured, Orbán caved. He’s got a big mouth, to be sure, and he’s a prick….but at heart, he’s a cowardly prick.
When ITALY is giving you a hard time you know you really screwed the pooch.
re: #156 lawhawk
He doesn’t likely have $83 million in cash lying around, let alone $370 million or $453 million. He’s in deep and dire financial trouble, and this is his attempt at rationalizing everything - when the house of cards comes tumbling down.
I heard the other day he may have as much as $600m in cash - but losing 80% of that to penalties isn’t something he’s looking forward to doing. You just know he’s screaming about this every night at his lawyers until it puts him to sleep.
re: #157 darthstar
And they’re losing their fleet to a country without a navy. These corvette class ships aren’t little. Was the crew trying to shoot the sea drones with AK-47s? And how did Ukraine get a swarm of drones so close so fast? Russian surveillance and radar must really suck.
Radar at sea is tricky, but there are other ways to detect fast boats on the approach - it’s how the US Navy has been defending itself against attacks by Houthi pirates in the Red Sea. That the Russian Navy is incapable of matching these techniques is just another indicator that the oft-vaunted and much-feared Russian armed forces my generation grew up with have degraded to the equivalent of a third world banana dictatorship.
re: #122 Targetpractice
And again, we were supposed to feel good that a couple of the guys at the top of Enron and Arthur Anderson had had their nuts chopped off while many of the smaller fish either took deals for lesser punishments or got to walk away scot-free with their ill-gotten gains pocketed away. But what about those who’d lost their jobs, their pensions, and were now starting from scratch again? We were told that it sucked to suck, but if they’d wanted security then they should have stuffed money in a mattress or buried it in the backyard because investing in 401Ks and company stock was a sucker’s bet…except mine, which is totally secure because my boss says so.
Not to mention that the company itself created the mandate that tied their pensions to their own stock. It’s not like the employees had choices (that I’m aware of at least).
re: #157 darthstar
And they’re losing their fleet to a country without a navy. These corvette class ships aren’t little. Was the crew trying to shoot the sea drones with AK-47s? And how did Ukraine get a swarm of drones so close so fast? Russian surveillance and radar must really suck.
Assumes that they’re working.
In the after action reports that appear to have surfaced in Russia, the Moskva had multiple systems down and inoperable. If the anti-ship and defense radars aren’t working, they’re not seeing what’s around them and lack situational awareness. It also means that if you’re attacking at night, it requires the crew to be especially vigilant and that’s hard when you’re encountering low observable boats, let alone missiles traveling at high speed.
Still loving this story - btw, the half-black hull is a camo job to make it harder to spot these ships from a distance because it hides the true waterline…apparently this doesn’t work so well at night, however…
re: #145 Randall Gross
Us liberals need to pick a few news sources and fund them. We’re never going to have a liberal savior buy a news source to run for us. We’re going to need to all pay for one and force them to do proper research and reporting.
re: #161 darthstar
Sleepless nights. Fuck him. Bet he’s taking sleeping pills to go to sleep, and uppers to get him ready for rallies. Just like when he was in the WH and his drug mule doc was giving out drugs like candy to everyone who asked.
re: #132 Dangerman
So trump is too stupid to see this? Hes a puppet and has no agency? Wow.
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That can’t be right. He’s constantly telling us he only hires the best. He alone… Me… My… I…
re: #162 Nerdy Fish
Radar at sea is tricky, but there are other ways to detect fast boats on the approach - it’s how the US Navy has been defending itself against attacks by Houthi pirates in the Red Sea. That the Russian Navy is incapable of matching these techniques is just another indicator that the oft-vaunted and much-feared Russian armed forces my generation grew up with have degraded to the equivalent of a third world banana dictatorship.
They haven’t degraded…they’re just still exactly the same as when we were young. Cannon fodder and meat wave assaults to eventually wear down the opponent. Unfortunately for them, not everyone is interested in close combat and so the rest of the world developed technologies to stop those meat waves before they get close enough to do damage.
re: #165 darthstar
Still loving this story - btw, the half-black hull is a camo job to make it harder to spot these ships from a distance because it hides the true waterline…apparently this doesn’t work so well at night, however…
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Something to watch in the near future is what funding Russia continues to give their navy. Since Russia’s existence is dependent on being a land power the army is going to get priority anyways. And given the army’s current state in terms of equipment, training, and manpower it raises the specter that Russia simply guts their navy’s funding and what they have continues to rust and their crew efficiency gets worse along with plummeting morale.
re: #167 lawhawk
Sleepless nights. Fuck him. Bet he’s taking sleeping pills to go to sleep, and uppers to get him ready for rallies. Just like when he was in the WH and his drug mule doc was giving out drugs like candy to everyone who asked.
Some reporter should ask Congressman Ronny Jackson what pill regimen he thinks is best for Trump in these trying times…and by ‘trying’ I mean filled with court trials.
re: #138 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
They have to rationalize around the fact that they are backing a loser
And there’s A LOT that have to rationalize. A whole lot.
re: #156 lawhawk
He doesn’t likely have $83 million in cash lying around, let alone $370 million or $453 million.
Even better, he claimed under oath he had some $400 million in cash. So we can possibly add perjury to the list.
re: #165 darthstar
Back in WWI and WWII, various navies around the world, including the US, came up with various paint schemes to try and make identification and range finding/heading harder.
They worked to varying degrees, but after the war, the US went back to a more conventional paint scheme. Russia has tried varying paint scheme measures to disrupt attacks, and have repeatedly failed - precisely because their countermeasures suck/aren’t working.
re: #151 Nerdy Fish
He genuinely thinks he’s going to get away with it all. How pathetic. Sad.
He doesn’t but he has to keep up the appearance because that’s all he has left
re: #160 Yeah Sure WhatEVs
When ITALY is giving you a hard time you know you really screwed the pooch.
He needs that EU cash - the Hungarian economy would be screwed six ways from Sunday without it, and Orbán knows this very well. He’ll make all kinds of noises about all manner of ridiculous bullshit, but if he gets cut off, he’s finished.
re: #163 Yeah Sure WhatEVs
Not to mention that the company itself created the mandate that tied their pensions to their own stock. It’s not like the employees had choices (that I’m aware of at least).
and again, employees were not allowed to liquidate their company stock until it had tanked (while the bosses sold their as soon as they saw the shitsunami bearing down on them)
re: #176 Dr Lizardo
He needs that EU cash - the Hungarian economy would be screwed six ways from Sunday without it, and Orbán knows this very well. He’ll make all kinds of noises about all manner of ridiculous bullshit, but if he gets cut off, he’s finished.
He needs it to buy popularity for himself and his Fiddleszticks Party
re: #170 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)
A major portion of the Russian navy’s funding goes to its sub fleet, which is the main threat to US Navy subs and carriers (especially our missile subs). If that funding drops off, then the Russian navy countersurveillance of our subs and carrier groups is reduced even further. It means the subs stay dockside, and those that venture out are at greater risk of sinking due to lack of adequate maintenance on key systems (which has been a factor in multiple accidents/sinkings of Russian/Soviet subs over the years).
Also, the ground forces have been an abject failure too - because the so called modern tanks like the T-14 are nonexistent on the battlefield, and the T-90 series are essentially T-50/60/70/80 with some modernizations, but all of the historic problems remaining. That’s why they aren’t as survivable as western tanks that were all newly designed from the tread up like the Leopard, M1A2, Challenger, etc. Corruption and incompetence also plays a role there.
Good morning all. Woke up to an email claiming that my elcheapo video card should be delivered this morning. I’ve downloaded the current driver package from AMD and hopefully everything will work correctly. Shrug. I’ll know later today 😎
re: #150 darthstar
He’s already blocked out the financial penalties from his mind…that’s how bad they sting.
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Or he’s so far off the deep end that he believes his own bullshit. I think I’m innocent and that’s that.
re: #178 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
He needs it to buy popularity for himself and his Fiddleszticks Party
Precisely. Without the cronyism, and handing out bags of Euro to his lickspittles, Orbán’s popularity would sink like a rock in fairly short order.
re: #156 lawhawk
He doesn’t likely have $83 million in cash lying around, let alone $370 million or $453 million. He’s in deep and dire financial trouble, and this is his attempt at rationalizing everything - when the house of cards comes tumbling down.
When it’s all crashing and burning I suggest a weenie roast with toasted marshmallows and s’mores.
re: #169 darthstar
They haven’t degraded…they’re just still exactly the same as when we were young. Cannon fodder and meat wave assaults to eventually wear down the opponent. Unfortunately for them, not everyone is interested in close combat and so the rest of the world developed technologies to stop those meat waves before they get close enough to do damage.
What I meant by that is, their weapons were hyped up to us Cold War children as the equivalent to our own (how else would we justify all that defense spending?) The “cannon fodder” would be supported by powerful technology that would give us a hard fight in any protracted war. As we are seeing now, that hype was vastly overblown. Decades of neglect and corruption have left the technological terror across the ocean with nothing to show but sinking ships, flaming planes, and dying soldiers.
re: #157 darthstar
And they’re losing their fleet to a country without a navy. These corvette class ships aren’t little. Was the crew trying to shoot the sea drones with AK-47s? And how did Ukraine get a swarm of drones so close so fast? Russian surveillance and radar must really suck.
I assumed the drones were very small sea faring dinghies that were remote controlled.
re: #153 lawhawk
In this case, it looks like the Russians managed to direct some fire at the incoming Ukrainian unmanned vessels, but the Ukrainians scored multiple hits, including targeting the same spot several times amidships, as well as the stern.
The Russian navy is shit. They’ve been overhyped for generations, but their stationkeeping is awful, even in a warzone, their readiness has been overstated, and the ships’ survivability is also overstated given how easily these ships have sunk.
If the Russians lost their flagship so easily and it’s supposedly the best defended/prepared, every other ship in the fleet is far less capable. It’s a paper tiger.
It’s always been shit, with the level of shitiness inversely proportional to how badly Western navies needed new gear. Between the Bomber Gap and the Missile Gap was the Cruiser Gap, a scare that the US Navy put into Congress by showing them pictures of Russian ships festooned with various aerials and radar dishes and having analysts rattle off scary-sounding speculation about how the Soviets were getting ahead of the US Navy in number and sophistication of their surface ships and (of course) there needed to be a fresh cash infusion to increase ship numbers to match them. And if you’re familiar with the other two Gaps, you know the reality of this one as well: The Russians were so so ass-backwards with regardless to electronics miniaturization that they had all sorts of duplication of systems like multiple radars to guide their missiles because they hadn’t figured out how to have a single computer guide multiple missiles in-flight. So what looked like Soviet cruiser bristling with next-gen electronics was actually a last-gen ship desperately trying to keep pace with its Western counterparts.
re: #162 Nerdy Fish
Radar at sea is tricky, but there are other ways to detect fast boats on the approach - it’s how the US Navy has been defending itself against attacks by Houthi pirates in the Red Sea. That the Russian Navy is incapable of matching these techniques is just another indicator that the oft-vaunted and much-feared Russian armed forces my generation grew up with have degraded to the equivalent of a third world banana dictatorship.
Degraded? The were NEVER any better. Just that they used to have lots of them.
We were taught in 1983 that, before we died in our M60A3 high tech coffin, we had to kill at least 5 Soviet T-72/T-64s to slow them down enough for REFORGER to work.
That is also why we expected the first wave of Soviet armor to coincide with a massive attack of nerve agent and a first strike of tactical nuclear weapons. They could not win with out it.
After the wall came down, we found documents in the East German military that showed they though we could move between 2 & 4 times as many troops into Germany as we really could via REFORGER and that kept them from jumping.
re: #185 Nerdy Fish
Quantity over quality. I remember watching a documentary where Sylvester Stallone shot down one of their attack helicopters with a bow and arrow.
Also, this from Stripes:
re: #186 Yeah Sure WhatEVs
I assumed the drones were very small sea faring dinghies that were remote controlled.
Yes, and where they attacked makes it all the more amazing…
re: #190 darthstar
Yes, and where they attacked makes it all the more amazing…
gah…URL doesn’t render here.
re: #187 Targetpractice
The 600-ship Navy, the reactivation of the Iowa-class battleships, all intended to plug the “cruiser gap” that, like the other supposed gaps, only existed in the sales brochures of the defense contractors.
re: #192 Nerdy Fish
The 600-ship Navy, the reactivation of the Iowa-class battleships, all intended to plug the “cruiser gap” that, like the other supposed gaps, only existed in the sales brochures of the defense contractors.
I notice that the idjits are blathering abut reactivating the IOWAs yet again. Dipsticks need to be whacked with a hickory switch.
re: #185 Nerdy Fish
What I meant by that is, their weapons were hyped up to us Cold War children as the equivalent to our own (how else would we justify all that defense spending?) The “cannon fodder” would be supported by powerful technology that would give us a hard fight in any protracted war. As we are seeing now, that hype was vastly overblown. Decades of neglect and corruption have left the technological terror across the ocean with nothing to show but sinking ships, flaming planes, and dying soldiers.
As lawhawk noted, the only division of the Soviet Navy that was ever worth a damn were her subs, though an argument could be made for the naval aviation. Any surface asset larger than a destroyer was largely there for a show, usually the product of some admiral or politician wanting to justify the navy’s budget by pathetically trying to pretend that Soviet naval engineering was on par with Western counterparts. The subs weren’t immune to this BS, it’s just that they suffered slightly less because when a good design was found they’d build a fuck-ton out of them.
re: #193 William Lewis
I notice that the idjits are blathering abut reactivating the IOWAs yet again. Dipsticks need to be whacked with a hickory switch.
They have a fetish for really big guns… probably because theirs isn’t.
re: #185 Nerdy Fish
What I meant by that is, their weapons were hyped up to us Cold War children as the equivalent to our own (how else would we justify all that defense spending?) … Decades of neglect and corruption have left the technological terror across the ocean with nothing to show but sinking ships, flaming planes, and dying soldiers.
My favorite story involved the Pantsir artillery systems that were supposed to run on expensive Michelin tires but were found equipped with Chinese knockoffs that cost half the price.
Which means that some procurement officer just pocketed the difference and bribed enough people so that nobody would notice.
re: #195 Nerdy Fish
They’d want to drag the ships out of retirement (and current treatment as museum ships that have been stricken from the military rolls), to turn them into missile platforms, even though there are far cheaper and better options than to take a ship 70+ years old and spending billions to convert them. The big guns are surely a sight to see when firing, but their range is pitiful compared to the range of the missiles fired by a frigate or cruiser or sub (which can be 1000s of miles for Tomahawks, and hundreds of miles for other kinds of surface to surface missiles). Missiles are far more accurate too, so while you’d need to needlessly put an Iowa class battleship within 20 miles of the coast to hit targets within range of the big guns, a US Navy frigate (or submarine) could be hundreds of miles away and fire without putting themselves in direct fire.
re: #120 Dr Lizardo
As I figured, Orbán caved. He’s got a big mouth, to be sure, and he’s a prick….but at heart, he’s a cowardly prick.
No doubt why Rod Dreher loves him
re: #197 lawhawk
There’s a reason the ships were retired (again) in the first place: In the age of missiles, big iron no longer has a place. The cost to send a big boat to a location where it can be effective far outweighs the value it provides; especially when a missile, though more expensive than a salvo of heavy artillery, costs a fraction of that to send and is safer and more effective to use.
re: #187 Targetpractice
The Russians were so so ass-backwards with regardless to electronics miniaturization that they had all sorts of duplication of systems like multiple radars to guide their missiles because they hadn’t figured out how to have a single computer guide multiple missiles in-flight. So what looked like Soviet cruiser bristling with next-gen electronics was actually a last-gen ship desperately trying to keep pace with its Western counterparts.
Our Russian Department at the University of Arizona had subscriptions to Pravda and Izvestia and every January they would proudly list all the annual increases in Soviet production, and someone pointed out that their announced increase in electronics production was given in tons.
re: #188 William Lewis
Degraded? The were NEVER any better. Just that they used to have lots of them.
We were taught in 1983 that, before we died in our M60A3 high tech coffin, we had to kill at least 5 Soviet T-72/T-64s to slow them down enough for REFORGER to work.
That is also why we expected the first wave of Soviet armor to coincide with a massive attack of nerve agent and a first strike of tactical nuclear weapons. They could not win with out it.
After the wall came down, we found documents in the East German military that showed they though we could move between 2 & 4 times as many troops into Germany as we really could via REFORGER and that kept them from jumping.
Come to find out you probably would have killed more than 5. It wouldn’t have been their tanks to worry about, but the damned massed artillery.
re: #188 William Lewis
Degraded? The were NEVER any better. Just that they used to have lots of them.
We were taught in 1983 that, before we died in our M60A3 high tech coffin, we had to kill at least 5 Soviet T-72/T-64s to slow them down enough for REFORGER to work.
That is also why we expected the first wave of Soviet armor to coincide with a massive attack of nerve agent and a first strike of tactical nuclear weapons. They could not win with out it.
After the wall came down, we found documents in the East German military that showed they though we could move between 2 & 4 times as many troops into Germany as we really could via REFORGER and that kept them from jumping.
And now I’m thinking of breaking out my copy of Red Storm Rising again.
re: #194 Targetpractice
The Russians/Soviets attempt at naval aviation was laughable too - they realized they couldn’t match the US Navy frontline carriers, so they built hybrid ships that were oversized cruisers with a flight deck, but which couldn’t launch fully loaded planes b/c they didn’t have either the arresting gear or the catapults. Putting ski jumps on the fronts of their ships may have increased their capabilities slightly, but they couldn’t put the planes in the sky the US Navy could. It’s why the Admiral Kuznetsov is such a joke. It’s why the Indian Navy has had so many problems with the Soviet/Russian sourced carrier they got (the Varyag). They are POS.
They tried to match western Navy capabilities but failed miserably because they didn’t have the tactics or the equipment to do so. Only with the sub fleet did they have something of a threat - their Akulas were exceptionally fast and deep diving, but so loud that a 688 class could track them easily. Typhoons were huge missile platforms, but also loud. Newer Russian subs have closed the gap on noise reduction, but they’re still lagging on technology and innovation. Starved of money and investment, they are more likely to sit dockside than be on patrol.
re: #195 Nerdy Fish
They have a fetish for really big guns… probably because theirs isn’t.
Remember Mitt Romney complaining in the 2012 presidential debates about how we don’t have enough ships (or horses or bayonets)
re: #202 Targetpractice
And we’re learning that the Russian tanks they’re throwing at the Ukrainians are those actual coffins for so many Russian conscripts, because they aren’t survivable against modern weapons, let alone other Russian/Soviet tanks. As the Ukrainians get Western equipment, those crews are in more survivable tanks - where even if the tank is disabled, they have a better chance of surviving, which means the crews get more experience and learn tactics to survive in a deadly environment, while the Russian crews are a one and done - if their tanks get hit, they’re likely dead.
A police chase last this morning in Dallas ended up with the four people in the car dead because they ran off an overpass downtown and so part of I35 is shutdown,
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing five cities — Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Denton — to block their ordinances decriminalizing low-level marijuana possession.In 2022, voters in the five cities approved policies that would end arrests and citations for possession of less than four ounces of marijuana. An initiative spearheaded by Ground Game Texas — the progressive group that first launched the proposition in Austin — worked with local organizations in the other four cities and succeeded in pushing for similar policies to appear on the ballots.
Paxton said in a Wednesday press release that the cities violated state laws and the Texas constitution concerning marijuana possession and distribution, claiming it to be unlawful for municipalities to adopt ordinances inconsistent with laws enacted by the Texas Legislature.
The ordinances had high levels of support. Austin received an overwhelming 85% of votes in support. In San Marcos, about 82% of votes were in favor. Elgin followed with almost 75% of votes in support. Denton, home to two universities, had about 71% votes in favor. Killeen had close to 70% in support.
re: #197 lawhawk
They’d want to drag the ships out of retirement (and current treatment as museum ships that have been stricken from the military rolls), to turn them into missile platforms, even though there are far cheaper and better options than to take a ship 70+ years old and spending billions to convert them. The big guns are surely a sight to see when firing, but their range is pitiful compared to the range of the missiles fired by a frigate or cruiser or sub (which can be 1000s of miles for Tomahawks, and hundreds of miles for other kinds of surface to surface missiles). Missiles are far more accurate too, so while you’d need to needlessly put an Iowa class battleship within 20 miles of the coast to hit targets within range of the big guns, a US Navy frigate (or submarine) could be hundreds of miles away and fire without putting themselves in direct fire.
Was actually watching a video on this earlier:
tl;dr: It’s a budget thing yet again. The justification is that 16in shells are (or were) cheaper per shot than a missile, pack a bigger punch despite their greater inaccuracy, and a single Iowa can carry more in her magazines than a modern destroyer can carry missiles in their vertical launch tubes. The reality that whatever “savings” you achieved would be totally blow out of the water by trying to restart the production lines for shells and bagged powder for 1-4 show pieces is notably ignored.
re: #205 lawhawk
And we’re learning that the Russian tanks they’re throwing at the Ukrainians are those actual coffins for so many Russian conscripts, because they aren’t survivable against modern weapons, let alone other Russian/Soviet tanks. As the Ukrainians get Western equipment, those crews are in more survivable tanks - where even if the tank is disabled, they have a better chance of surviving, which means the crews get more experience and learn tactics to survive in a deadly environment, while the Russian crews are a one and done - if their tanks get hit, they’re likely dead.
Yep. We were taught how to evacuate the tank, how to get wounded crew members out of the vehicle (newer uniforms actually added special hand holds and straps to make it easier to _GET_ wounded personnel out of damaged vehicles) as well as dismounting the M240 machine guns to use to support the crew while fighting your way back to a new tank. This goes back to WWII. Everyone likes to think that the Sherman was so bad at burning but once the water jackets for ammo storage were put into place, it was considerably safer than being in the infantry. See “The Chieftain” for actual numbers.
re: #174 lawhawk
Back in WWI and WWII, various navies around the world, including the US, came up with various paint schemes to try and make identification and range finding/heading harder.
They worked to varying degrees, but after the war, the US went back to a more conventional paint scheme. Russia has tried varying paint scheme measures to disrupt attacks, and have repeatedly failed - precisely because their countermeasures suck/aren’t working.
Some dazzle paint schemes were pretty good IMHO at making it difficult to determine what the ship was or its’ bearing, but each paint scheme was a one-off. Nobody ever settled on an effective example and standardized it.
re: #206 Belafon
A police chase last this morning in Dallas ended up with the four people in the car dead because they ran off an overpass downtown and so part of I35 is shutdown,
I have argued before that high speed chases need to be made illegal and any cop that indulges in one needs to be arrested for attempted murder and any death is felony murder by the cop. With modern technology, there is no need and no excuse.
The Deep State itself is just a plant by the Demiurge - a shiny object to distract from the fact that the One can’t get decent help these days, replicating the Pleroma. Even a lot of so-called ‘gnostics’ will lie to you about this. (Looking at you, New York Timaeus.) pic.twitter.com/tcnFIMlUPR
— John Holbo jholbo.bsky.social (@jholbo1) February 1, 2024
re: #209 William Lewis
WWII taught us all one very valuable lesson: Materiel is replaceable; experienced fighting men are not. A well-trained tank crew with hours of combat time is an invaluable asset. The US can spend some money, build a new tank, and get it to the battlefield within days. It takes months to train a crew, and they won’t have actual combat experience.
re: #208 Targetpractice
Was actually watching a video on this earlier:
[Embedded content]
tl;dr: It’s a budget thing yet again. The justification is that 16in shells are (or were) cheaper per shot than a missile, pack a bigger punch despite their greater inaccuracy, and a single Iowa can carry more in her magazines than a modern destroyer can carry missiles in their vertical launch tubes. The reality that whatever “savings” you achieved would be totally blow out of the water by trying to restart the production lines for shells and bagged powder for 1-4 show pieces is notably ignored.
Simply adding a base bleed feature to 16” shells adds 10 percent or more to their range, and we could certainly make an 80 mile plus GPS guided submunition for 16” guns.
The problem is the crew cost and the fact you would have ppl in specialized jobs that can’t translate to any other ship
re: #207 Belafon
Paxton said in a Wednesday press release that the cities violated state laws and the Texas constitution concerning marijuana possession and distribution, claiming it to be unlawful for municipalities to adopt ordinances inconsistent with laws enacted by the Texas Legislature.
you mean like a Supremacy Clause?
re: #214 Nerdy Fish
WWII taught us all one very valuable lesson: Materiel is replaceable; experienced fighting men are not. A well-trained tank crew with hours of combat time is an invaluable asset. The US can spend some money, build a new tank, and get it to the battlefield within days. It takes months to train a crew, and they won’t have actual combat experience.
Well, numbers do count for something: supposedly, a German tank officer captured in the Normandy campaign commented that his Panther could take on and knock out four Shermans with ease: but when asked why they lost the engagement reportedly said: “There was always a fifth Sherman”
re: #215 Scottish Dragon
Simply adding a base bleed feature to 16” shells adds 10 percent or more to their range, and we could certainly make an 80 mile plus GPS guided submunition for 16” guns.
The problem is the crew cost and the fact you would have ppl in specialized jobs that can’t translate to any other ship
And on top of that, those big boats are expensive to move. They use a lot of fuel oil to make the speed and have the range to be a blue-water threat. Sure, the artillery itself is cheaper, and maybe we could give them enough range to be relatively safe, but there’s still the incredibly high cost of delivering all that hardware to the location in question.
re: #205 lawhawk
And we’re learning that the Russian tanks they’re throwing at the Ukrainians are those actual coffins for so many Russian conscripts, because they aren’t survivable against modern weapons, let alone other Russian/Soviet tanks. As the Ukrainians get Western equipment, those crews are in more survivable tanks - where even if the tank is disabled, they have a better chance of surviving, which means the crews get more experience and learn tactics to survive in a deadly environment, while the Russian crews are a one and done - if their tanks get hit, they’re likely dead.
I’ve seen a couple of really creepy videos of Flying Dutchman Russian tanks. Tank is burned out and the crew are charred corpses inside, but the engine is intact and the gears are still engaged, so the dead tank is slowly trundling over the battlefield with flames coming out the commander’s hatch or the main gun barrel.
re: #205 lawhawk
And we’re learning that the Russian tanks they’re throwing at the Ukrainians are those actual coffins for so many Russian conscripts, because they aren’t survivable against modern weapons, let alone other Russian/Soviet tanks. As the Ukrainians get Western equipment, those crews are in more survivable tanks - where even if the tank is disabled, they have a better chance of surviving, which means the crews get more experience and learn tactics to survive in a deadly environment, while the Russian crews are a one and done - if their tanks get hit, they’re likely dead.
Biggest problem for the Russians is their tactics. So many of the videos of T-72/80/90 tanks suffering from the jack-in-the-box effect also show the same thing: A total lack of infantry support. Yeah, the poorly-trained conscripts doing things like driving straight into mine fields doesn’t help, but the fact that you have no dismounted infantry to scout out and fuck up opposing infantry carrying anti-tank missiles is unforgivable on a modern battlefield. Hell, just ask the US Army about how relearning the lesson that you do not operate armor in an urban environment without infantry support.
re: #220 Targetpractice
Biggest problem for the Russians is their tactics. So many of the videos of T-72/80/90 tanks suffering from the jack-in-the-box effect also show the same thing: A total lack of infantry support. Yeah, the poorly-trained conscripts doing things like driving straight into mine fields doesn’t help, but the fact that you have no dismounted infantry to scout out and fuck up opposing infantry carrying anti-tank missiles is unforgivable on a modern battlefield. Hell, just ask the US Army about how relearning the lesson that you do not operate armor in an urban environment without infantry support.
Combined arms: When the going gets tough, the tough call for close air support.
re: #220 Targetpractice
Combined arms means just what it sez on the tin.
Armor does not work without infantry. Infantry does not work without artillery. Artillery does not work without armor or infantry. None of the above is worth a shit if your don’t control the air.
It’s really that simple.
re: #220 Targetpractice
Biggest problem for the Russians is their tactics. So many of the videos of T-72/80/90 tanks suffering from the jack-in-the-box effect also show the same thing: A total lack of infantry support. Yeah, the poorly-trained conscripts doing things like driving straight into mine fields doesn’t help, but the fact that you have no dismounted infantry to scout out and fuck up opposing infantry carrying anti-tank missiles is unforgivable on a modern battlefield. Hell, just ask the US Army about how relearning the lesson that you do not operate armor in an urban environment without infantry support.
I made the point a year ago that East Ukraine is a bit like the Bocage area of France with large open areas surrounded by thick vegetation and tree lines. That tactical problem seems to be really difficult right now with advanced PGM. It’s hard to have infantry support advance over half a mile of open pasture littered with mines etc. Some of the tree lines have names now. Yikes.
You can’t stoke violence and play the victim at the same time.
re: #226 darthstar
That is good news. Maybe the House of Reps will be embarrassed into passing a budget that will give Ukraine some more funds.
Images of dead Russian soldiers at a distance are bad enough, but I really don’t like when accounts post close ups - won’t post it here, but here’s my reply:
re: #225 darthstar
You can’t stoke violence and play the victim at the same time.
Rittenhouse sure managed
re: #229 Scottish Dragon
Rittenhouse sure managed
He’s a one-off…and he appears to be in training for his next encounter with the law.
re: #112 Grunthos the Flatulent 🇳🇿
Your Next Wordle is predicting winds light to variable.
[Embedded content]
Further outlook, fine fine fine.
I managed the birbie. About time.
L0R5M0Z6blZaVzEwNGVqVkhhLzJyZmZoUWNSWGNDQk9BOHBzZzBXUjJPYmI4Vmhac242UTVuTUZyVUtJYTVVMDJuUGlwbGJ3MUUwc29Bc1Q4TGhqL1JXYzd3VDZYRTRJWGVBM0NvNElZbXNlWUVPSGlhRlVxTFdJQnFCTmlRTW46OjAaK+5USQbD4pSkZrdEEAE=
Your product is killing people.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by the New York Times
Ar-15s, guns, assault rifles?
Nope. social media
re: #143 darthstar
Russia’s Black Sea fleet takes another hit.
[Embedded content]
Ukraine remodeled another ship into a submarine
re: #229 Scottish Dragon
Rittenhouse sure managed
Only a matter of time before that booger is elected to Congress as a “Law and Order Republican”.
re: #52 BigPapa
I let an ulu (breadfruit) get too ripe. I like making fries with it. So I roasted it. It smells good. Dropped some lilikoi butter in it. I think I’ll try and make an ulu bread, sorta like banana bread but with ulu.
Mutiny of the bounty.
re: #203 lawhawk
The Russians/Soviets attempt at naval aviation was laughable too -
Remember that Russian Naval Aviation includes the Tu-22M and Tu-160 which were rightly perceived as a threat to US carrier battle groups, resulting in the F-14/AIM-54 Phoenix fleet defence combo. Those two fast capable bombers are still in service with the Russian Navy. Whether they have tactical nuclear warheads on their missiles is a good question and whether those missiles could make it through the CVBG defences is another good question.
Newer Russian subs have closed the gap on noise reduction, but they’re still lagging on technology and innovation. Starved of money and investment, they are more likely to sit dockside than be on patrol.
The Borei-class SSBNs are about as good as current western bombers like the ageing Ohios while being newer hulls. The Russians have continued to build and commission more Boreis even while the fighting continues in Ukraine. They have seven operational bombers with three more under construction, to be based out of Kamchatka to patrol in the Pacific and the Northern base near Murmansk to patrol in the Arctic.
re: #238 Nojay UK
Spellcheck is turning your boomers into bombers.
Trump’s campaign manager told America’s oligarchs not to take what Trump says seriously, and that the campaign does want their money, even if they have donated to Haley, never mind Trump saying they are banned from MAGA.
re: #236 Joe Bacon ✅
Only a matter of time before that booger is elected to Congress as a “Law and Order Republican”.
Don’t you need a high school diploma for that? Wait…Boebert.
re: #241 Joe Bacon ✅
Expect another meltdown from the Mean Widdle Kid any second now.
[Embedded content]
So Democrats are red and republicans are blue on Fox? Looks like they’re masking the result a bit with that color flip.
re: #82 Patricia Kayden
Killing a bill they support until their candidate can take credit for passage is a lesson the Republicans learned from Ted Kennedy.
re: #239 Decatur Deb
Spellcheck is turning your boomers into bombers.
Boomers are some kind of artificial division of birth dates like Millenials and Gen X, whatever they are. Bombers are what the Royal Navy call their Continuous At-Sea Deterrent SSBNs. Subs launching bombs == good, subs going “BOOM!” == bad.
re: #247 Nojay UK
Boomers are some kind of artificial division of birth dates like Millenials and Gen X, whatever they are. Bombers are what the Royal Navy call their Continuous At-Sea Deterrent SSBNs. Subs launching bombs == good, subs going “BOOM!” == bad.
You probably keep your spare tyre in your boot, too.
re: #244 BeenHereAwhile
Killing a bill they support until their candidate can take credit for passage is a lesson the Republicans learned from Ted Kennedy.
When I told my mother this after she went on an extended diatribe about the border, she insisted it’s because Biden would refuse to spend the money anyway so there was no need to pass anything until Trump gets elected.
Then she insisted she was fine with shooting immigrants at the border.
I had to take a while to absorb that one. My mom and dad are now cool with extra judicial murder of immigrants. JFC
I will never forgive Fox News for what they have done.
re: #241 Joe Bacon ✅
Expect another meltdown from the Mean Widdle Kid any second now.
We will be reminded that polls mean nothing and/or are being manipulated by media-control satellites.
Never give Republicans what they want…they’ll just move the goal posts.
re: #92 Belafon
One thing people like this need to think about is Taylor has at least 50 trucker friends who I guarantee have a bunch of other friends who could really fuck up people like this.
I personally know of an incident outside a stage loading dock where a crew manager was threatened by a “civilian”, who quickly found out that ‘whoa these people have guns.’
(jus some good ole boys)
re: #249 Scottish Dragon
When I told my mother this after she went on an extended diatribe about the border, she insisted it’s because Biden would refuse to spend the money anyway so there was no need to pass anything until Trump gets elected.
Then she insisted she was fine with shooting immigrants at the border.
I had to take a while to absorb that one. My mom and dad are now cool with extra judicial murder of immigrants. JFC
I will never forgive Fox News for what they have done.
Once you have succeeded in ginning up fear and hatred of an outgroup, you can dehumanize them to the point that mass murder is accepted. However, Governor Abbott did walk back his comment that the reason Texas wasn’t shooting migrants was because the Feds would charge them with murder.
re: #253 No Malarkey!
Once you have succeeded in ginning up fear and hatred of an outgroup, you can dehumanize them to the point that mass murder is accepted. However, Governor Abbott did walk back his comment that the reason Texas wasn’t shooting migrants was because the Feds would charge them with murder.
Iow, we’d do it if we could get away with it
Alabama pulls out of American Library Association
The Alabama Public Library Service has officially voted to not renew its membership with the American Library Association.
The ALA is a librarian professional development organization that has recently come under fire in Alabama. Opponents contend it promotes Marxism, discriminates against faith-based organizations, and supports keeping sexual content in libraries.
Gov. Kay Ivey threatened to cut funding to the state’s public libraries in October, saying she wants to restrict funds for libraries that don’t adopt policies to require more parental supervision in libraries.
Yes Alabama Republicans, Keep people stupid.
Surprise! States with highest rates of STDs happens to be dominated by states led by GOPers who want to deny women reproductive care options, and don’t want to talk about public health and undermine public health measures.
re: #256 lawhawk
Surprise! States with highest rates of STDs happens to be dominated by states led by GOPers who want to deny women reproductive care options, and don’t want to talk about public health and undermine public health measures.
That’s by design. STDs are God’s judgement on the unrighteous, apparantly.
re: #122 Targetpractice
And again, we were supposed to feel good that a couple of the guys at the top of Enron and Arthur Anderson had had their nuts chopped off while many of the smaller fish either took deals for lesser punishments or got to walk away scot-free with their ill-gotten gains pocketed away. But what about those who’d lost their jobs, their pensions, and were now starting from scratch again? We were told that it sucked to suck, but if they’d wanted security then they should have stuffed money in a mattress or buried it in the backyard because investing in 401Ks and company stock was a sucker’s bet…except mine, which is totally secure because my boss says so.
I knew partners at Arthur Anderson who lost all their equity when it cratered. Albeit they moved to the remaining Big Four.
One SIL remained whole. She retired from Aurther Anderson 3 months before the shut down, and had moved her pension fund to an independent investment package.
— Steve Morgan - ectheist (@evilsteveve) February 1, 2024
re: #112 Grunthos the Flatulent 🇳🇿
Your Next Wordle is predicting winds light to variable.
[Embedded content]
Further outlook, fine fine fine.
Birbie here
Wordle 957 3/6
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Group: 3,4,5,5
Chickened out — was thinking of the word for 2, but instead did my standard to get letters.
re: #259 gocart mozart
There are some folks who are going to be very angry at that picture. I am not one of them.
re: #255 Joe Bacon ✅
Alabama pulls out of American Library Association
The Alabama Public Library Service has officially voted to not renew its membership with the American Library Association.
The ALA is a librarian professional development organization that has recently come under fire in Alabama. Opponents contend it promotes Marxism, discriminates against faith-based organizations, and supports keeping sexual content in libraries.
Gov. Kay Ivey threatened to cut funding to the state’s public libraries in October, saying she wants to restrict funds for libraries that don’t adopt policies to require more parental supervision in libraries.
Yes Alabama Republicans, Keep people stupid.
wtf do you think a library is?
re: #258 BeenHereAwhile
I knew partners at Arthur Anderson who lost all their equity when it cratered. Albeit they moved to the remaining Big Four.
One SIL remained whole. She retired from Aurther Anderson 3 months before the shut down, and had moved her pension fund to an independent investment package.
and then every cpa firm in the nation had to adopt new policies so this couldnt happen again
as if some local 2 man firm is gonna land an enron sized account
re: #132 Dangerman
So trump is too stupid to see this? Hes a puppet and has no agency? Wow.
Trump is the latest in the line of Republican Presidents who think they are the Con, but actually are the Mark.
re: #267 Dangerman
and then every cpa firm in the nation had to adopt new policies so this couldnt happen again
as if some local 2 man firm is gonna land an enron sized account
That’s the Trump plan for his new/additional legal counsel (for appealing all of his current crop of losses).
He can’t land a major white collar firm anywhere in the nation, because he can’t and wont pay their rates. He can’t find attorneys at those major white collar firms who will lie and submit motions that are frivolous as he wants, because they value their careers more than blowing up their firms or careers to have Trump as a client.
So what he does find are idiots like Habba who say what Trump wants to hear, but fail miserably in court (motions and in trial), and lack the skills to prepare ground for appeal (because Habba botched all the preservation of issues for appeal). Etc.
re: #259 gocart mozart
Oh boy, that’s gonna ruffle some tail feathers 😈
re: #253 No Malarkey!
Once you have succeeded in ginning up fear and hatred of an outgroup, you can dehumanize them to the point that mass murder is accepted. However, Governor Abbott did walk back his comment that the reason Texas wasn’t shooting migrants was because the Feds would charge them with murder.
Because it would be murder.
Republican victory in 2024 depends on AI-generated three-armed Black men flipping right 💪💪💪 https://t.co/cnz1k8Ga7w
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) February 1, 2024
re: #270 lawhawk
That’s the Trump plan for his new/additional legal counsel (for appealing all of his current crop of losses).
He can’t land a major white collar firm anywhere in the nation, because he can’t and wont pay their rates. He can’t find attorneys at those major white collar firms who will lie and submit motions that are frivolous as he wants, because they value their careers more than blowing up their firms or careers to have Trump as a client.
So what he does find are idiots like Habba who say what Trump wants to hear, but fail miserably in court (motions and in trial), and lack the skills to prepare ground for appeal (because Habba botched all the preservation of issues for appeal). Etc.
All he can get are the type of lawyer you see on local tv ads after 11 PM or during afternoon soaps.
re: #274 Scottish Dragon
All he can get are the type of lawyer you see on local tv ads after 11 PM or during afternoon soaps.
He cannot get anyone with any kind of positive reputation because it will be ruined by association with DJT.
re: #275 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
He cannot get anyone with any kind of positive reputation because it will be ruined by association with DJT.
His reputation as a bad client who doesn’t pay, and the fact that his legal situation is dire due to the strength of the State’s case(s) against him, all add up to the fact that no attorney who values his or her winning record in court is going to touch this with a 40-foot pole.
In other news I’ve finally started binge watching The Wire.
Holy shit it is so good.
Holy shit it is so depressing and cynical.
Holy shit at all the cops on social media who say it’s the most accurate LE TV show ever made.
Damn.
re: #270 lawhawk
He can’t land a major white collar firm anywhere in the nation, because he can’t and wont pay their rates. He can’t find attorneys at those major white collar firms who will lie and submit motions that are frivolous as he wants, because they value their careers more than blowing up their firms or careers to have Trump as a client
Someone on here (may have been you…don’t remember) said that if Trump was capable of acting like a good client (let alone paying like one), he’d have white collar firms lined up around the block. He showed the world just how bad a client he was in the Carroll deposition…that testimony is what cooked him during the sexual assault phase.
re: #277 Scottish Dragon
I got to season 3, been watching other things, probably come back to it at some point.
re: #279 EstebanTornado1963
I got to season 3, been watching other things, probably come back to it at some point.
Season 4 is supposed to be the best from what I’ve heard.
re: #122 Targetpractice
….We were told that it sucked to suck, but if they’d wanted security then they should have stuffed money in a mattress or buried it in the backyard because investing in 401Ks and company stock was a sucker’s bet…except mine, which is totally secure because my boss says so.
In legitimate companies (not scams like Enron evolved into) most 401(k) investments are limited to established mutual funds and company matches are put into those funds too; so if there isn’t a widespread economic collapse, employees will generally do well, as long as they can afford to make their maximum possible contribution. Too many, though, either don’t have the resources to make the maximum they can or they are not good at money management. Traditional pension plans eliminate those problems, but you can do well in a 401(k), barring a long term stock market crash.
“But the pension fund was just sitting there!”
re: #284 Decatur Deb
This is another thing that gets me: how libraries became the front line in the Culture Wars.
This is just your regular reminder that Republicans are willing to FUCK OVER THE ENTIRE COUNTRY because they hate Joe Biden that much.
re: #279 EstebanTornado1963
I got to season 3, been watching other things, probably come back to it at some point.
IMHO, season two was the weakest.
re: #274 Scottish Dragon
All he can get are the type of lawyer you see on local tv ads after 11 PM or during afternoon soaps.
Better call Saul!
re: #278 coin operated
I may have said something like that at different times, but that’s entirely accurate - Trump is the worst kind of client and his conduct in and out of the courtroom is such that every competent lawyer, let alone top lawyers across the nation, because he wouldn’t listen to what they had to say.
Trump always thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room. He wants someone who enables his malfeasance and his statements.
It’s pretty common for someone to find separate counsel for appellate matters, because there are lawyers who specialize in appellate matters - writing up the motions and briefs and arguing before the appellate courts is different.
Think of it this way - Boies Shiller is a huge firm and a huge reputation for handling complex litigation. Al Gore retained David Boies in his Bush v. Gore case that went to the Supreme Court. Trump can’t get anyone like that. He can’t get Gibson, Dunn’s Ted Olson, who was counsel to both Reagan and GWB.
None of these firms want anything to do with him. They know Trump wont listen to him.
Trump will lose even more money in court fees/costs, all to delay the inevitable outcomes. All that money adds up.
re: #285 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
This is another thing that gets me: how libraries became the front line in the Culture Wars.
Churches decided it was a good idea to try and eliminate the competition.
/ half
re: #287 Eclectic Cyborg
This is just your regular reminder that Republicans are willing to FUCK OVER THE ENTIRE COUNTRY because they hate Joe Biden that much.
When they’re literally saying, “We’re tanking OUR OWN BILL because we don’t want to give Joe Biden a win,” you know the one-sided divisiveness has gone too far.
re: #285 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
This is another thing that gets me: how libraries became the front line in the Culture Wars.
Fascism always attacks alternative information sources it doesn’t control.
At first, decimating education and libraries receives harsh pushback, because people who have been educated and exposed to books know the value of it. But, if you can hold on long enough so the uneducated people can become adults, they can be manipulated into supporting stupidity as a virtue.
re: #294 Unabogie
At first, decimating education and libraries receives harsh pushback, because people who have been educated and exposed to books know the value of it. But, if you can hold on long enough so the uneducated people can become adults, they can be manipulated into supporting stupidity as a virtue.
Stupidity is already considered a virtue by the third of Americans who want to throw away our democracy.
re: #213 gocart mozart
@jholbot1
The Deep State itself is just a plant by the Demiurge - a shiny object to distract from the fact that the One can’t get decent help these days, replicating the Pleroma. Even a lot of so-called ‘gnostics’ will lie to you about this. (Looking at you, New York Timaeus.)
@delong
Why aren’t there more Gnostic-Lovecraft mashups?
re: #277 Scottish Dragon
In other news I’ve finally started binge watching The Wire.
Holy shit it is so good.
Holy shit it is so depressing and cynical.
Holy shit at all the cops on social media who say it’s the most accurate LE TV show ever made.
Damn.
The author David Simon has true street cred and knows the turf. Very interesting career.
David Simon
I just got a text message from Wells-Fargo asking if I bought something at Aldi. I do not have a Wells-Fargo accountant I have never shopped at Aldi. These folks have been blocked and deleted.
re: #151 Nerdy Fish
He genuinely thinks he’s going to get away with it all. How pathetic. Sad.
Alex Jones hasn’t paid a cent and hasn’t suffered any consequence.
The delays in the DC Appeals Court and Engoron rulings give me the bad vibes from 2019 and Mueller. I retain my pessimism about this all. Trump has gotten away with everything so far in his life, with just a few minor setbacks. As I said the other day, it won’t be until he’s actually suffered real consequences — bankruptcy and loss of all his properties or prison, that I will finally believe that there is justice.
re: #157 darthstar
And they’re losing their fleet to a country without a navy. These corvette class ships aren’t little. Was the crew trying to shoot the sea drones with AK-47s? And how did Ukraine get a swarm of drones so close so fast? Russian surveillance and radar must really suck.
As the old saying goes, there are 2 types of ships: submarines and targets. Any surface vessel is highly vulnerable to modern technology — aircraft, drones, missiles.
re: #291 Eclectic Cyborg
Churches decided it was a good idea to try and eliminate the competition.
/ half
Fundamentalists, yes.
and remember the quote
“Those who would forbid teaching history are the ones who plan to repeat it!”
No snow on the ground in the Twin Cities, MN, and forecast of well above freezing temperatures for the next 10 days.
I used to keep track of ice-on and ice-out dates of the nearby park lake for the state DNR. Average had been like April 10 over a 30-year period for ice out with a definite trend towards earlier in the season. Earliest I’ve seen is March 20th (latest April 22nd). I think we might break that early date this year.
re: #290 lawhawk
I may have said something like that at different times, but that’s entirely accurate - Trump is the worst kind of client and his conduct in and out of the courtroom is such that every competent lawyer, let alone top lawyers across the nation, because he wouldn’t listen to what they had to say.
Trump always thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room. He wants someone who enables his malfeasance and his statements.
It’s pretty common for someone to find separate counsel for appellate matters, because there are lawyers who specialize in appellate matters - writing up the motions and briefs and arguing before the appellate courts is different.
Think of it this way - Boies Shiller is a huge firm and a huge reputation for handling complex litigation. Al Gore retained David Boies in his Bush v. Gore case that went to the Supreme Court. Trump can’t get anyone like that. He can’t get Gibson, Dunn’s Ted Olson, who was counsel to both Reagan and GWB.
None of these firms want anything to do with him. They know Trump wont listen to him.
Trump will lose even more money in court fees/costs, all to delay the inevitable outcomes. All that money adds up.
Another key reason Trump can’t get elite firms to represent him is that those firms associates revolt and elite law school graduates refuse to work for them; they don’t want to shill for fascism.
re: #303 dat_said
Just about the same thing predicted here on the Rhine
re: #198 Scottish Dragon
No doubt why Rod Dreher loves him
Hi there! Welcome back. Haven’t seen you in awhile!
re: #277 Scottish Dragon
In other news I’ve finally started binge watching The Wire.
Holy shit it is so good.
Holy shit it is so depressing and cynical.
Holy shit at all the cops on social media who say it’s the most accurate LE TV show ever made.
Damn.
It’s in my top 5 of best TV of all time. It’s gritty, depressing, funny, and feels as real as anything before or since. You simply cannot ignore the cast either. The actors playing the cops, the bangers, the politicians are some of the most amazing I’ve ever seen. Even the young project kids are hyper-talented.
Enjoy the show. You will never forget it.
re: #227 PhillyPretzel ✅
That is good news. Maybe the House of Reps will be embarrassed into passing a budget that will give Ukraine some more funds.
The GOP House is incapable of shame; their allegiance is to Putin’s man Trump and not to our nation or our Constitution.
re: #308 sizzzzlerz
Snoop on The Wire
Not that Snoop
re: #304 Decatur Deb
Alabama said he was too dangerous to parole. He’d been dead for 10 days.
al.com
That scene from 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty where Captain Bligh (Charles Laughten) orders the full number of lashes delivered to a prisoner who is already dead after having been lashed by every other ship in Portsmouth.
Summary of Fed Chair Powell today:
1) No rate cut in March
2) Cuts likely in 2024, but Fed wants lot more data first
3) Not a “soft landing” yet
4) “Let’s be honest: this is a good economy.” -Powellhttps://t.co/Uus5NB8bYB pic.twitter.com/32irCG1suQ— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) January 31, 2024
re: #287 Eclectic Cyborg
This is just your regular reminder that Republicans are willing to FUCK OVER THE ENTIRE COUNTRY because they hate Joe Biden that much.
they actually think this will help their electoral chances
re: #290 lawhawk
…
None of these firms want anything to do with him. They know Trump wont listen to him.
they also know he did it
all of it
The card has arrived. Little thing. Time to see how well it works.
AMD RX 580 8GB 2048SP D5 256bit only 1 hdmi connector.
Brand new, sealed box so that’s a neat thing for less than $50 USD shipped.
re: #314 Dangerman
they actually think this will help their electoral chances
Well, they’ve already seen that supporting a defrauding rapist with 91 felony charges who attempted to overthrow the results of a presidential election hasn’t harmed their chances one bit. Why would they think any different?
re: #307 Hecuba’s daughter
Hi there! Welcome back. Haven’t seen you in awhile!
Been a few minutes. Had to leave our home of 18 years because the new inheritor/owner wanted to sell it immediately and I couldn’t get a VA loan sufficient to his asking price. We’re in a 2 bedroom apartment less than half the size and most of our stuff is on storage while we try to deal with student loan debt that’s damaging our debt/income ratio before we move to buy a home.
re: #287 Eclectic Cyborg
This is just your regular reminder that Republicans are willing to FUCK OVER THE ENTIRE COUNTRY because they hate Joe Biden that much.
They hate Democrats that much — any Democrat. They are also allied with Putin and working on his behalf.
rant 1
two lanes each way
median down the middle
green light
i’m making a right turn from the spillover lane, so 3 lanes
car on the other side waiting in the left turn lane decides to turn
in front of me
of course I have to stop short
she waves at me like “thanks”
lady, i wasnt being nice saying you can go first
i didnt cede the right of way
you would have hit me
obtuse and clueless
re: #188 William Lewis
Degraded? The were NEVER any better. Just that they used to have lots of them.
We were taught in 1983 that, before we died in our M60A3 high tech coffin, we had to kill at least 5 Soviet T-72/T-64s to slow them down enough for REFORGER to work.
That is also why we expected the first wave of Soviet armor to coincide with a massive attack of nerve agent and a first strike of tactical nuclear weapons. They could not win with out it.
After the wall came down, we found documents in the East German military that showed they though we could move between 2 & 4 times as many troops into Germany as we really could via REFORGER and that kept them from jumping.
Did you participate in reforger 83? I was there we flew into Ramstein, drew equipment in Pirmasens, took a train across Germany and had some sightseeing in armored vehicles. I was in the 3rd ACR.
re: #320 Hecuba’s daughter
They hate Democrats that much — any Democrat. They are also allied with Putin and working on his behalf.
And American oligarchs who will fuck the country over to get more tax cuts and deregulation.
re: #313 Belafon
[Embedded content]
House to initiate impeachment investigation on Fed Chairman Powell immediately.
re: #321 Dangerman
rant 1
two lanes each way
median down the middlegreen light
i’m making a right turn from the spillover lane, so 3 lanescar on the other side waiting in the left turn lane decides to turn
in front of meof course I have to stop short
she waves at me like “thanks”lady, i wasnt being nice saying you can go first
i didnt cede the right of wayyou would have hit me
obtuse and clueless
There are so many bad drivers on the road. That is why I taught my kids to drive defensively.
re: #46 Belafon
I will be working to make it blue, and I don’t need people here telling me that I should ignore the polls and work my butt off. The pink will get other Democrats here way more excited than red will.
Can you imagine Elon Musk’s horror show reaction if by somehow Texas does swing Blue and Dems even win statewide offices again? All that effort and money to try and create an Ayn Rand paradise Utopia down the drain.
re: #315 Dangerman
they also know he did it
all of it
That doesn’t matter.
The fact that he doesn’t pay counsel does.
(pay means pay in full)
When one of our clients - no matter how well connected or public of a figure quit paying - they were told to seek other counsel.
re: #328 Florida Panhandler
Can you imagine Elon Musk’s horror show reaction if by somehow Texas does swing Blue and even wins statewide offices again? All that effort and money to try and create an Ayn Rand paradise Utopia down the drain.
If Texas women will rise up against their oppression, reelect President Biden and vote Cruz out of the Senate, it will completely short circuit any Trump coup attempt. Without Texas, a Trump loss is turned into a catastrophic landslide defeat.
re: #322 Markm1960
Did you participate in reforger 83? I was there we flew into Ramstein, drew equipment in Pirmasens, took a train across Germany and had some sightseeing in armored vehicles. I was in the 3rd ACR.
1AD/13th Armored BN/Regiment now called Cav. again.
re: #322 Markm1960
Did you participate in reforger 83? I was there we flew into Ramstein, drew equipment in Pirmasens, took a train across Germany and had some sightseeing in armored vehicles. I was in the 3rd ACR.
I saw a 1980s Reforger sticker with Molly Hatchet album art and it was metal AF. Somebody finally did Army artwork right.
re: #331 No Malarkey!
If Texas women will rise up against their oppression, reelect President Biden and vote Cruz out of the Senate, it will completely short circuit any Trump coup attempt. Without Texas, a Trump loss is turned into a catastrophic landslide defeat.
I think that would only further convince them it’s all a sham and that they have to fight.
re: #327 No Malarkey!
There are so many bad drivers on the road. That is why I taught my kids to drive defensively.
I used to ride a motorcycle. The number of times this occurred to me after having established eye-to-eye contact with the other driver is depressing.
re: #315 Dangerman
they also know he did it
all of it
IANAL —but—
Lawyers don’t care about that — the guilt or innocence of their client is usually irrelevant to them.
What they do care about:
1. Getting paid
2. Client following their advice.
3. Client keeping their mouth shut and not saying/doing anything without prior approval.
rant 2
dangermom’s got health issues
she’s 95
her doctor knows about them
makes recommendations - do this, don’t do that, etc.
but i’m not there most of the time so there’s no follow through.
and mom can still say to the aides “i dont wanna”.
even though she should
she’s still in charge, sorta.
some of the health aides think they know best. they recommend to her to do X. then she tells me to go buy whatever…
then the lady comes to do her nails.
apparently she is also an expert on feet and leg swelling etc so she has her recommendations.
‘everyone i know used this and it works’, so now it’s on my list of things to do.
but no one wants to do what the doctor suggests.
you know, the one who has the experience etc.
re: #336 sizzzzlerz
I used to ride a motorcycle. The number of times this occurred to me after having established eye-to-eye contact with the other driver is depressing.
My dad told me that when he was on his motorcycle, it was like he turned invisible (I don’t ride).
1. @Moms4Liberty decided that several classic children’s picture books are pornography, including Maurice Sendak’s In The Night Kitchen.
A Florida school district agreed to ADD CLOTHING to the illustrations
Follow along for the full saga, including before and after pics
🧵— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 1, 2024
A reminder as we begin #BlackHistoryMonth:
Republicans don’t want to teach Black History and they want to make Black people history.— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) February 1, 2024
re: #325 sizzzzlerz
House to initiate impeachment investigation on Fed Chairman Powell immediately.
trump’s appointment
re: #339 No Malarkey!
My dad told me that when he was on his motorcycle, it was like he turned invisible (I don’t ride).
Two kinds of people ride scooter.
Them that crashed and them that will.
The longer you ride the more the odds turn against you.
re: #331 No Malarkey!
If Texas women will rise up against their oppression, reelect President Biden and vote Cruz out of the Senate, it will completely short circuit any Trump coup attempt. Without Texas, a Trump loss is turned into a catastrophic landslide defeat.
The Texas women are as vile and racist as the Texas men; just as in favor of women dying from inability to get an abortion because it will never happen to them or their loved ones.
re: #335 Scottish Dragon
I think that would only further convince them it’s all a sham and that they have to fight.
A big enough defeat could be seriously deflating. And if defeating Ted Cruz allowed the Democrats to retain control of the Senate, there would be no hope of Congress refusing to certify Biden’s victory. Also if Biden won Texas, he would probably win Florida as well, along with NC, Georgia and Arizona, making Trump’s defeat near total. A boy can dream, right?
re: #337 Hecuba’s daughter
IANAL —but—
Lawyers don’t care about that — the guilt or innocence of their client is usually irrelevant to them.What they do care about:
1. Getting paid
2. Client following their advice.
3. Client keeping their mouth shut and not saying/doing anything without prior approval.
There are lawyers who take on clients for a cause (because they support specific outcomes and this meshes with their worldview - think abortion rights, voting rights, etc.). There are lawyers who take on clients because it elevates their prestige (high profile cases, to generate more business down the road - like being retained by a POTUS). The facts don’t always matter in those cases - they want an outcome and fight to get the desired outcome.
All that gets weighed against usually by the three items you also identified - and on those instances, Trump fails on all three counts. Trump cannot STFU. Trump refuses to take advice for more than a few moments at a time, and he is notorious at not paying those who work for him.
Payment is a big thing when it comes to complex litigation as the bills can quickly run into the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. Not every firm or solo practitioner can suck up and take the loss on nonpayment. We see that with Rudy claiming Trump refused to pay his legal bills too.
The more lawyers Trump runs through, the fewer that will proffer their name to represent Trump because they’re seeing what happens when other lawyers do. Tacopina was more successful than most since he kept Trump off the stand and had him STFU - which is why the first defamation case was “only” $5.5 million as put forth by that jury. Habba couldn’t control Trump, hence the $83 million verdict by that jury.
re: #9 BigPapa
I’m hoping for an Electoral Red Wedding with lots of Ultra Violence.
Easy for you to say, Hilo Boy! South Austin is pretty damn Blue, but get out of town, especially up around Waco, and it’s 1951 again.
re: #340 Belafon
It’s the paperback version of John Ashcroft coverup of naked boobies.
re: #343 nines09
Two kinds of people ride scooter.
Them that crashed and them that will.
The longer you ride the more the odds turn against you.
Been riding for 53 years and had two gentle accidents (not including the idiot who bumped me at a stop sign). Not done yet.
re: #350 Decatur Deb
Been riding for 53 years and had two gentle accidents (not including the idiot who bumped me at a stop sign). Not done yet.
I admire your good fortune.
I have my horror stories.
And minor scars because I was very fortunate.
re: #348 William Lewis
[Embedded content]
Been seeing these on sale all over aliexpress for like $40ish. thought about picking one up just to have a decent spare, but I spend too much money and need to try to be a bit more disciplined.
re: #227 PhillyPretzel ✅
That is good news. Maybe the House of Reps will be embarrassed into passing a budget that will give Ukraine some more funds.
You jest, right? Our House? Yeah? … No.
Trump supporters are the kool-aid drinkers we all know them to be. Trump long claimed he’d pay the bills of his seditious treasonweasel 1/6 defendants. He hasn’t.
But he’s now soliciting from all his base to cover Trump’s legal bills (and judgments that are imminent).
re: #353 Yeah Sure WhatEVs
I am trying to be optimistic.
re: #354 lawhawk
As the GOP watches in terror at the $400M given to him to pay his bills rather than to campaigns.
re: #69 Jay C
Well, one menace I don’t think we’ll have to worry about is Ms Taylor getting anywhere near public office: in the GA Republican primary, didn’t she get something like just 3% of the vote - and blamed Satan for her loss, anyway?
re: #227 PhillyPretzel ✅
That is good news. Maybe the House of Reps will be embarrassed into passing a budget that will give Ukraine some more funds.
Or they’ll say, “See! Other people with more skin in the game will step up if we keep the purse strings tight. They have been counting on the US to subsidize their socialist economies for too long!”
re: #352 danarchy
Been seeing these on sale all over aliexpress for like $40ish. thought about picking one up just to have a decent spare, but I spend too much money and need to try to be a bit more disciplined.
This one was $48 USD shipped. Looks to be a decent jump over the integrated Vega 11 graphics on my Ryzen 5 2400g (which, for integrated, really wasn’t bad to begin with). Certainly it got me through the insane price period. Once Cyberpunk finishes downloading its updates, it’ll be interesting to see how well that improves.
re: #356 Belafon
As the GOP watches in terror at the $400M given to him to pay his bills rather than to campaigns.
re: #351 nines09
I admire your good fortune.
I have my horror stories.
And minor scars because I was very fortunate.
The Army required that I take tons of motorcycle safety training to ride on post. That included the old National Safety Council MC Defensive Driving, and later the Army version of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation course. My thumper and I are in the film they made of that.
When I was a teenager, I wanted a motorcycle. My dad didn’t approve and set up a conversation with a retired motorcycle cop.
The retired cop showed me numerous scars from accidents and lectured me about how dangerous it is to ride.
I asked only one question: Do you still ride?
He responded yes.
Got the motorcycle. However, after riding for years I’d had a lot of close calls and realized that perhaps I should reconsider riding. I also had the experience of making eye contact with drivers who’d then pull out in front of me, later telling me they didn’t see me.
Car drivers look for other cars and/or trucks. Motorcycles don’t register.
Once piece of advice the cop provided was the need to recognize that if you ride, you will eventually fall. Helpful advice, always wore a helmet and benefited from that decision several times.
re: #68 Captain Ron
[Embedded content]
I remember when the Mellon family (Pittsburgh!) collected Impressionist art and donated it to the National Gallery in DC. Now they are just a bunch of selfish Nazi-Adjacent Fuck-Wits.
Inbreeding, kids! Avoid it!
Pennsylvania sheriff’s deputy & soccer coach, Corey Botelho, who was arrested in December for the rape of an 8 yr old girl over the course of 7 years, has been charged w 29 additional offenses.
Botelho is now facing 79 child sex crime charges. pic.twitter.com/yeBNwxUkOF— 𝐁𝐞𝐤𝐬 (@antifaoperative) February 1, 2024
Yet not another transgender.
re: #365 A Cranky One
I had a motorcycle for a year. I laid it down making a corner and broke my fibula. I realized afterwards, that while it was fun to ride, I’m not really a motorcycle rider. I like to get from Point A to Point B as quickly as I can, and riding a motorcycle is about the ride.
re: #365 A Cranky One
When I was a teenager, I wanted a motorcycle. My dad didn’t approve and set up a conversation with a retired motorcycle cop.
The retired cop showed me numerous scars from accidents and lectured me about how dangerous it is to ride.
I asked only one question: Do you still ride?
He responded yes.
Got the motorcycle. However, after riding for years I’d had a lot of close calls and realized that perhaps I should reconsider riding. I also had the experience of making eye contact with drivers who’d then pull out in front of me, later telling me they didn’t see me.
Car drivers look for other cars and/or trucks. Motorcycles don’t register.Once piece of advice the cop provided was the need to recognize that if you ride, you will eventually fall. Helpful advice, always wore a helmet and benefited from that decision several times.
I stopped riding because I foolishly wasn’t maintaining my bike and it reached a state where I felt it to be unsafe. My fault. The problem was the cost of repair would have easily exceeded the value of the mc. As far as cagers not looking for motorcycles; only cars and trucks, as shown in the original post, not even those.
re: #112 Grunthos the Flatulent 🇳🇿
Your Next Wordle is predicting winds light to variable.
[Embedded content]
Further outlook, fine fine fine.
3/6 day
Wordle 957 3/6
🟩⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟨⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
re: #372 sizzzzlerz
I stopped riding because I foolishly wasn’t maintaining my bike and it reached a state where I felt it to be unsafe. My fault. The problem was the cost of repair would have easily exceeded the value of the mc. As far as cagers not looking for motorcycles; only cars and trucks, as shown in the original post, not even those.
I considered getting a motorbike when I was living in Sedona, Arizona back in the early 80’s back when there were not too many cars on the road (at least during the week) and only one traffic light.
Issue there was simply that to get up the hill from Phoenix or from there up to Flagstaff you really needed at least 950cc to pull your weight up at a reasonable speed and I was not ready for that much bike all at once.
re: #193 William Lewis
I notice that the idjits are blathering abut reactivating the IOWAs yet again. Dipsticks need to be whacked with a hickory switch.
Great stick to wave until someone shows them the bill of what would be needed to get them to even a minimal operational level. Their engines and a lot of other internal systems are worn out. IIRC, there is no factory that could currently make the propellent or shells for their 16” guns.* So that would have to be re-capitalized from scratch as well.
* - I suspect the 5”/38 secondary guns still have shells and propellent charges arounds. Besides being much smaller that gun was massively used across the USN and other facilities. Wikipedia indicates it was in USN use until 2008.
re: #365 A Cranky One
When I was a teenager, I wanted a motorcycle. My dad didn’t approve and set up a conversation with a retired motorcycle cop.
The retired cop showed me numerous scars from accidents and lectured me about how dangerous it is to ride.
I asked only one question: Do you still ride?
He responded yes.
Got the motorcycle. However, after riding for years I’d had a lot of close calls and realized that perhaps I should reconsider riding. I also had the experience of making eye contact with drivers who’d then pull out in front of me, later telling me they didn’t see me.
Car drivers look for other cars and/or trucks. Motorcycles don’t register.Once piece of advice the cop provided was the need to recognize that if you ride, you will eventually fall. Helpful advice, always wore a helmet and benefited from that decision several times.
Worst accident I had was while riding was one day when it was really too cold to be out, I stopped at a rest area. After taking care of business, I went to kickstart the bike and didn’t have it in neutral. Shot straight out and over onto me. I wasn’t injured really - mostly my pride - but it sure messed up that side of the bike. I got to where I was going and parked it till spring.
re: #365 A Cranky One
…..
Car drivers look for other cars and/or trucks. Motorcycles don’t register.
….
Pedestrians register even less, as I can attest from my first hand experience last July.
re: #377 Hecuba’s daughter
Pedestrians register even less, as I can attest from my first hand experience last July.
Bicycles are invisible and/or seen as hostile bodies.
1st of the month. Time to go pay the rent. Perhaps find a few photos too since the sun is actually out for a change 😎
re: #203 lawhawk
The Russians/Soviets attempt at naval aviation was laughable too - they realized they couldn’t match the US Navy frontline carriers, so they built hybrid ships that were oversized cruisers with a flight deck, but which couldn’t launch fully loaded planes b/c they didn’t have either the arresting gear or the catapults. Putting ski jumps on the fronts of their ships may have increased their capabilities slightly, but they couldn’t put the planes in the sky the US Navy could. It’s why the Admiral Kuznetsov is such a joke. It’s why the Indian Navy has had so many problems with the Soviet/Russian sourced carrier they got (the Varyag). They are POS.
They tried to match western Navy capabilities but failed miserably because they didn’t have the tactics or the equipment to do so. Only with the sub fleet did they have something of a threat - their Akulas were exceptionally fast and deep diving, but so loud that a 688 class could track them easily. Typhoons were huge missile platforms, but also loud. Newer Russian subs have closed the gap on noise reduction, but they’re still lagging on technology and innovation. Starved of money and investment, they are more likely to sit dockside than be on patrol.
I’d hold that the role of the Russian naval aviation wasn’t to match USN capabilities. It was to annoy non-USN NATO allies and also something that could take down snoopers or naval patrol aircraft. Plus a helicopter capability to augment Russian ASW capabilities.
Their land-based naval aviation wings were held to be a greater threat - but one that could be attritioned during wartime. Larger bombers with the capability of launching stand-off missiles at carrier groups.* USN carrier fighter doctrine and design** requirements have been trying to work against this sort of threat since WW2.
* - In _Red Storm Rising_ this is the whole “Dance of the Vampires” scenario.
** - If one is interested in seeing this in greater detail I recommend Norman Friedman’s _Fighters Over the Fleet_. A lot of doctrine in the USN over ways to detect a strike as far out as possible to allow for improved chance to intercept and down attackers before they get in range to launch missiles. Inner circle defense is anti-missile missiles and then guns. The circle widens as the missile and bomber tech improves, but also you get complications once one tries to target things over the horizon.
One reason I quit riding was a near accident.
Car in front of me makes a panic stop (attempting a last minute turn). I realized that I couldn’t stop in time to prevent hitting the car. Fortunately for me, there was a parking lot entrance on the right that I was barely able to pull into at speed.
Car that was behind me hit the car that had stopped. Sat shaking for a few minutes in recognition that if I hadn’t been able to turn into the parking lot, I’d be a Cranky sandwich between the cars.
Took some of the joy of riding from me.
re: #207 Belafon
State’s rights never devolve further down the chain of municipalities or counties. It’s almost like they only want one layer with any power since it is one that is easier to keep bought and far enough up the chain that it is harder for voter backlash to replace their paid for puppets.
While we’re on the subject of motorcycles, I remember this scene from 30 years ago:
I was waiting to pick up my kids from school. A motorcycle pulls up, and a person dismounts. The person removed their helmet and it was a woman. She removed her leather chaps and was wearing shorts underneath. She took a package from the bike, unrolled it and put on a wrap-around skirt. Then she took a scarf and tied it over her hair. Then, looking like a very proper and devout Hasidic lady she went into the yeshiva to pick up her kid.
I didn’t see her leave so I assumed the kid rode behind her because the bike did not have an attached sidecar.
I later found out her kid was in Zeddo’s class and he knew her as a parent and knew about the motorcycle.
re: #361 gwangung
[Embedded content]
This is the Republican way of saying “They all look alike.” Straight up racist.
“Senator Cotton, have you ever been a member of the Irish Republican Army?”
“NO. I’m an American!”
“Have you ever been affiliated or associated with the Irish Republican Army?
“What the hell? No, I’m an American. Besides, my surname is English, not Irish.”
“Well, England is a lot closer to Ireland than Singapore is to China, so have you ever assisted, trained with or supplied aid and comfort to the Irish Republican Army?”
“YOU’RE NUTS!”
“You obviously don’t want to cooperate so we’ll try a different tack. What is your association with Hamas?”
re: #382 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)
State’s rights never devolve further down the chain of municipalities or counties. It’s almost like they only want one layer with any power since it is one that is easier to keep bought and far enough up the chain that it is harder for voter backlash to replace their paid for puppets.
In the ideal world of Sovereign Citizens, each man is his own walking Supremacy Clause.
re: #343 nines09
Two kinds of people ride scooter.
Them that crashed and them that will.
The longer you ride the more the odds turn against you.
i consider myself somewhat lucky over 6 bikes, 40 years and probably 250-300k miles.
i had good training before the first bike
took the MSF course later
and one or two advanced training courses as well
i took the advanced courses with a full dresser. the only one both times.
i needed to be able to handle the bike i rode, not just pass the course.
i learned a lot.
re: #217 Jay C
Well, numbers do count for something: supposedly, a German tank officer captured in the Normandy campaign commented that his Panther could take on and knock out four Shermans with ease: but when asked why they lost the engagement reportedly said: “There was always a fifth Sherman”
And part of that is that you don’t send one tank to deal with something.* You send at least a platoon, if not a company. And in the US Army a platoon of Shermans was five tanks.
* - Lots of doctrine and documents in multiple armies instructing officers to *not* allow their tanks, or order tanks (or related equipment like tank destroyers or assault guns) to be sent out in small packets.
re: #332 William Lewis
1AD/13th Armored BN/Regiment now called Cav. again.
I was part of our quartering party and went in early. Because of this my last week was spent with a German armor unit in Ingolstadt. October fest there was amazing. Got to raft on the Danube. Got to do a bunch of fun stuff that week. The rest of my troop had to clean vehicles and return them to storage.
re: #368 DodgerFan1988
[Embedded content]
Yet not another transgender.
odds he gets a lawyer before tfg?
re: #387 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)
And part of that is that you don’t send one tank to deal with something.* You send at least a platoon, if not a company. And in the US Army a platoon of Shermans was five tanks.
And having better tanks doesn’t count if they have to be sent off the line for repairs or maintenance. Sherman tanks could swap parts with jeeps or 2 1/2 ton trucks and keep fighting, and most of the work could be done at field workshops.
re: #387 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)
And part of that is that you don’t send one tank to deal with something.* You send at least a platoon, if not a company. And in the US Army a platoon of Shermans was five tanks.
* - Lots of doctrine and documents in multiple armies instructing officers to *not* allow their tanks, or order tanks (or related equipment like tank destroyers or assault guns) to be sent out in small packets.
One of the things that annoyed me in Fury was that in the engagement with the Tiger, all the M4 Shermans were close enough to defeat frontal armor on that panzer. 200 yards is nothing. That’s point blank. Even a 75mm AP round can fuck a Tiger up at that range.
re: #378 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
Bicycles are invisible and/or seen as hostile bodies.
As I’ve mentioned before, over 10 years ago I was driving home from the office at 10PM and was stopped at a light at an intersection where the cross-street was a major thoroughfare. Light changed and was ready to start going when from the corner of my eye saw movement — and a bicycle went through the red light. There are a fair number of cyclists who think the rules of the road don’t apply to them.
re: #377 Hecuba’s daughter
Pedestrians register even less, as I can attest from my first hand experience last July.
offs, every morning i go running around here.
eye contact, check
stop sign check (that’s a stop sign. not a slow, and not a suggestion)
me in a painted crosswalk, check
my palm up at the driver saying wait, check
all of it worthless
because they can
re: #380 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)
Yeah, I remember the Dance of the Vampires - where the Russians would try to get the USN to burn through all of their SM-2 AAMs against drones/spoofs, so that they’d get hits against the carrier battle group (which they did). They were able to do so b/c of their ability to station their bombers at Incerlik (and the NATO response was to time out the bombing runs and hit the bombers as they returned to base).
re: #390 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
And having better tanks doesn’t count if they have to be sent off the line for repairs or maintenance. Sherman tanks could swap parts with jeeps or 2 1/2 ton trucks and keep fighting, and most of the work could be done at field workshops.
The PzKw V Panther was probably the best medium tank in the world until the mid 1950s, but it was hard to keep repaired and running, and the roadwheels were prone to clogging and jams.
re: #388 Markm1960
I was part of our quartering party and went in early. Because of this my last week was spent with a German armor unit in Ingolstadt. October fest there was amazing. Got to raft on the Danube. Got to do a bunch of fun stuff that week. The rest of my troop had to clean vehicles and return them to storage.
re: #391 Scottish Dragon
One of the things that annoyed me in Fury was that in the engagement with the Tiger, all the M4 Shermans were close enough to defeat frontal armor on that panzer. 200 yards is nothing. That’s point blank. Even a 75mm AP round can fuck a Tiger up at that range.
I was just happy to see them use a real Tiger and not CGI the scene to death.
re: #298 PhillyPretzel ✅
I just got a text message from Wells-Fargo asking if I bought something at Aldi. I do not have a Wells-Fargo accountant I have never shopped at Aldi. These folks have been blocked and deleted.
I got one claiming to be DollarBank asking me if I’d ordered something from Apple. Since I’d done neither I simply reported it to my phone carrier. The link in the email was also very suspect as well.
So I guess there is going to be a continuing rash of fake/fraud con attempt texts going about.
re: #287 Eclectic Cyborg
This is just your regular reminder that Republicans are willing to FUCK OVER THE ENTIRE COUNTRY because they hate Joe Biden that much.
No. They hate ALL OF US. Biden just represents us.
re: #350 Decatur Deb
Been riding for 53 years and had two gentle accidents (not including the idiot who bumped me at a stop sign). Not done yet.
I gave up motorcycles when I moved to Miami.
(just because you have a green light doesn’t mean traffic in the red light lanes have stopped crossing the intersection)
re: #397 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
I was just happy to see them use a real Tiger and not CGI the scene to death.
First time in decades an actual Tiger had finally been restored to running condition. I think she was captured in North Africa originally. The owners who rented the Tiger and various M4s to the movie producers were super pissed at the condition the tanks were returned in however.
re: #402 Scottish Dragon
First time in decades an actual Tiger had finally been restored to running condition. I think she was captured in North Africa originally. The owners who rented the Tiger and various M4s to the movie producers were super pissed at the condition the tanks were returned in however.
shot full of holes and full of dead bodies and spent shell casings?
re: #398 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)
I know. I have seen it happen to friends and family and strangers. One of many reasons why I still get Consumer Reports.
re: #292 Nerdy Fish
When they’re literally saying, “We’re tanking OUR OWN BILL because we don’t want to give Joe Biden a win,” you know the one-sided divisiveness has gone too far.
Or went too far three Congressional sessions ago. Now it’s pure insanity.
There should have been riots over withholding a supreme court justice appointment by Obama but the fucking news people didn’t think that was egregious.
It was.
re: #405 Yeah Sure WhatEVs
Or went too far three Congressional sessions ago. Now it’s pure insanity.
There should have been riots over withholding a supreme court justice appointment by Obama but the fucking news people didn’t think that was egregious.
It was.
“That’s just partisan politics.” Motherfuckers, literally obstructing the Constitution by refusing to do your job isn’t partisan politics, it’s actively harming the country. That was the real Constitutional crisis right there, and we were unable to do anything about it.
re: #405 Yeah Sure WhatEVs
Or went too far three Congressional sessions ago. Now it’s pure insanity.
There should have been riots over withholding a supreme court justice appointment by Obama but the fucking news people didn’t think that was egregious.
It was.
I cannot forgive them for that absolute unmitigated Constitutional fuckery.
re: #403 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
shot full of holes and full of dead bodies and spent shell casings?
Needed more Oddball
re: #381 A Cranky One
Car in front of me makes a panic stop (attempting a last minute turn). I realized that I couldn’t stop in time to prevent hitting the car. Fortunately for me, there was a parking lot entrance on the right that I was barely able to pull into at speed.
The Escape Route. Riding a motorbike you’re always looking for a way out if the road conditions in front of you go bad, where can you put the bike down if necessary. You couple that with the Thousand Yard Stare, you’re checking out what’s in front of you half a mile ahead — unmarked road junctions, semi-trailer parked up on the side of the road, blue flashing lights in the distance, someone in a car up ahead driving stupidly. The third step is the Six O’clock Lifesaver, that quick over-the-shoulder look behind you to ensure nothing dangerous is actively developing behind you and fuck what your mirrors are telling you.
A fellow rider in my ad-hoc bike club described biking on major roads as Dancing With Dinosaurs, he knew we were invisible to car and truck drivers. He was a dinosaur-driving truck driver himself.
re: #391 Scottish Dragon
One of the things that annoyed me in Fury was that in the engagement with the Tiger, all the M4 Shermans were close enough to defeat frontal armor on that panzer. 200 yards is nothing. That’s point blank. Even a 75mm AP round can fuck a Tiger up at that range.
If you dig about you can find multiple short videos criticizing that fight or making fun of it.
And some that pretty much rip the entire movie for similar massive shortcomings in combat behavior or doctrine.
re: #366 austin_blue
I remember when the Mellon family (Pittsburgh!) collected Impressionist art and donated it to the National Gallery in DC. Now they are just a bunch of selfish Nazi-Adjacent Fuck-Wits.
Inbreeding, kids! Avoid it!
Richard King Mellon was a wonderful man who gladly worked with David Lawrence to make Pittsburgh the Renaissance City.
But his nephew Richard Mellon Scaife was a hard core fascist who was involved with the Birchers and he gladly financed endless right wing movements including right wing churches. Moron Majority and he was the guiding force behind The Arkansas Project to kneecap Bill and Hillary.
re: #390 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
And having better tanks doesn’t count if they have to be sent off the line for repairs or maintenance. Sherman tanks could swap parts with jeeps or 2 1/2 ton trucks and keep fighting, and most of the work could be done at field workshops.
Chieftain has a really nice video on the Sherman, and the associated doctrines behind its design. In part the US Army understood the massively long logistics chain their equipment would be operating under; e.g. on the far side of a large ocean. Thus their major emphasis in comparison to European designs on robust operation, ease of maintenance, and trying to keep repair parts in supply.
re: #411 Joe Bacon ✅
Richard King Mellon was a wonderful man who gladly worked with David Lawrence to make Pittsburgh the Renaissance City.
But his nephew Richard Mellon Scaife was a hard core fascist who was involved with the Birchers and he gladly financed endless right wing movements including right wing churches. Moron Majority and he was the guiding force behind The Arkansas Project to kneecap Bill and Hillary.
Scaife was the money behind The American Spectator as I recall.
Ben Stein had a regular column.
re: #386 Dangerman
i consider myself somewhat lucky over 6 bikes, 40 years and probably 250-300k miles.
i had good training before the first bike
took the MSF course later
and one or two advanced training courses as welli took the advanced courses with a full dresser. the only one both times.
i needed to be able to handle the bike i rode, not just pass the course.i learned a lot.
If you can race a motorcycle in the dirt, the feel for balance and improved traction on the street helps.
re: #397 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
I was just happy to see them use a real Tiger and not CGI the scene to death.
I hope to see that Tiger in a few months.
:)
re: #361 gwangung
“So have you stopped beating your wife?”
OBJECTION YOUR HONOR!
“No further questions”….
Bold to do this right after the allegations to which MTG is responding have been debunked. https://t.co/fmgoVAIuJc https://t.co/k8EaJerj7m
— Philip Bump (@pbump) February 1, 2024
re: #417 Captain Ron
Rep. Ilhan Omar of Somalia — I mean Minnesota…
Go fuck yourself, you sanctimonious bitch. Our Somali immigrants are refugees from one of your wars.
re: #415 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)
I hope to see that Tiger in a few months.
:)
I would love to see the BovingtonTank Museum
re: #412 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)
Chieftain has a really nice video on the Sherman, and the associated doctrines behind its design. In part the US Army understood the massively long logistics chain their equipment would be operating under; e.g. on the far side of a large ocean. Thus their major emphasis in comparison to European designs on robust operation, ease of maintenance, and trying to keep repair parts in supply.
And manufacturing thousands of tanks with upgrades.
re: #421 Vicious Babushka
LOLWUT
This is fake.[Embedded content]
Is it? There were items on Google claiming this product was released about 1885. Or is that all untrue?
re: #308 sizzzzlerz
It’s in my top 5 of best TV of all time. It’s gritty, depressing, funny, and feels as real as anything before or since. You simply cannot ignore the cast either. The actors playing the cops, the bangers, the politicians are some of the most amazing I’ve ever seen. Even the young project kids are hyper-talented.
Enjoy the show. You will never forget it.
I live near George Pellicanos. His wife is quite nice, he’s an odd duck.
Womp womp. Ten Republicans barred from running for reelection because they wouldn’t do their job!
BREAKING: Oregon Supreme Court bars Republican state lawmakers with 10+ unexcused absences from running in 2024 and 2026, upholding a voter-approved amendment that disqualifies truant lawmakers from seeking reelection to the state legislature. https://t.co/1FQ3mBBtcC
— Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) February 1, 2024
re: #420 Scottish Dragon
I would love to see the BovingtonTank Museum
For all our treadheads, Tubi is carrying a very good/very bad film: The Last Frontier. It’s a glorification of a bunch of kids who apparently deserve glorification—the 3,500 cadets of the Podolski Artillery and Infantry academies. In 1941 they were thrown in to stop the Germans 120 km from Moscow. They were mostly teenaged, took about 70% KIA-MIA.
The movie is 2020 Russian propaganda, as blatant as any cold war stuff, but it has a few great moments (the actress who did the nurse lowcrawling from crater to crater looking for wounded really worked at it). Reviewers were impressed by the fact that they used a lot of museum armor, and that nothing shown did not belong in the situation.
imdb.com
re: #361 gwangung
[Embedded content]
This is the Republican way of saying “They all look alike.” Straight up racist.
That TikTok video with the King of the Hill cut in was perfection.
re: #285 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
This is another thing that gets me: how libraries became the front line in the Culture Wars.
Knowledge is BAD
re: #392 Hecuba’s daughter
As I’ve mentioned before, over 10 years ago I was driving home from the office at 10PM and was stopped at a light at an intersection where the cross-street was a major thoroughfare. Light changed and was ready to start going when from the corner of my eye saw movement — and a bicycle went through the red light. There are a fair number of cyclists who think the rules of the road don’t apply to them.
Yeah, happened to me once as I was in a car up close watching it happen. The young man - UM grad student and Coast Guard Academy grad - died in my arms leaking his brains out. Ran a red light and had no helmet on. I still have dreams about it and the asshole dermatologist who stopped but left because he didn’t want to get involved.
re: #409 Nojay UK
The Escape Route. Riding a motorbike you’re always looking for a way out if the road conditions in front of you go bad, where can you put the bike down if necessary. You couple that with the Thousand Yard Stare, you’re checking out what’s in front of you half a mile ahead — unmarked road junctions, semi-trailer parked up on the side of the road, blue flashing lights in the distance, someone in a car up ahead driving stupidly. The third step is the Six O’clock Lifesaver, that quick over-the-shoulder look behind you to ensure nothing dangerous is actively developing behind you and fuck what your mirrors are telling you.
A fellow rider in my ad-hoc bike club described biking on major roads as Dancing With Dinosaurs, he knew we were invisible to car and truck drivers. He was a dinosaur-driving truck driver himself.
That’s pretty much how I drive my car, actually.,