Brett’s Lame Excuse Tuesday Afternoon Links

Today excuse was something about getting a VD test. It didn’t make much sense to me, but hey, one can always claim that Chlamydia is a character from Roman mythology. Anyway, enough mit deh kvetching, let’s link.

 

Silicon Valley is a hotbed of perversion and toxic rape culture. Even the fictional one. Sigh, the bonfires are only getting fiercer.

 

And in “the pattern repeats itself repeatedly,” another narrative collapses. Just remember who kept pointing out the bits that weren’t making the news. Ahem.

 

OK, one more example of shit I’ll never understand. You take pride in being plus francais que les francais. Your stop signs say “Arret!” You ban the use of “Hi!” as a greeting. Why in the name of Escoffier would you jealously claim that the worst goddamn dish to ever originate in North America should only bear the name of your province?

 

And the delightfully transparent grifter Jill Stein is now sucked into the Neverending Story. Two things stand out to me- first, she’s dumping the documents in public since, hey, they’ll be leaked anyway and may as well not have the leaking be carefully curated. Second, this observation, with which I heartily concur:

Even Mother Jones admits there’s nothing to desperate Russia smear spread by Maddow, Reid & fellow neo-McCarthyists.

 

Speaking of grifters, Harry Reid is vociferously defending the pelf he mulcted for his buddy because it’s necessary for our national security that we be prepared for the imminent Klingon invasion and there’s Really Serious UFO Science out there. He saw it on TV!

In a statement Monday, Reid continued to defend the program. “I’m proud of this program and its ground-breaking studies speak for themselves,” the statement read. “It is silly and counterproductive to politicize the serious scientific questions raised by the work of this program, which was funded on a bipartisan basis.”

Team Blue is the veritable Party of Science.

 

Wonder why Tulpa has been so quiet lately? I think I have found the answer.

 

And Old Guy music, in honor of my dear friends Riven and Mad Scientist (but for different reasons).

Comments

468 responses to “Brett’s Lame Excuse Tuesday Afternoon Links”

  1. Tax on tits has finally been lifted!

    https://archive.is/hTsJA

    3, 4, 6, 10, 21, 31 and 40 has a nice pussy.

    1. Chipwooder

      “Niiiiiice beaver!”

      “Thanks, I just had it stuffed.”

      “let me help you with that….”

    2. Related, polls will close on the Rack Runoff at 3 MST (not 7 MST as stated earlier, since at least a few of you have real lives).

      https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HP28WC5

    3. Ownbestenemy

      The answer today…orgy but I’ll pet #40s pussy

      1. OneOut

        I would per her pussy also but first she’ll have to move her cat out of the way.

    4. Private Chipperbot

      #3 looks like a bad photoshop.

    5. Is it sexist to wonder if number one was smart enough to write backwards on her hand or if she photoshopped it.

      1. pan fried wylie

        I’m going to vote not-shopped:
        1) the characters have that unpracticed look, like writting with your offhand. could also be artifact of mouse-drawn shopping, except…
        2) Proof of extensive penmanship experience in The Eyebrows.

    6. Chipwooder

      and now that I’ve actually looked…..31, absolutely 31.

    7. creech

      Man, remember how we used to get bunked for Lobster Girl? There’s such a wide world of boobs out there.

    8. Chipwooder

      You know the most depressing thing about getting older (I just turned 41 last week)? Having to face the fact that I am never, ever going to have sex with a woman who looks like 31 unless I win the lottery and can afford $5000/hour hookers. Not that it was going to happen anyway, but when I was younger I could at least think there could be a slight chance.

      1. You can always imagine that she just lies there like a dead fish to make yourself feel better?

        (she probably doesn’t; she probably does horrible, nasty, quasi-illegal things and howls like a banshee)

      2. Mad Scientist

        “No matter how hot she is, someone out there is sick of dealing with her shit.”

        1. Bobarian LMD

          I would deal with it for the 3 minutes it would likely take.

          /Lotta foreplay.

      3. Rasilio

        Talk to Vhyrus he might have a solution for you

        1. Meaning he runs a brothel?

          1. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

            I assumed it was something along the lines of open carry. You know, for the implications.

      4. Hyperion

        “You know the most depressing thing about getting older (I just turned 41 last week)?”

        Get off my lawn, snapper!

        “I am never, ever going to have sex with a woman who looks like 31”

        And? Who cares?, have sex with women who look 41, there’s so many hot milfs it should be a full time job.

    9. straffinrun

      35 is Mayan, Incan or Egyptian? Might have to do some excavating of that sarcophagus.

    10. This Machine

      #13 just does it for me.

    11. But Enough About Me

      #35 I recognize — it’s Alicia Machado. Yum. The pic’s a still capture from a short video you can find on the ‘Net. Google really is your friend sometimes. Great video. My only complaint is it’s way too short.

  2. POUTINE. IS. GREAT.

    *narrows gaze at OMWC*

    1. RBS

      I know this makes me, a southerner, a culinary traitor but I hate gravy.

      1. *nods to Jack Ketch*

        1. Raston Bot

          I thought Jack was the hangman, not the headsman.

          1. Raston Bot

            after researching, it appears Jack did a little of both.

          2. Chipwooder

            Not very effectively though

      2. Playa Manhattan

        What about nacho cheese sauce?

      3. PBRstreetgang

        #me2

      4. Chipwooder

        I assume you mean sausage gravy? In which case, are you deranged?

        1. Playa Manhattan

          Give him a chance to clarify. I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding.

          1. RBS

            Yeah, when I say “gravy” I mean the generic brown garbage.

          2. Chipwooder

            Oh. Nothing inherently southern about that, really.

          3. Playa Manhattan

            I’m with you there.

            Technically, Au Jus is a gravy, but I love it.

            But the flour-thickened goo at redneck Thanksgiving? Pass.

          4. Mad Scientist

            I love that flour-thickened goo. Give me some mashed potatoes, some stuffing, and some flour-thickened goo and you can keep the damn bird.

          5. Playa Manhattan

            Of course you’d say that. Of course.

            What did you have for lunch today? Yesterday?

            I rest my case… I mean…. case closed.

          6. Mad Scientist

            Why I’m having a Hungry Man microwave dinner right this moment. It appears to contain meatloaf.

          7. Playa Manhattan

            Well, the good news is that it will look pretty much the same on the way out, but will smell much much better.

          8. Mad Scientist

            Jealous!

      5. But Enough About Me

        What? All of ’em?

      6. KibbledKristen

        I don’t believe I’ve ever met a gravy I didn’t like.

        Fun fact – though I grew up in VT surrounded by Franco-Canado-Americans, I never had poutine til just this past August. It was pretty good, but I wasn’t stoned. It’s the kind of thing I would enjoy more stoned.

    2. straffinrun

      So “Poutine” is that stuff I step over on the platform every Friday night. Informative. Thanks.

      1. C. Anacreon

        Time to stop all the poutin’ about poutine.

  3. Juvenile Bluster

    Officer actually found guilty of murder

    He was off duty and founds two teenagers breaking into his car. They ran when he saw them, he chased, rammed their car and then shot 16 times into the car. One of the people inside the car died.

    $20 says that if he’d been on duty at the time, he’d be employed as an officer right now and never would’ve even been tried.

    1. Playa Manhattan

      If he were on duty, somebody else would probably have pulled the trigger. Division of labor and all that.

      1. Bobarian LMD

        If he were on duty, a lot more than 16 shots would have been fired and all of the people inside the car would have died.

        /Totality of circs, bro.

        1. Playa Manhattan

          The LASD would have been in the triple digits. Easily.

    2. dorvinion

      Wonder how long before we here “the only reason he was convicted was because he was black”

      1. Grumbletarian

        Approximately two Twitter replies. So… half a picosecond?

    3. Chafed

      One small step for man….

    4. KibbledKristen

      That’s better than Alexandria, VA, where an off-duty Arlington deputy got into a verbal contest with some dude at a party (the cop was walking by, the dude was at the party in a yard). The cop went home, got his duty weapon, went back to the house, and murdered the dude. Voluntary manslaughter. Six years.

  4. Mad Scientist

    ZAPPA RULES!

    1. Festus

      Why yes! Yes he did!

    2. C. Anacreon

      Funny — we just got a new contract with a site in Boise last week. To celebrate, I pulled up this same Zappa on YouTube and started playing it in my office.
      A group of our company’s millennials surrounded my office door wanting to know ‘what in the hell’ that was. None had ever heard of any Zappa, not even Dweezil. They hadn’t even heard of a song called “Valley Girl”.
      I would have told them to get off my lawn, but we were surrounded by linoleum.

  5. How come all the Old Guy music lately is stuff from my music library, I’m not an old guy. Is it too early to eat dinner?

    1. Mad Scientist

      It’s more of a state of mind than an age. Also, get off my lawn!

    2. Raston Bot

      There’s no shame in enjoying the classics. It was better in my day.

      1. dbleagle

        Another outstanding choice. I had this playing on the stereo when my wife came home and I told her that we were moving.

  6. Chipwooder

    Anyway…on the one hand, I’m never surprised when the press goes above and beyond to protect Obama. On the other hand, it’s truly astonishing that virtually all of the mainstream press yawns when it is revealed that a former administration called off the DEA in order to protect a major cocaine smuggling operation run by a terrorist organization, just to protect their shitty deal with Iran.

    1. creech

      I saw that on 60 Minutes and was astounded the words “the Obama Administration” didn’t come up. In the the timing of retirements of various disgruntled participants would lead one to believe it was all because of the Trump administration.

      1. Trump is so evil, he can travel back in time and influence Obama policies.

    2. Chafed

      I haven’t read about this. Is there a link available?

        1. IntraveneousWoodChipper

          HOLY SHIT. How did I know nothing about this?!

        2. Chafed

          Thanks.

  7. the worst goddamn dish to ever originate in North America

    Worse than pineapples on pizza?

    Worse than tater tot hotdish?

    1. The Other Kevin

      Deep dish pineapple poutine.

    2. Worse than tater tot hotdish?

      That is almost a catbuttin’!

      1. Playa Manhattan

        Don’t make me side with Ted.

    3. Chipwooder

      I’m gonna have to ask for an explanation as to “tater tot hot dish”

      1. Playa Manhattan

        Do you have an In Sink Erator in your kitchen?

        If so, there’s some in the bottom of it right now.

      2. Using any search engine image search might have helped you.

        1. Chipwooder

          Image searches are blocked at work.

          1. Bobarian LMD

            Because you abused the privilege!

            /Joint message from the IT and HR departments

          2. Hey now, sometimes you just *need* visual aids to figure out what a Cleveland Steamer is!

          3. MikeS

            That’s a shitty example.

          4. But Enough About Me

            Don’t dump on Q, Mike S!

        2. Playa Manhattan

          Is there anything that can help with the sand in your vagina?

          1. Just Say’n

            No way. It’s like the Sahara down there

          2. Playa Manhattan

            That’s what S. stands for.

            It’s also his camwhore screen name.

          3. Bobarian LMD

            Ted Sahara.

            I loose mine job, and knows I clears $9,467. on the laptop.

          4. I try to help, and this is the thanks I get.

            /sarcasm

        3. straffinrun

          NSFW. NSFAnywhere.

        4. MikeS

          I’ll be in my bunk

        5. Stillhunter

          Yah, some good lookin hotdish there, ya know.

      3. mexican sharpshooter

        I too will require one, but somehow I don’t think I want to know, as poutine looks like fries smothered in cat food to me.

        1. Playa Manhattan

          You’d recognize it as Animal Fries.

          And now I know where I’m going for dinner.

          1. mexican sharpshooter

            I hate In and Out. There I said it.

          2. Playa Manhattan

            Your trolling will not work on me.

          3. mexican sharpshooter

            In and Out is an overrated hamburger. Not only do they give you 3 oz of beef and pound of lettuce, they take 30 minutes to serve me–every time. They often get the order wrong which is impressive given the size of their menu. You know who doesn’t fuck up every time I go there?

            Five Guys.

          4. Playa Manhattan

            McDonalds > Five Guys

          5. C. Anacreon

            Also, only three of the Five Guys are any good.

      4. A Leap at the Wheel

        Casserole that uses tater tot’s ridiculously high surface to volume ratio to achieve an outstandingly crispy crust. Damn good on something like turkey pot pie.

    4. MikeS

      Worse than tater tot hotdish?

      What the ever lovin fuck?! Are you deranged?

      1. Stillhunter

        Tater tot hotdish is the pinnacle of culinary delight!

        1. MikeS

          ^ Correct answer^

          1. Yusef drives a Kia

            I like it, i make it, it’s easy, and it’s got Electrolytes!

          2. Left Hand of Radar

            You better hope Tundra and Pope don’t hear you slammin’ the hotdish!

          3. Tundra

            The hit Yeti has been deployed.

          4. Tell the hit yeti, I am in for $50 if he makes them suffer, like real slow…

  8. The Other Kevin

    I hear there are lot of bad things happening due to the tax bill. Unfortunately we may never know the full extent, as communication is still down due to the loss of net neutrality.

    1. At least all my orphans are still alive.

      1. J. Frank Parnell

        I had to sell three orphans just to refresh this page.

    2. Juvenile Bluster

      Please let me know when you get this reply. We’ve lost all communication. People are dying on the streets, desperately pawing at their twitter page for one last hopeful refresh before all is lost.

      1. The Other Kevin

        It’s currently April 12, 2023. I am just now receiving your message. It was stuffed in a bottle. I wonder whatever happened to you?

        1. NOT a Naked Intruder

          I am just now receiving your message.

          Dammit! NOW I understand The Dream!!

  9. Glib Lawyers: Are they overcharging the Nazi car guy? Could he walk because of this?

    1. Probably not … defense is going to have it tough, once the prosecution plays the film of a guy speeding up and slamming into the crowd.

    2. Playa Manhattan

      It’s hard to say. They’ve been very tight lipped about the evidence. It’s odd. Not a single leak.

      1. No evidence from Las Vegas, either.

        1. Gilmore

          they’re saving it all for the trial.

          ….wait a second….

    3. ChipsnSalsa

      I’m not a lawyer, but I play one in the nation’s courtrooms. They are charging him appropriately and will have little to no problem convicting him. After all he is a Nazi. case closed, drop the gavel!

    4. grrizzly

      Wasn’t the victim trampled by the crowd fleeing from the car? That pretty much guarantees that the Nazi car guy will be overcharged.

    5. Chafed

      He is charged appropriately but may be able to prove he is actually culpable for a lesser charge like voluntary manslaughterer.

  10. grrizzly

    The top congressional committee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election has set its sights on the Green Party and its nominee, Jill Stein.

    Dennis Trainor Jr., who worked for the Stein campaign from January to August of 2015, says Stein contacted him on Friday saying the Senate Intelligence Committee had requested that the campaign comply with a document search.

    Trainor, who served as the campaign’s communications director and acting manager during that time, told BuzzFeed News that he was informed of the committee’s request because during his time on the campaign, his personal cell phone was “a primary point of contact” for those looking to reach Stein or the campaign. That included producers from RT News, the Russian state-funded media company that booked Stein for several appearances, Trainor said.

    I’m so old I remember when Reason staffers were on Russia Today every other day.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Is that their evidence? Really?

      1. The Other Kevin

        No. One time during the election she used Russian dressing on her salad.

        1. C. Anacreon

          Another time she was noted to be Rushin’ between appearances.

    2. Playa Manhattan

      Lucy chose some…. interesting outfits when appearing on that show.

      1. Bobarian LMD

        You got some ‘splainin to do?

    3. Playa Manhattan

      “RT News, the Russian state-funded media company ”

      That’s how I’m going to refer to PBS and NPR from now on.

    4. Just Say’n

      “I’m so old I remember when Reason staffers were on Russia Today every other day”

      Yeah, but that was different. President Bush was president and he was literally Hitler. RT was good then because our betters told us that Bush was mean to the Russians.

      1. grrizzly

        I think RT was still totally fine during the first Obama term. At that time Medvedev was President and I also remember I read somewhere that Obama mentioned Medvedev as the foreign leader he’s the most comfortable to deal with. I tried to find this now but couldn’t locate anywhere. That would be a nice thing to bring up these days.

        1. Playa Manhattan

          Was it the hot mic incident?

          1. grrizzly

            No. Obama gave an interview to the likes of the NYT at the beginning of his presidency about the foreign leaders he could productively work with. Obama thought for a while and then mentioned Medvedev. It must have been in 2009 or early 2010.

          2. grrizzly

            I’ve just found this from 2011. It’s close but I had in mind a different interview.

            On the primary question of the US-Russian reset, Obama said he believes that he and Dmitry Medvedev have been “extraordinarily successful partners,” which explains the progress between the two leaders.

            “I think it’s important for us to look back over the last two years and see the enormous progress we’ve made,” Obama said. “I started talking about reset when I was still a candidate for President, and immediately reached out to President Medvedev as soon as I was elected. And we have been, I think, extraordinarily successful partners in moving towards a reset.”

          3. Playa Manhattan

            The Peregruzka button; one of Clinton’s many successes.

          4. grrizzly

            I have found it!!! It’s in the Politico.

            Asked about Obama’s friends abroad, administration officials point first to Medvedev, a fellow lawyer and technology geek who spent hours with Obama negotiating the new START agreement, which required repeated interventions by the two leaders. White House aides said the relationship paid off during the debate over a United Nations resolution to authorize the use of force in Libya. Russia didn’t support it, but the country also didn’t veto it.

          5. Playa Manhattan

            If Frontline is to be believed, Libya is the single biggest sticking point for Putin.

            So…. good job, Obama?

          6. grrizzly

            Allegedly, one of the key reasons why Putin decided to remove Medvedev from Presidency after a single term was the lack of Russia’s veto on the UN vote on Libya. I don’t necessarily believe it since it provides a noble motivation to Putin’s return to power, while I think he always planned to do it. But that’s what people say.

      2. I remember when Russia bombed Georgia back in 2008 reading people who basically cheered because Georgia was getting what it deserved for allying with Bush.

        1. Chipwooder

          We have never always been at war with Eurasia.

    5. Hyperion

      “told BuzzFeed News”

      Why? Why would anyone talk to Buzzfeed News, ever?

      1. C. Anacreon

        They were buzzed and wanted to eat, and got confused?

  11. Scruffy Nerfherder

    The Clapper is the nickname for a paid TV shill. It’s also the name of a movie.

    http://observer.com/2017/12/james-clapper-tells-cnn-donald-trump-is-vladimir-putins-kremlin-asset/

    1. Chipwooder

      Would that be admitted liar James Clapper?

      1. tarran

        If by liar you mean admitted perjurer, James Clapper, then yes.

        1. Chipwooder

          I was going to say perjurer, but I honestly wasn’t sure if lying to Congress fell under perjury.

        2. Chipwooder

          IOW I wasn’t sure if the lying under oath had to be in court to be considered perjury.

          1. Playa Manhattan

            If Contempt of Congress is a crime, we’re all guilty.

          2. Just Say’n

            *contempt for Congress*

          3. tarran

            I think the lie has to be material and willful to be perjury. Clapper met both conditions.

            I think we should run with it anyway. Make him refute it. Make him remind everyone that he lied as he unconvincingly explains that some lies under oath aren’t perjury.

      2. Scruffy Nerfherder

        He did it for us.

      3. Just Say’n

        Me: How can you trust Clapper? He lied before Congress. He was found in contempt

        Co-worker: Yeah, but that’s different. The Republicans were asking him questions about the manufactured Benghazi thing

        Me: What are you talking about? He lied about spying on the American public

        Co-worker: Whatever. He’s telling the truth now

        *Why didn’t the tax bill kill this guy? You failed, Paul Ryan- YOU FAILED!*

        1. Maybe ZARDOZ will cleanse him?

          1. Just Say’n

            I thought ZARDOZ and Paul Ryan were the same guy

        2. mexican sharpshooter

          *hands Just Say’n another rifle*

          It’s cool. I got it from that Stone Head. The best part is, if you leave it at home, he’ll just cough up another one for you. No questions asked!

          1. Just Say’n

            Thanks, man.

          2. Chipwooder

            Another “one”? More like “another thousand”

            PRAISE BE TO ZARDOZ!

    2. Playa Manhattan

      Instapoll: Is Clapper the most Evil Man in America right now?

      Gotta be top 5, imho.

      1. Hyperion

        Lemme see… McCain, Bloomberg, Schumer… top 5 maybe, not number one.

      2. mexican sharpshooter

        Well, Charles Manson just died, so….

        1. Playa Manhattan

          Clapper has a way higher body count. Probably.

          1. mexican sharpshooter

            Probably.

      3. Not a man, but Nikki?

        Gillespie?

    3. straffinrun

      “The Russians have succeeded, I believe, beyond their wildest expectations.”

      That’s the least untrue thing Clapper could say.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        I’m beginning to think Trump banged Clapper’s wife and daughter.

        1. Just Say’n

          Pics or it didn’t happen

          1. Scruffy Nerfherder

            I’ll accept verbal evidence, for my sanity’s sake.

          2. C. Anacreon

            “Trump Banged Clapper” sounds an awful lot like onomatopoeia to me.

          3. straffinrun

            Fine, just no more tater tot pics.

          4. Raston Bot

            DT tried to release the video as a campaign ad but his campaign manager overruled him. Apparently it would poll poorly with the intelligence community to see Donald put horns on their boss.

          5. Especially when you can just barely see him on camera sitting in the corner jacking off and weeping.

      2. Playa Manhattan

        I can’t believe they talked Hillary into using a private email server and then lying about it. It’s brilliant.

      1. Chipwooder

        I love the burglar who flees even though he sees that it’s just a Clapper turning the light on, not a person.

        1. C. Anacreon

          And, like just about every TV commercial criminal over the past 20 years, he’s a young, attractive, well-groomed white male with a couple of charcoal smudges on his cheeks, just like all the people out there breaking into homes. Take a look at the latest “Ring Doorbell Security Camera” commercial, where two harmless-looking Midwestern white guys stroll down a driveway until the camera barks out “that’s far enough, fellas”.

          1. Rhywun

            Heh.

            My mom bought everyone a Clapper one year for Xmas. I wasn’t sure if it was meant as a gag or not.

    4. ChipsnSalsa

      I thought the penicillin cleared that up.

    5. Bobarian LMD

      He also used to turn on/ turn off my FiL reading lamp.

    1. Hyperion

      Damn you, Q. Oh well, at least my comment was different…

      1. Hey man, I do it all the time and my cop is “I can’t be held responsible for not reading comments”.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    What a yummy lunch. Boneless skinless chicken thighs; dump in crock pot, add can of chicken noodle soup, wait 3 – 4 hours. With mashed potatoes.
    Delicious. Thighs. Moist, juicy thighs… running down my chin…

    What were we talking about?

    1. Hyperion

      “Delicious. Thighs. Moist, juicy thighs… running down my chin…

      What were we talking about?”

      THICC?

  13. Just Say’n

    https://twitter.com/JustinRaimondo/status/943229284050759680

    Gary wasn’t a stooge for the Russians- he was a Clinton stooge

    1. Just Say’n

      Nick Gillespie: “Libertarian Moment!”

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Just plain old stooge works for me.

    3. Chipwooder

      Scrolling down a bit on Raimondo’s twitter led to this blast of Peak Kristol:

      Bill Kristol‏Verified account
      @BillKristol

      Follow Follow @BillKristol

      Bill Kristol Retweeted Senator Rand Paul

      The “true American First realist foreign policy” so beloved by @RandPaul culminated in eight years of self-congratulatory indifference to the fact that Hitler was in power in Germany and spreading death and destruction across Europe.

      1. tarran

        It’s hilarious to see the trotskyite-descended neocons reduced to proclaiming a policy that handed much of Europe to the soviets as being a good thing.

        1. Chipwooder

          They don’t much like having to cop to their movements origins being dissident Bolshevism, do they?

        2. Rufus the Monocled

          More and more they lend credence to the theory neo-cons were/are just disaffected Democrats/liberals. In other words, left-wing shitstains.

          1. robc

            Ummm…yeah, who ever thought otherwise?

          2. tarran

            IIRC, they were big government democrats who hated the Soviet Union so much that they decided to register with the Republican Party.

          3. Rufus the Monocled

            I just remember politico types saying it was hard to determine if so.

          4. Just Say’n

            Kristol’s father was literally a socialist.

      2. Just Say’n

        Fucking neocons get sexually aroused by dead Arabs or something. Such an asinine remark. It’s the equivalent of Lefties calling everyone they dislike ‘Hitler’. Neoconservatives instead bring-up ‘Hitler’ every time someone hesitates about bombing some far away nation.

        1. IntraveneousWoodChipper

          Argumentum ad Hitlerum is a hellova drug!

      3. straffinrun

        self-congratulatory indifference

        I can’t even ridicule that. Good job, Bill, you’ve gone parody-proof.

      4. Viking1865

        You know, one of the more morally repugnant things about the left is how their previous failures only justify being given further power.

        Hitler was of course a socialist, but it was the leftist Western European nations whose fecklessness and incompetence, coupled with Stalins open alliance with Hitler, that led to WWII.

        The only European politician who recognized the twin evils of Nazism and Communism and urged resistance to them spent the 30s in opposition, was brought in to lead his nation only at its darkest hour, and was voted out of office before the war ended because he kept telling unpleasant truths and people wanted them some more socialism.

        Churchill was not flawless, but if he had been PM in the 30s, Hitler might be more of a historical footnote. An Allied resistance to any of his provocations before the invasion of Poland might have led to a military coup and a more stable regime.

        1. Raven Nation

          FWIW: Hitler thought* his biggest gamble was the occupation of the Rhineland. England & France probably had the military power to drive him out and he wasn’t sure such a loss of face would be survived at home.

          *Notes foolishness of listening to a drug-addicted megalomaniac.

          1. Chipwooder

            Which probably was true. The Heer of 1936 was still fairly early in its expansion and re-arming.

          2. Viking1865

            It was absolutely true. The British and French had a clear cut treaty violation for casus belli, and they had the military superiority. They lacked the political will.

            The lesson of Munich is not BOMB ALL THE THINGS, the lesson of Munich is “reply to aggression with decisive force”

          3. Raven Nation

            “They lacked the political will.”

            True, but TBF, there was very little support in either country for going to war. Too many men with first-hand memories of the trenches,

          4. Viking1865

            “True, but TBF, there was very little support in either country for going to war. Too many men with first-hand memories of the trenches”

            Yet Germany had no issue going to war. The whole “war weary Western Allies” talking point is something that was created ex post facto to excuse the leadership of those nations from their incompetence. The Western Allies had more and better tanks and fighters. They were superior in naval power. Economically, France was slightly less rich than Germany, but England was richer, and had the Empire to draw on. The Polish fought the Nazis and the Soviets for longer than France held out, and Finland chewed up a far larger and better equipped Soviet war machine.

          5. Raven Nation

            Germany saw itself as the aggrieved party so it’s not surprising that the population supported the remilitarization (interestingly, Shirer asserted that while the occupation of the Rhineland was celebrated, the news of the invasion of Poland was not).

            France was probably divided on the correct response. FWIW, here’s Wikipedia on the mood in England:
            “The reaction in Britain was mixed, but they did not generally regard the remilitarization as harmful. Lord Lothian famously said it was no more than the Germans walking into their own backyard. George Bernard Shaw similarly claimed it was no different than if Britain had reoccupied Portsmouth. In his diary entry for 23 March, Harold Nicolson MP noted that “the feeling in the House [of Commons] is terribly pro-German, which means afraid of war”.[169] During the Rhineland crisis of 1936, no public meetings or rallies were held anywhere in protest at the remilitarization of the Rhineland, and instead there were several “peace” rallies where it was demanded that Britain not use war to resolve the crisis.[170] Ever since the economist John Maynard Keynes had published his best-selling book The Economic Consequences of the Peace in 1919—in which Keynes depicted Versailles as an unbearably harsh Carthaginian peace imposed by the vindictive Allies—an increasingly large segment of British public opinion had become convinced that the Treaty of Versailles was deeply “unjust” to Germany.[171] By 1936, when German troops marched back into the Rhineland, the majority of British people believed that Hitler was right to violate the “unjust” Versailles treaty, and it would be morally wrong for Britain to go to war to uphold the “unjust” Treaty of Versailles.[171] The British War Secretary Alfred Duff Cooper told the German Ambassador Leopold von Hoesch on 8 March: “through the British people were prepared to fight for France in the event of a German incursion into French territory, they would not resort to arms on account of the recent occupation of the Rhineland. The people did not know much about the demilitarization provisions and most of them probably took the view that they did not care ‘two hoots’ about the Germans reoccupying their own territory”.[171]

          6. Yusef drives a Kia

            Did you see this yet? Very good stuff,VDH onWW2
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvKajPGhzQA

          7. Raven Nation

            @ Yusef: not yet, but it’s in my iTunes feed.

  14. Rufus the Monocled

    Quebec does it more to stick it to the English than anything. The state of French in our schools is less than impressive.

    Nationalists are the worst here in Alabama North.

    1. straffinrun

      I traveled through France with a guy from Quebec back in my 20’s. He refused to stop speaking French after a couple days because the people kept openly laughing at him, so it was left up to me and my awful French to get us around. Funny that they didn’t laugh at my ridiculous French, but then again, I didn’t have a giant maple leaf plastered to my backpack.

      1. straffinrun

        *refused to speak

      2. grrizzly

        Movies and TV series from Quebec are always shown with subtitles on French TV.

      3. Hyperion

        So basically, the speak French like they speak English?

        1. Gustave Lytton

          Like they’re retarded and shit?

          1. And they talk like fags.

          2. Hyperion

            And sound like progs.

          3. Michael

            There’s that fag talk again!

          4. AlexinCT

            Why come you have no tattoo scro?

        2. Bobarian LMD

          Like Puerto Ricans speak Spanglish?

      4. Rufus the Monocled

        We speak ‘JOUAL’ here or as one Frenchmen told me, ‘it’s reminiscent of rural French in the 19th century’.

        Quebecers don’t realize they’re better off just letting English take over. I’m serious. They’re just cutting themselves off the rest of the continent over language.

        1. straffinrun

          He kept saying “si si” or something that sound like that before “tabarnak”. “Citroën” was a word that, evidently sounded funny when he pronounced it. I could come within a country mile of saying it correctly.

        2. But Enough About Me

          We speak ‘JOUAL’ here or as one Frenchmen told me, ‘it’s reminiscent of rural French in the 19th century’.

          My rellies in Normandy would say more like rural Norman French in the 17th century. They find it quaint and kinda dorky.

          1. Rufus the Monocled

            That retro eh?

          2. But Enough About Me

            Yep.

          3. Winston

            rural Norman French in the 17th century

            That is when Quebec was settled after all. Also Quebec avoided the Post-Revolution “Parisian is the only real French language” stuff.

        3. Not Adahn

          Yeah, it’s not French French, but after spending some time with… friendly Quebecoise, I find it tres charmante.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    The top congressional committee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election has set its sights on the Green Party and its nominee, Jill Stein.

    Talk about a slam dunk.

  16. The Late P Brooks

    If Contempt of Congress is a crime, we’re all guilty.

    *googles Mae West in My Little Chickadee”*

    1. Drake

      Just like those Jewish kids used to taunt the SS.

      1. Yusef drives a Kia

        I’d love to go all OMM but this is sick, just sick……….

    2. Mr Lizard

      I have several complaints about this particular mammal conflict. While it provides unending entertainment, it is inconsistent and anti-climatic. Your Reptilian Overlords may be enticed to bombard that entire holy dirt patch if one side does not completely decimate the other.

  17. Rufus the Monocled

    “The Hill

    @thehill
    Trump accuser lobbied to be his makeup artist months before her sex assault allegations roiled campaign http://hill.cm/BrvKyDU

    That’s another take on ‘#metoo’ I guess.

    1. Hyperion

      Well if you can’t get close enough to provoke a real sex attack, you have to make it up, amirite?

      1. Bobarian LMD

        Maybe they should change the hashtag to #MeNext?

        1. Drake

          Or just #MeMe!

        2. Rufus the Monocled

          I prefer #metoometoo!

          1. But Enough About Me

            We should just segue straight into #ooohooohDoMeDoMe

          2. Mad Scientist

            #OoOoOoMisterKottAIRE

          3. Rufus the Monocled

            Haha! I was going to add “#domedomedome!

          4. antisthenes

            You sound really enthusiastic about hemispheres.

          5. trshmnstr

            This thread was domed from the start.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    Sorry, no clean vid clip-

    “JUDGE: Are you trying to show contempt for this court?

    MAE WEST: I was doin’ my best to hide it.”

    1. RoadSplosives

      Mae was the bomb. She and Pam Poovey are my idols (well, not as life examples, but I love ’em!).

    2. HAT CHECK GIRL: Goodness, what beautiful diamonds.

      MAE WEST: Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.

    3. “Marriage is a fine institution, but I’m not ready for an institution.”

  19. Hyperion

    Islam vs the Sexbots

    My money is on the sexbots and I for one welcome our new sexbot overlords.

    1. antisthenes

      Yeah, who’s gonna risk being blown up for a houri when you can just buy one?

  20. RoadSplosives

    One more night in Fredericksburg VA, then I am homeward bound early in the morn. This place is very quaint. Will repeat a stay here rather (with extra days) rather than stay in Dahlgren next time I am working in Dahlgren.

    1. Bobarian LMD

      One more night in Fredericksburg VA

      Make a hard man crumble?

      1. RoadSplosives

        Lolz. Tough to get the syllables to fit the rhythm though!

        I do fully expect to be aggressively recruited for a new job tonight over dinner, so I am bracing myself. Might make nice fuel for negotiations with the current long-time employer.

        1. Not as aggressively as the last one I hope?

          1. RoadSplosives

            Same company, same guy. But this time a group setting. Frankly, I think the guy doesn’t remember much about the first attempt. So I expect it to be pretty ok with the group, one of whom I’ve known for years.
            My real goal in agreeing to meet is to help forge a working partnership with these guys because I think it’s best for both our companies and for the customer.

          2. Ah. So you’ve decided 100% to stay in Minnesoda?

          3. RoadSplosives

            If the offer were in Texas, I would be in mental torture right now.

          4. A Leap at the Wheel

            That is *not* now you exploit the agent/principal problem.

          5. RoadSplosives

            I am unfamiliar with the term.

          6. A Leap at the Wheel

            Oh, its where some agent is tasked with doing what’s best for some principal, but they instead do what’s best for them. So in your case, you would use your unique connection with these guys to put your boss’ balls in a vice and ask for a raise.

            A financial adviser is an agent that should be giving good advice to their customer, the principal. Instead, they often push shitty products and get a kickback on a sale.

            A public prosecutor is supposed to “see justice be done” or some bullshit like that. But instead they grandstand and overcharge a disfavored minority because it makes good headlines and good headlines = elections.

          7. RoadSplosives

            Thanks, Leap!

            I am a weird combo of cynic and optimist. Please give me some electrons to work with!!

    2. MikeS

      Hoping this trip a little less eventful on the personal front.

      1. RoadSplosives

        Thanks for having my back, Mike. If you feel a disturbance in the Force later tonight it is probably just me drawing on the Glibs collective good wishes to extricate me from an uncomfortable situation.

        I plan to just drink tea and tone down the usual thing where I carefully make eye contact with all the introverted nerds around the table and draw them out in conversation so everyone feels special and included. What’s friendly encouragement to some is flirting to others (the already confident ones), I guess.

        I will post a full report, probably tomorrow.

        1. Mad Scientist

          Oh, they (OK, we) ALL think that’s flirting. But only the confident ones will actually ask you out.

          1. RoadSplosives

            I thought it was just good hostessing, and I have often had to hostess a bunch of awkward engineers. So it’s habit and that stupid empathy thing now.

            Tip to anyone organizing a social reception for engineers at a conference or similar: get some low tables with chairs, but only for half the expected number of attendees. The rest, just get tall tables with no chairs.

            It forces mingling and social interactions that turn out great. I still hear engineers in the bizz tell each other about ” that meeting [Hayeksplosives] hosted where we all went to the German restaurant and drank schnapps! It was the best meeting evah!!”

            These guys gotta get out more.

          2. Old Man With Candy

            Engineers? Socially awkward? Wow, that is a HUGE surprise.

          3. pan fried wylie

            These guys gotta get out more.

            Anything less than a coke-fueled laser-illuminated skydiving orgy that lands on Ibiza a thousand years into the future due to orgasm induced time-travel while the Soul Of The Universe serenades your brain with the endless beauty of Creation is for losers.

          4. AC is that you?

          5. Left Hand of Radar

            German Restaurant. The Black Forest on 26th? That’s just around the corner from me.

        2. MikeS

          I’ll be sending chaste thoughts your way! Being in a group situation will no doubt help, too.

          Best wishes professionally, also. I hope your attempt at creating a nerd cabal is a rousing (not that kind) success! 😉

          1. RoadSplosives

            Thanks.

            Man, I gotta tell ya. I still prefer having to defuse these rare awkward circumstances to a post Weinstein world in which we aren’t even allowed to drink and carouse. We are all adults here. We can handle it.

          2. MikeS

            Oh absolutely. I think you handled it the way everyone should.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    The “true American First realist foreign policy” so beloved by @RandPaul culminated in eight years of self-congratulatory indifference to the fact that Hitler was in power in Germany and spreading death and destruction across Europe.

    So- Rand Paul is now literally Neville Chamberlain?

    I can’t keep up.

  22. tarran

    Goddam! Why didn’t I think of this?!?

    A very special warning from the Belmont Police Dept

    Over the past month, several Belmont residents have received typed letters in the mail demanding a blackmail payment be made.
    The anonymous sender informs the resident that they have evidence about “the secret you have been keeping from your wife”. The sender agrees to keep the “secret” in exchange for $4,000-$8,000.
    Scammers will typically request payment via Western Union, Bitcoin, mailed cash or gift cards.
    Several towns/cities in the area have reported similar letters. Please call us if you received one.

    1. “The joke’s on you! She already knows about me and the goats!”

    2. Bobarian LMD

      Why is the Belmont Police sending out those letters, and what are they doing with the money?

    3. robc

      All is discovered. Flee at once.

      1. Gustave Lytton

        Fuck!

        *deletes glib account*

      2. RoadSplosives

        I loved that anecdote. I am a Conan Doyle fan and had never heard it before reading it on the glibs.

        1. robc

          Google searching about it and it has all the signs of a myth.

      3. But Enough About Me

        Took you folks long enough.

    4. Playa Manhattan

      That’s lowball. My secrets are worth way more than that.

    5. Rufus the Monocled

      I SWEAR WE HAVE AN OPEN RELATIONSHIP!

  23. Just Say’n

    Alright, Q. Big reveal time

  24. Alright you Glibs, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for!

    Rack runoff is closed and with 41% of the vote, the official Glibertarians.com Rack of 2017 is:

    https://i.pinimg.com/564x/03/cf/53/03cf530ec054c29ed261138775403bfe.jpg

    Thanks to all that participated.

    1. Just Say’n

      YES! I voted for her! Finally someone I voted for wins something!

      *ONLY ‘CAUSE WE LIKE THIS TOO*

      1. Just Say’n

        (Edit fairy, insert “It’s Happening” meme, please)

      2. But Enough About Me

        #MeToo

        So glad. What a gorgeous example of feminine pulchritude. 8^>

    2. Gustave Lytton

      Nice. I approve.

    3. Mad Scientist

      Those eyes. That mouth.

      1. OneOut

        Vegas was to do with the change of power is Saudi Arabia.

        Too many coincidences otherwise.

        *touches index finger to nose and nod head up and down

        ** wipes bigger underneath chair seat

        1. OneOut

          Self imposed threading fail.

    4. This is the first time in my life that I voted for a winner. *wipes tear from eye*

          1. I’ll go on the record and say I voted for the eventual 2nd place finisher in the prelim and the final.

          2. Certified Public Asshat

            I will console both losers rather than joining in the celebration of the winner.

        1. Mad Scientist

          I’m just going to point out that the winning photos were all the least distorted. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I suggest next time you try a different contest host.

          1. Does that mean you want to change your vote?

          2. Mad Scientist

            No, I voted for the winning chick.

            But aren’t these lovely ladies all winners? C’mon, everyone, let’s give them a hand!

          3. straffinrun

            Applause is not the hand he meant.

          4. Also no ink, duck lips, or ridiculous spine twisting postures.

          5. Hyperion

            Doesn’t account for the winner. The winner won purely because of those milky white mammaries.

        2. Tundra

          That’s mine. I forgave her the messy car.

          1. When you look like that in a bikini you can have nuclear waste in your car for all I care.

        3. Chafed

          At least my vote counted for something.

    5. Chipwooder

      My vote counted!

      So she’s gonna get naked at the victory party, right?

      1. You get first motorboat.

    6. antisthenes

      Need to see Bioshock: Infinite cosplay to be sure.

      1. Gadfly

        Seconded. The likeness is uncanny.

    7. Michael

      I’m on a winning team for once in my life! Praise OFFICE MANAGER MOHAMMED!

      1. Yusef drives a Kia

        OFFICE MANAGER MOHAMMED:I voted for the dark haired Woman as well, Allah Be Praised!

    8. This Machine

      Third place was my favorite, but all of the top four made my short list.

      That’s too uncanny. I’m going to need to diversify my taste just to avoid the risk of becoming one of the glib herd.

      *reverentially folds up “Titties” flag, unfurls new “T H I C C” flag*

      1. Heroic Mulatto

        Dual citizenship is allowed.

        1. This Machine

          Unacceptable. If you burn all your bridges, you never have to retreat.

    9. Yusef drives a Kia

      Yes! Minxy! My vote 100%

    10. Rhywun

      I won! I won!

  25. The Late P Brooks

    You can’t pull the wool over the NYT’s eyes

    The cuts would boost some industries far more than others, in part because some sectors, like financial firms, pay higher effective tax rates than others, like manufacturing. Average effective rates are the tax rates that industries actually pay on profits after accounting for deductions and other tax breaks, as opposed to the statutory rate, which is set under law.

    The study found that real estate firms would see a 16-point reduction in their effective rates next year, and financial firms would see a 12-point reduction. Mining companies would see a cut of just under 9 points. Manufacturers’ rate would fall by less than 7 points.

    “Some industries see smaller gains because they already benefit from so much preferential tax treatment,” said Alexander Arnon, a researcher with the Penn Wharton Budget Model. “Manufacturing and natural resource extraction already have low effective tax rates under current law, and so there isn’t much room for them to fall further.”

    Who could have guessed tinkering with the tax code in a vast, complex economy might have non-uniform effects?

    1. Hyperion

      “You can’t pull the wool over the NYT’s eyes”

      Because they intentionally placed it there themselves?

      1. Bobarian LMD

        I wonder if they know that people who don’t make any money (like their interns) won’t even get a tax break?

        1. Hyperion

          It sucks that you can’t really improve on a zero percent tax rate. Why can’t there be a negative rate for the poor? Oh wait…

    2. NYT – “Anything below a 100% rate is too low.”

      1. Hyperion

        I think we should tax the NYT and all their employees as proof of concept. I’m sure they won’t mind.

        1. Hyperion

          At 100% that is.

  26. Rufus the Monocled

    My God. Corporate tax cuts, death of Net Neutrality, climate change being pushed aside, all these assaults…AMERICA IS GONNA DIE!

    1. Good think you’re safely in Canuckistan.

    2. tarran

      Don’t forget the CDC no longer being allowed to research the contagion of transgenderism!

    3. Hyperion

      It’s terrible down here. 57 F in Balmer this afternoon. Didn’t even need a coat. The bay will probably be over top M&T stadium by tomorrow morning. Cats and dogs fornicating in the streets. Locusts… or maybe those are stink bugs, frogs leaving Canada. And now… they could reconcile the tax cuts tonight in a final vote in the Senate. And that Nazi rat fucking bastard Trump will sign it. It’s truly over.

    4. Chipwooder

      I’m surprised you guys up in the great white North can’t smell the stench of millions of decaying corpses yet.

      1. Hyperion

        Wait until the day Trump signs this tax scam. I’m sure they’ll be smelling those 40 million dead women and children in the streets.

    5. Sean

      2017 is wrapping up as quite the epic year. I approve of much that happened because of Trump and have been entertained greatly by all the proggie tears.

    1. That’s a fairly large assumption.

      1. OK, when it would have been socially acceptable for him to do so.

    2. Bobarian LMD

      Which one was driving the car?

    3. Hyperion

      How do you know? Maybe the daily strange is what kept him happily married for 71 years?

    4. Yusef drives a Kia

      My Parents died on the same day, 1000 miles from each other, that was weird

      1. Mad Scientist

        Quantum parents?

        1. Yusef drives a Kia

          Could be, we kids all knew, so not too much of a surprise, but the A.M. for Mom and Dad that night

  27. KibbledKristen

    My boss had a meeting with a rep from the prime contractor today and called them on the carpet after I found out that, even though I attended the required security briefing, I still wouldn’t be able to get my badge. Hopefully that lights a fire under their asses.

    1. RoadSplosives

      Geez, sounds like your new gig is great except for the mundane HR implementation of stuff.

      Hope it gets better quick!!

      1. KibbledKristen

        So far, so good as far as the people and the work. Though I have yet to do any actual work, since I need a badge to have a login. But the guys are really nice. Introverts like me. The commute is decent (so much better than driving!).

        Was someone saying something to you the other day about a new job or something?

        1. RoadSplosives

          Ugh, my potential new job is a cautionary tale not worth retelling so far. Too many explosive ingredients near a heat source. Danger, danger.

          1. KibbledKristen

            🙁

        2. A Leap at the Wheel

          I commute by bus. I agree that not having to drive to work and back great, even if it involves waiting out in the weather.

    2. Hyperion

      You’re waiting on security clearance? I’m not too knowledgeable about the process, but my wife had to get one for her new job. It was more than a month waiting I’m sure, probably closer to 2 months. Probably found out her husband visits this site and that delayed it…. uh oh…

      1. KibbledKristen

        THe crazy thing is, I have an active clearance already. They didn’t even need to go through that part of the process!

        1. Hyperion

          Ugh, that’s terrible. Hope you get it cleared up soon.

        2. If it’s sponsored by different agencies then the stupidity can become epic.

        3. Old Man With Candy

          Is this a DISCO deal?

  28. Ken Shultz

    Here is the list of House Republicans who voted against tax reform:

    Rep. Dan Donovan, New York
    Rep. John Faso, New York
    Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, New Jersey
    Rep. Darrell Issa, California
    Rep. Walter Jones, North Carolina
    Rep. Peter King, New York
    Rep. Leonard Lance, New Jersey
    Rep. Frank LoBiondo, New Jersey
    Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California
    Rep. Christopher Smith, New Jersey
    Rep. Elise Stefanik, New York
    Rep. Lee Zeldin, New York

    Eleven out of twelve come from three of the states with highest state income taxes. The twelfth one is probably just a moron.

    When the senate passes tax reform tonight, Californians will wake up to a new dawn.

    Suddenly, the only issue that matters in the state won’t be immigration, gay marriage, environmentalism, . . .

    The only issue that matters will be taxes.

    No, Sacramento can’t jack property taxes up to $10,000–because Howard Jarvis saw that shit coming from 40 years ago.

    Fuck you, cut spending, Sacramento! Nothing else you can do.

    Nothing. Else. You. Can. Do.

    P.S. When the only issue that matters is taxes, California stops being a one party, Democrat state. Who knows, maybe even their hostile stance towards gun rights, etc. will go.

    1. The legislation will probably be blocked by an Obama-appointed federal judge.

      1. Ken Shultz

        I’m sure they’ll sue.

        I doubt they can mount a serious challenge in the courts.

        How can the federal government be subject to state taxes?

      2. mexican sharpshooter

        DONT. GIVE. THEM. IDEAS.

      3. Hyperion

        If only the could do that, I’m sure they would try. Well, they’ll probably try anyway since they seem to have zero grasp on reality.

      4. antisthenes

        Who they can then impeach and remove, and replace with a Trump-appointed judge.

    2. straffinrun

      Coastal Republicans. March The into the sea.

    3. Mad Scientist

      I would love to think that’s what’s going to happen, but their MO has always been to “prog harder.”

      1. Ken Shultz

        To congressmen, all politics is local, but to California voters, all politics is global.

        They vote Democrat because some idiot Republican talked about “legitimate rape”.

        They vote Democrat because so and so is against Mexicans or prejudiced against LGBTQI+.

        That goes out the window when it hits them in the pocket book.

        The laws of supply and demand don’t disappear because it’s California. The income tax in California is 13.3%. That’s suddenly coming out of the voter’s pockets.

        All the “look a squirrel”s in the world won’t distract away from that. Party’s over.

        1. Gadfly

          The income tax in California is 13.3%. That’s suddenly coming out of the voter’s pockets.

          Not entirely. The final tax plan allows a deduction of state taxes up to $10,000.00, so California can still extract a pretty penny from each of its citizens. But highly progressive taxes are right out the window, so you are right that this will have a big effect.

          1. Rhywun

            Yeah, the big hits come after somewhat north of 100K. That’s still a lot of people esp. in the high tax states. Dunno if they’ll just move or actually demand change.

          2. Ken Shultz

            Taxes are like price signals.

            People react to price signals.

            Voters are people.

            Voters react to price signals.

            And we’re talking about a dramatic move.

            There’s no way voters behave the same way when the issue is taxes as they do when it’s about culture war issues.

            It’s like the carbon tax was in Australia. It was very popular there because there was an especially dry couple of years and they had a terrible couple of fire seasons.

            So they voted in a lefty parliament, and that government snuck in a carbon tax. Things were fine and dandy with the swing vote–right up until the electricity bills showed up with those eye-popping taxes.

            How do you raise taxes high enough to change people’s behavior–but not high enough to make the swing vote mad? I guess that’s the progressive version of the philosopher’s stone. That’s why so many of them respect the Chinese–they don’t have to worry about making the voters mad. They just initiate a one-child policy–or whatever–and if the rednecks don’t like it, that’s just too fucking bad!

            Anyway, the Australian swing vote quickly voted in a center-right government. They got rid of the PM who introduced the carbon tax (She went off to work for the Clinton Foundation), and then they got rid of the carbon tax.

            Once it hits people in the pocketbook, shit gets real. Don’t worry about what Californians say. Watch what they do.

            They react to price signals. They but the cheapest gas they can find. They shop at Wal*Mart.

          3. Ken Shultz

            Gadfly,

            Other states can theoretically raise their property tax rates higher to make up for getting rid of their income tax–but Sacramento can’t do that because of Prop 13. It limits property taxes to 1% of the purchase price.

            Even as the state was reeling for lack of tax revenue during the worst of the last recession, the Democrats couldn’t gather the support necessary to repeal Prop 13. So while homeowners may be able to write off 1% of their original purchase price, California cannot raise property taxes to make up for getting rid of a 13.3% income tax.

            That income tax is not deductible. If they don’t want to seriously enrage a critical mass of swing voters, then they’ll need to eliminate the income tax–and replace it with spending cuts.

            Governor Moonbeam, in a nod to reality, made a public statement the other day about state pensions not being sacred anymore–and that’s just a taste of things to come.

            No doubt, the progressives who run things now may need to lose big in an election or two before they face reality–but that’s what a two party system is all about. Sacramento can blame Trump for raising Californians’ income taxes by 13.3%, but the voters are likely to punish state legislators for that. If the progressives who run Sacramento weren’t afraid of what the voters would do if they raised the income tax by 13.3%, they’d have done so already–and that was back when income tax was deductible from federal taxes.

            Those tax rates are coming down–and we won’t be spending as much in the future.

            Spending cuts only happen when there is no other option, when they can’t raise taxes and they can’t float more debt at cheap enough interest rates. All the downward pressure will be on the tax side of that equation now, and floating more debt on a smaller tax revenue stream will drive up the interest rate that the market demands–higher than it would be otherwise.

            I don’t know whether taxes are coming down before this upcoming election or the one after. They may see the writing on the wall already. Sooner or later, as this change takes effect, that’s the way things will go.

            Imagine the alternative. Imagine if raising the income tax from 0% to 13% in one fell swoop had no impact on voter behavior. Sacramento can live in Tony World until the next election; after that, reality is already on the way, and it’s wearing a tax-hating hat.

    4. robc

      Republican, I thought King was Sinn Fein.

      1. Winston

        Sinn Fein is a republican party.

    5. Gustave Lytton

      Fuck Peter King, R-IRA.

    6. Hyperion

      Huh, it’s almost like they’re Democrats.

    7. KSuellington

      My ejit representive in the State legislature, Phil Ting, just last week proposed allowing illegal immigrants to go on Medicaid because of the massive budget surpluses that we run. It’ll be interesting to see how that shit flies now.

      1. Hyperion

        “Phil Ting”

        That name screams douchebag. Bet he drives a Prius. I bet a lot on that.

        1. KSuellington

          He is and I believe he does.

    8. pan fried wylie

      The twelfth one is probably just a moron.

      A quick wiki gives me the impression that Walter Jones is only a republican compared to the democrat he switched parties to beat.

    9. Yusef drives a Kia

      I hope you’re right Ken, I really want to stay here

    1. Playa Manhattan

      I look forward to the comments.

      1. Tundra

        I took care of it.

        1. DOOMco

          Honda oddyssey’s and Chrysler town and country’s hardest hit.

        2. Playa Manhattan

          I’ll have you know that I’m getting a new car this week.

          1. Playa Manhattan

            I’ve been looking very closely at 4Runner Ltds with 4WD. After pricing it out, it looks like I’m going Lexus instead.

          2. DOOMco

            The 4 runners are crazy expensive compared to what they used to go for.

          3. Tundra

            True, but after looking at used ones, they appear to not depreciate at all.

          4. Tundra

            4Runners not expensive, enough?

          5. DOOMco

            I assume it’s like the VW suv’s. if you want anything more than the base, you might as well go get the Audi version.

          6. Playa Manhattan

            I found a GX460 Luxury for the same price. May as well get a V8.

          7. Mad Scientist

            Only buy German if you’re planning on getting a new car every few years.

          8. DOOMco

            TRD supercrharger on the V6…

          9. Semi-Spartan Dad

            I had 125 square bales of hay delivered over the weekend. Guy drove a F-350 XLT without 4WD. Couldn’t make it up my hill to the barn since the ground was still a little wet from the snow. I chained my 4WD Honda Pilot to his truck and gave him the extra pull needed to get up the hill.

            I could never have hauled that hay up by myself, but I still get a kick that the Pilot was needed/able to pull that big ass truck and trailer up. The 4Runner is good one too, but I could barely find any when I bought this one.

          10. Mad Scientist

            With all that weight on his drive axle he must have had some seriously bald tires.

          11. Semi-Spartan Dad

            Not sure about the tires. They can’t be too bad though or he’d fail state inspection since his truck isn’t farm use. They’ll get you every time on tires and headlights if they’re able.

            Not a pilot, but what I image S-SD drives now

            Ha, that’s funny. Our vehicles are just boring though.

          12. Tundra

            Toyota. Different dealer, I hope.

    2. Mad Scientist

      Nice!

  29. Michael

    “My personal belief is that there is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone,” Luis Elizondo said…

    President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho approves.

    1. AlexinCT

      This guy just got his ass a pardon!

  30. pan fried wylie

    I for one welcome the CDC taking a brave stand to fight the transgender epidemic.

    That’s what the fuss is about, right?

    1. tarran

      My progressive friends are quite upset; I guess they think it’s highly contagious.

      1. straffinrun

        ItSo contagious it infected an entire family.

    2. DOOMco

      Remember, the CDC was started to control malaria!

      1. pan fried wylie

        I’ve never had malaria, so no longer worried about catching The Trans either.

        God Bless You, CDC.

  31. straffinrun

    Cop Pulls Gun on Unarmed Man, Then He Shoots His Fellow Officer

    “Naturally, as in the case in most every accidental police shooting TFTP has covered, police are claiming the officer’s weapons simply went off on its own.”

    1. Mr Lizard

      Our enforcers routinely vaporize their peers. Thankfully enforcer clutches are 15-20 eggs at a time.

  32. RoadSplosives

    I rented a Nissan Rogue this week (luck of the draw at Avis). I like it.

    Any opinions or experience?

    1. Tundra

      Careful of the CVTs. They are nice vehicles, but there have been quite a few issues with the transmissions.

      Another in that genre to look at is the Mazda CX-5. They are pretty fun to drive.

      1. DOOMco

        Mom almost got a CX5 instead of the VW alltrack she ended up in. The price was right, anyway.

        1. Tundra

          Drove a manual Alltrack while the Passat was being serviced. I loved it. Too small for me, but I think it will be a winner.

          1. DOOMco

            The back seats let me fit at 6’3, and were more comfortable than the tiguan she also looked at. I love a good power wagon.
            The seats were tight, though. I can see thinking it as being small.

      2. Juvenile Bluster

        I drove an Altima with a CVT for a while, and didn’t have an issue. Nissan did extend the warranty (to 10 years/100k miles) on the transmission specifically though.

    2. Hyperion

      I rented one a while back and didn’t enjoy it too much. 4 cylinder and very doggy imho. I’m used to driving a V6 though.

    3. Playa Manhattan

      My wife has a Murano with CVT.

      Nothing like pushing it to the floor on the interstate and having nothing happen.

      1. trshmnstr

        That’s my big gripe with my Fusion Hybrid. Everything about that car is nice except that the giddyup when I mash the get the fuck outta here pedal isn’t all that impressive. Not awful like a Jeep Liberty, but not great.

        1. Tundra

          Thank the Feds. CAFE, baby!

          1. RoadSplosives

            Right?!?

      2. NOT a Naked Intruder

        My wife has a Murano with CVT.

        Murano’s my ride, too.

        Nothing like pushing it to the floor on the interstate and having nothing happen.

        That’s why I use this. Gets me around most any issue on the road,

    4. DOOMco

      I’ve always preferred the Pathfinders, but that’s probably the off road genes in me.
      At least they look better recently, those early rogues are like frogs. The newest way a lot of car companies are making part time AWD is a little iffy for long term use, and my mechanic friends don’t think it’ll hold up. but most are making them, all but subaru. from what I can tell, Subaru is the only real AWD still being made. 4×4 is more like what your ford is, IIRC that’s what you have. The front wheel drive is probably just peachy, though. I’d just look into if the car is full awd or some sort of clutched tranfer system. They tend to be just adapted FWD cars. which isn’t bad, but if you’re in snow a lot I’d rather just know i’m putting power to all the wheels. or just the two, but It helps me drive better knowing what’s happening. I haven’t driven the new ones, though, so if you’re digging it, I can’t see why to say no. I am always a little concerned with the really wide rear pillars on most SUV’s lately. I know it’s probably a regulation, but some are really bad for blind spots. not sure for the rogue, not having sat in it.

    5. KibbledKristen

      I haz a Nissan Versa. I fricken love it. I think Nissan makes a great product.

      1. Gustave Lytton

        As long as it’s not a Japanese made Nissan.

      2. Chipwooder

        I have a Versa as well. Love is not the word I would use. It does exactly what I bought it to do – it is a reliable commuter car that is cheap to buy and operate.

  33. Which one of you guys designed the world chess championship logo? I’m putting my money on HM.

    1. straffinrun

      Those are Woodpushers for sure.

    2. I’d let you watch, we would invite you
      But the queens we use would not excite you.

      1. Tundra

        + 1 night

  34. KibbledKristen

    I dig this YT channel so much. She is sassy and sarcastic as all fuck, and she hates Hillary Clinton.

    1. straffinrun

      #metoo. I’ve watched quite a few of her videos. I have know idea how “qualified” she is, but her insights are interesting and unique.

  35. Hyperion

    Billions in unused assets

    Nothing left to cut, the cupboards are bare.

    1. DOOMco

      woo! we’re number 1!

    2. Stillhunter

      There are many problems with selling FedGov property. The associated red tape is astounding. We tried ‘disposing’ of two firearms used for tree cone collecting years ago, since we couldn’t actually sell them to anyone for liability reasons. They would be destroyed instead, and the process would take forever. In the end we decided to just leave them in the LEO safe since they weren’t bothering anything.

    3. If the government really wanted to “go green”, they’d get rid of those parking lots and make FedGov workers find a different way into work.

      1. Stillhunter

        Pound for pound the avg FedGov worker drives fairly green cars (at least from an emissions standpoint). Given my location and agency our lot has plenty of pickups and SUVs, but at least half are Subarus and small cars. I’m surrounded by lefties constantly.

        And believe me, we are bombarded with ways to reduce our carbon footprint regularly… barf.

    4. Playa Manhattan

      I live about 4 blocks from a Federal Building. Everything about it is wasteful.

      Lights on at 2am on a Saturday? Check.
      Giant 1 story parking lot on real estate that runs $10-$20 million per acre because they don’t have to pay property taxes? Check.
      Security booth and roadblocks that haven’t been used since September 11, 2002? Check.

    1. Mad Scientist

      Bow chicka bow wow.

  36. “Silicon Valley is a hotbed of perversion…”

    Yeah, well, I’m leaving in a few weeks.

  37. Somalian Road Corporation

    I have a quandary. My brother got me a nice gift for my birthday and I was intending to return the favor for Christmas. However, while spending 4 hours in a car driving to the outskirts of Tucson and back going to a family get-together for a terminally ill relative, it appears he’s finally caught full-blown TDS. I’m pretty saddened by this, as while he wasn’t a libertarian, he wasn’t totally out to lunch, but, well, being a public school teacher finally took its toll. I get political mail intended for him sometimes and I know what a few of his fellow teachers are like. Perhaps cocktail parties were involved. I don’t know.

    It was all the most insufferably smug shit about net neutrality, tax cuts being bad, Trump Trump Trump, he even started bitching about Reagan and “trickle-down economics”. Invoked the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt and said we needed some trust-busting. Defended Franken. And, of course, everyone’s favorite, Russia.

    So, uh, I’m tempted to buy him The Vision of the Anointed or something. It may very well be the grass is greener on the other side, but I envy people with conservative relatives sometimes. The shadowboxing that is arguing with somebody who’s got Trumputins on the brain just drained me after all the rest (“Influenced the election? How? Ads? Have you seen these ads? Particularly the erotic Bernie Sanders one?”).

    1. Heroic Mulatto

      Get your brother a nice gift and skip the passive-aggressive political debates through gift-giving. That’s what assholes do.

      Just fuck his wife instead.

      1. Somalian Road Corporation

        Yeah, I heard Mr. Hankey’s voice in my head saying something about how that’s not very Christmasy now, is it?

    2. Sean

      Buy him a case of kleenex. He’ll need them for the next three years of his proggie tears.

      1. pan fried wylie

        A truckload of uncured pork legs.

    3. Defended Franken for what? If the groping thing, good for him.

      1. Somalian Road Corporation

        Franken shouldn’t resign because we have a confessed-on-tape pussy-grabbing rapist in the White House.

        1. So he’s right but for the wrong reasons, I wouldn’t turn the X-mas/birthday gifts into a political hot potato, but don’t give up on him either. Buy him something nice that he’ll enjoy then try and reach him later with calm reasoned persuasion. Or send him here, I imagine the Glibs’ll learn ‘im.

    4. commodious spittoon

      Get him a nice bottle of whatever spirit he likes best. Alcohol transcends all divides.

      And then fuck his wife.

      1. Gadfly

        Get him a nice bottle of whatever spirit he likes best.

        This, plus some Glib shot glasses if you feel like a little passive aggression. Get the ones with just the logo (not the name), and don’t tell him where they’re from (“I saw these somewhere and thought of you”).

    5. Stillhunter

      Yeah, I realized I don’t like hanging out with my sister after a car ride across the country and us visiting my Dad in Texas. She is a lesbian and thinks Trump is awful, but she doesn’t go crazy around me. I just give it right back anyway.

      Point being, family can be annoying, but they are still family. Get him the gift.

      1. Stillhunter

        Get him the gift.

        Meaning not the book, but a nice gift devoid of politics as HM said.

        1. commodious spittoon

          A bound set of Wooster and Jeeves DVDs. Really throw him off the scent.

    6. trshmnstr

      My brother got me a nice gift for my birthday and I was intending to return the favor for Christmas. However, while spending 4 hours in a car driving to the outskirts of Tucson and back going to a family get-together for a terminally ill relative, it appears he’s finally caught full-blown TDS.

      Get your brother something nice, and also include this

    7. Set him up on a blind date with STEVE SMITH.

    8. antisthenes

      Another vote here for just ignoring politics and doing the nice thing. It isn’t even a case of being the bigger person, since by your own account he hasn’t treated you poorly despite the difference of opinion.

  38. Sean

    So, I found this earlier today: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=osw2etDv_Vg
    I cant believe it isn’t bigger news. Doctor Who related…The best Doctor…

    I was Impressed with Winston’s Doctor trivia the other day and even he hasn’t mentioned it.

    1. Gustave Lytton

      So what’s different from this than the Shada DVD? Animated visuals with new audio or something?

      Now that Lala Ward is back on the market, maybe she’ll boomerang to her previous husband? In a professional capacity only, of course.

      1. Sean

        “Animated visuals with new audio”

        That’s what I understand it to be.

    2. Rhywun

      I would go back to watching if they got him back for a season.

      1. Sean

        You should see my girlfriend yell at the tv every time Jodi Whittaker is mentioned…It’s amusing.
        ?

        1. Rhywun

          Meh, I don’t care about that one way or another.

          They lost me with the ridiculous story arcs in the last couple seasons.

          1. Gustave Lytton

            I know! John Nathan Turner really ran it into the ground before it was finally put out of its misery in 1989.

            /there’s new Doctor Who?

  39. commodious spittoon

    After getting a letter of rejection for “insufficient rental history” from the apartment’s third-party background check (which is bollocks, but understandable; I’ve been renting for over ten years, just from family at our several rentals), deciding I’d rather just collect my deposit and try my luck elsewhere, moving out and into a spare room at dad’s, I get a call this afternoon from the apartment manager: when can we schedule your move-in date?

    1. DOOMco

      I hate that bullshit.

    2. Mad Scientist

      Translation: the guy we offered it to first backed out.

      1. commodious spittoon

        Could be. It’s a weird, sketchy situation. The place is nice, no doubt. A studio, but modern, lots of amenities, a washer/dryer stack, and pet-friendly. Hardwood floors and snazzy lighting. Pool, year-round jacuzzi, on-site gym, communal areas. It’s like an old folks’ community for hipsters. But part of the reason for all that is because it was built in part by HUD funds, and part of their obligation is capping income for tenants. And that means loads of income verification and background checks. And they had to make sure I’m not a full-time student.

        1. commodious spittoon

          It got sketchy with the income verification. They wanted my small-business boss to claim a certain amount of income, and weren’t going to contact my actual, national employer at all. I demurred and told them my boss wouldn’t be okay lying on paper. In reality I just found it bizarre and shady. Between the two I’m well under their income cap requirement.

          Just odd, and put me off. Now I’m not sure I want the place after all.

          1. Rhywun

            Government hoops? Run away.

  40. Festus

    “Chlamydia?” “Chthulu?” Coincidence? I think not!

  41. trshmnstr

    If y’all are taking recommendations for future swag for the Glibertarians shop here are mine:

    1) I’d love some orphan/mine apparel. For example, “Ye Olde Orphanarium and Salt Mine” with a glibs logo. As another example, “Get Top Notch Monocles from Our Monocle Factory! All Monocles are Polished by the Cleanest of Orphans.”

    2) “You know who else . . .?”

    3) “You feed them into the woodchipper feet first” with a picture of a dining room table and a woodchipper.

    Related

    1. Yusef drives a Kia

      I like those products, and would like to see them for Purchase, I should send a Memo to OFF…….

    2. Sean

      Probably not enough would be purchased, but I’d totally buy a couple custom minted silver round challenge coins. Glib logo on the front and Steve Smith on the back. And by on the back I mean Rape.

      1. DOOMco

        That would be cool.

      2. commodious spittoon

        Our Valar Morghalis would be “You know who else…”

        Or the Tulpa accusation.

        1. DOOMco

          Fuck you, this is for spending investing?

    3. Rick C-137

      I would definitely purchase a Godwin shirt

    4. Gadfly

      If we’re throwing around suggestions, mine would be for a bumper sticker with the glib logo and the phrase “Appropriation is My Culture”.

  42. DOOMco

    The 13 year old brother just put A Tribe Called Quest on in his room. I showed him that like a month ago! it’s working. cool rap and Friedman.

  43. Rick C-137

    In case anyone is still reading these, the DERP WAR continues

    1. This Machine

      Derp endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. Derp was always here. Before man was Derp waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and always will be.

  44. KibbledKristen

    Watching Amy Schumer on Finding Your Roots, and, LOL, Senator Tits McGhee is named after an adulterer.*

    *Tits McGhee is Amy’s uncle, and Amy’s great-grandfather was also named Charles Schumer, and the elder Charles was shacking up with a woman who was not the mother of his kids in a census record.

  45. Juvenile Bluster

    Ah, always love the “world clock on one window, Southwest checkout on the other, hit check-in as soon as the clock strikes the correct time” game.

    Now I can start my morning.

  46. Juvenile Bluster

    My daugher’s 8. I’ve managed to (despite massive protests from my mother) build within her a healthy mistrust of police and other government authority figures (I exempt her teachers from that, for now).

    But I’m finally getting through to her on her thought that “everything should be free”. That’s part petulant “I’m not getting the things I want and I’m upset” and part not understanding, I’m sure, but I’m getting her there.

    I’ll raise a monocle-wearing libertarian woman yet.