Good morning one and all to another fantastic day!
Trump Meets With Syrian Leader, Urges Him to Join Abraham Accords
Trump Signs Major Deal With Saudi That Has a Special Bonus
Interior Department to Expedite Oil, Gas Leasing Process on Federal Lands
Annual Inflation Rate Hits Four-Year Low; Groceries Have Biggest Decline in Five Years
House Republicans Unveil Major Changes to Food Stamps
GOP zeroes in on Biden’s clean energy giveaways as Trump urges passage of ‘big beautiful’ bill
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Judge Who Allegedly Helped Illegal Migrant Dodge Feds
Harrowing confrontation between contractors led to Fort Detrick bio-lab shutdown, NIH boss reveals
Microsoft will lay off nearly 6,000 employees in push for efficiency
That’s all I got for today. I’ll leave you with a song and move along with my day.
Pity the poor intern at the State Department who has to file the paperwork for the deal — because obviously it is going to be in the filing cabinets downstairs behind the sign saying “Beware of the Leopard”.
Morning, Banjos – thanks as ever for the links. Morning all!
A good start — hope they make it happen. Y’all know how I feel about cheap energy being the foundation of the modern economy.
Then keep deregulating and making it feasible to start businesses in this country again. Too much cronyism, too much overhead, too many micromanaging politicians who know nothing about what the real world is like. (Citing yesterday — breaking the tie between employment and health insurance would be a start [HSA matching donations at most, with the employee free to choose their coverage, not the employer? No expert here)… getting health insurance out of the day-to-day basic care and getting that back to known prices / pay as you go might be another… But that’s likely more of a dream that “Get rid of the ACA already”… let me speculate and dream…)
I can already tell you exactly how the attack against decoupling health insurance from employment would be laid out: THEY’RE TAKING AWAY YOUR BENEFITS!!!
And the saddest fucking part is – it would work on a large chunk of the population.
I expect you’re right — but it should be an easy sell. “Given the job market and that most people have to job hop to get a raise — you want the money you invested in your health benefits to follow you from job to job!” or somesuch. Not to mention “If you get laid off, you don’t have to immediately look into CORBA” or whatnot… with the uncertainty of layoffs all the time on one side and the lack of loyalty / training / needing to job hop for raises on the other — the benefits-tied-to-one-employer should be shown as a bad plan.
It seems to me that a good first step would be to make health insurance either tax deductible or not tax deductible across the board, instead of the piece meal system we have now.
Because they’re right. In the short term, decoupling would unlikely to leave employees with the same benefits/costs nor would employers shift their portion over to employees as salary instead of expense reduction.
Still makes it difficult to plan anything when one administration opens up leasing then the next administration pulls it.
You are not wrong. Selling the federal lands entirely wouldn’t hurt either.
Governing be EO is unstable.
Governing by bureaucratic regulation is stable but suffocating, pick your poison.
Every time Trump issues an EO, he should also send a proposed bill to Congress to codify it into law.
Do the work for Congress and force those bastards to put up. If they don’t start sending mean tweets about them.
See also Bryan Caplan’s book “Build, Baby Build”.
A deregulation of the housing industry, making building possible will crash housing prices…in a good way.
His estimate is total deregulation would cause housing prices to halve. Of course, he doesn’t think it would ever happen. And what could happen will happen slowly, which means housing prices would just stagnate along for a while, which would still be a good thing.
Oh, and just to be clear and to be consistent with what I have stated in the past, it isn’t housing prices that would fall as much as it would be the price of the land underneath the house. Housing stock itself is a declining asset, like a car, only slower.
And in many cases it isn’t even the land decreasing in value so much as building multiple units where one stands now splits the land price across the units.
Of course not. Because half the population is perfectly happy that the other half can’t afford to buy a house.
Just look at all the glowing stories about “hot” (i.e. unaffordable) markets.
Also, he is a 50-something libertarian working in academia. He has had realism beat into him.
Well, Caplan did write that book making the case for open borders.
Was it one of those gag books with nothing but blank pages inside?
Like the Irish Joy of Sex?
https://www.amazon.com/Open-Borders-Science-Ethics-Immigration/dp/1250316960
House Republicans Unveil Major Changes to Food Stamps
How about narrowing what food qualifies. Why is candy SNAP eligible?
The Representative from Hershey gazes intently in RoaT’s direction.
Have you seen the prices on candy bars lately?
I have. I almost fell over.
Work requirement proposed also goes up from 54 to 64. I had no idea it was as young as 54.
Why do you want our poors to eat carob?
‘Cause we hates thems.
“We’re cutting food stamps back to 2020 levels.”
“Seniors eating cat food and children starving!”
It’s all so tiresomely predictable.
I’d just like to bitch-slap someone who says that.
Carry over from Sensei’s link about Klaus Schwab…
The difference between Schwab and Epstein is Epstein only wanted to nail teenage girls, Schwab wanted to pound entire countries.
On point.
Nailed it.
I’d looks for the fine print in the Constitution which says the Federal Government should be redistributing wealth for food plans at all… but FYTW, I know. “A good start” is the theme of the day.
The spate of stories last week about cuts to %regional program that should have been a county/city level program% just made me ask over and over, “Why is this a federal program? Why am I spending to fix this?”
“Because the more money we route to Washington DC as one big pot, the easier it is to skim off our cut before redistributing!
….
Wait… was I not supposed to say that out loud?”
Neph:
Quit complaining. That money was all
borrowedprinted by the govt anyhow, so it will actually be paid for by your great grandchildren (if there isn’t just a default).So it is essentially free money!
There isn’t a better way to turn a Dem into a gibbering, sputtering, idiot than ask if a program is so important, why the locals can’t vote to tax themselves to cover the shortfall.
Given past “green initiatives” have only enriched the connected cronies… I weep not for the closing of this spigot. Frankly, just a one liner “The so-called Inflation Reduction Act of (whenever it was exactly) is hereby revoked in its entirety.” Call it the Green No Deal Act.
That evokes How can you get a permit to do a damned illegal thing?… but the Feds will always get their beak wet. I’d rather if we can track the remittances enough to tax them, we just deport those here illegally anyway. (The honest hard working ones — self deport and get back in line!)
Hey, here’s a thought – how about punishing those who employ those illegals?
I have always felt that should be the case. IMO the reason why it hasn’t been done as much as it should have been is a case of Too Big To Raid / Too Big to Prosecute.
There have been some big time raids of meat processing plants in Iowa. Owners were convicted and imprisoned.
if we can track the remittances enough to tax them, we just deport those here illegally anyway.
I’m guessing that’s the implied threat? Do you trust that the US government is only going to take 5%, or are they about to deport your ass? Best not to remit at all.
Could well/also be a Trojan Horse to ramp up financial surveillance.
Fully agree, RC Dean.
I agree with Dean as well. Before two FY were over, the Feds (and states) will be looking even deeper up citizen’s finances.
“House Republicans unveiled legislation as part of President Donald Trump’s one “big, beautiful” bill that would make major reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), otherwise known the food stamp program.”
Nothing about not paying for soda and candy.
BUT PEOPLE WILL BE STARVING TO DEATH IN THE STREETS!!!!
More like the soda companies will go to court.
No idea, but is there any requirement to prove you are a US citizen to get a SNAP card?
It’s administered state by state, so it’s whatever the state requires.
Yeah, don’t think that NY and CA aren’t giving millions to illegal aliens.
They get free health care, too.
Typo there, rhy. Should be “billions”.
I think he meant millions of SNAP cards.
Get DOGE to cross reference people who get SNAP benefits with those who are paying a cable TV bill. Or a steam account. I might even be talked into cell phone bills too. Maybe allow one cell phone line per household (I’m guessing cell phones are cheaper than land lines now).
Anyone with enough money to have cable can buy their own food.
Not that I don’t think the judge should be indicted and all… but the ham sandwich line leaps to mind. The indictment failing would be news… this is just expected.
It’s a step in the process.
Next, the trial judge finds a pretext to toss the case because reasons.
Drag it out until a reasonable prosecutor can take over?
The reason it is important is that it shows this wasn’t just Trumpian bullying. Everyone understands that the GJ is part of due process. It is for throwing at the people that all screamed about arresting a judge.
For most of the people screaming about arresting a judge, hearing that there was a grand jury indictment will not make any impact on them. It’ll bounce off, or be used as evidence that Trump controls even more than they thought.
The people who are convinced that Trump is the fascist leader of the west will be convinced of that no matter the facts. The rest of the country want the due process that the judge deserves.
Obligatory
Comment *Relevant
Someone should wrote a story about a single mother who can’t get candy for her children by using food stamps, so she starts making her own candy, it turns into a business, and she becomes a millionaire.
Her no-account boyfriend and her ex-husband(s) become bitter clingers, and run her business into the ground.
She gets on the first rocket to Mars.
Sounds like a real Martian chronicle.
I prefer the one about the ex cattle baron who kept a positive attitude when he had to sell all his land and invest in confections. He was a real jolly rancher.
Yeah, but where in Hollywood can you find someone manly enough to portray that cowboy. Everyone there is a candy ass.
*NARROWS GAZE*
The rocket to mark is a desperate publicity stunt.
Her company manages to buy out Hershey’s, so her main rival is Mars candy company.
She tries to be the first candy company actually on the planet Mars.
Unfortunately, the rocket is captured by space aliens.
You forgot that as part of her corporate wheeling and dealing, she also acquired a company that makes a grapefruit flavored pop.
Things are going great until the ad exec (who used to work for Bud Light) decides to run a co-promotion called Hershey – Squirt.
The “space aliens” are actually a primitive species that had been captured by the aliens that built the spaceship, but overthrew their captors. These former prisoner aliens barely know how to drive the spaceship, and so are bouncing from solar system to solar system.
They eventually wind up on their home planet, which is equivalent to Western Europe’s Middle Ages.
I’ve taken the rocket to Mars
I saw that, Jimbo! *shakes fist*
Swissy you made my day!
Instead of leasing oil rights, why not just sell Federal lands?
Guess I should have read down here before replying to Common Tater above. Ah well.
I’ve been saying that for ages. Sell the land to pay off the debt.
I think the green-weenies in the western states are already filing suits to block the sale of federal land.
Under what legal theory would they have standing to do so?
The legal theory that the judge is sympathetic to their politics.
The FYTW Theory, of course.
If they put big chunks of federal land on the market, it would sell for pennies an acre. It wouldn’t raise that much money.
Not that it shouldn’t be done, but “We’ll make trillions!” shouldn’t be the reason. Because that ain’t gonna happen.
“it would sell for pennies an acre”
I don’t think it would sell for that cheap. Especially land that has oil, etc.
Because one is possible.
Land auction would be better, of course.
More AI slop coding! More having end users be the first line of testing! Yay!
Look. It compiled, how much more testing do you need?
It compiled because you commented out all of the code.
I caught some offshore contractors we were using gaming the unit tests.
They put all the tests in a try/catch block and didn’t have any expect conditions in the test. The result was the tests ran and threw no errors and had pretty good coverage. Sure there were errors galore, but the unit tests successfully ignored them all.
When I figured out what they had done, I almost was able to get them fired and kicked to the curb. Unfortunately upper management still loved their hourly rate too much to actually punish them.
The only feeble ray of sunshine was that the manager of the overseas group was actually pretty nervous that they might not get their $$. And I got to call them a bunch of crooks to their face in a big meeting. Got scolded for it later, but it was worth it.
It doesn’t matter how cheap someone is if they deliver garbage that has to be completely redone afterwards. Their rate is just an added expense on top of the cost of doing and redoing the work.
Pope Jimbo:
I recently had the pleasure of letting an asshole manager hang themselves on a call with their leadership. They were doing a pilot with a small group testing a new version of a product, and they were having issues. Looking at the logs, it looked like user error (leaving things open overnight, not having devices plugged in when starting, and the like). The manager (with his leadership on the call) laid into me, saying that these were the best of the best of their agents and they would never do things like that, they were all following the standards and protocols, and any issues had to be on our side.
After digging through there new examples, I was able to say, “Looking here, at the log, we can see that there’s entries from the end of the agent’s shift yesterday, and new entries from when they logged in today” on a call the next week, which we were also able to back up with calls to several of these golden agents who were using their own [unsupported] hardware, wireless networks, and 5g/satellite internet.
As these were browser logs, so the only way to have both entries would have been to leave the logging window and the app open overnight.
Even the probationary employees? Where are the breathless articles about some young person with 500,000 in debt that thought they would get a job at Microsoft and now they are unemployed and going to wind up as the IT guy at a family owned business?
What about the long-term employee that thought they would retire there?
Will this get any more press than a mention in the business section of the local paper?
Where is the Federal judge to stop this??!? 👩🏾⚖️
Daily Ray of Sunshine
Those Cats Are CHEATING!
First rule of Cat Games — The Cats Make The Rules.
Second rule of Cat Games — Why have you not brought tuna, human? There has been a decided downturn in the quality of your worship!
I get along better with cats than most people (in both interpretations of that statement). I have never let them boss me around.
It’s like you people don’t know how to interact with them.
UCS:
Not everyone can afford professional level cat wrangling gloves. We can’t take the same hard line you do.
Today in “Low Bars”…
Fun fact – cats are masters at Limbo.
They are, which on one memorable occasion lead to my tearing out my glove box, and a chunk of dashboard to retrieve a kitten.
Heh… “What’s not to love about an activity with balls to bat and holes to explore?” say our fuzzy friends. Liked the first and the last particularly. Thanks Your Holiness!
5%? WTF is that? It is half the rate citizens in the lowest tax bracket pay on income tax.
Deport illegals and get rid of the income tax.
It’s an additional tax on wiring already taxed funds to relatives. I’m all for deporting them, and getting rid of the income tax, but I am not sure this has any thing to do with accomplishing either goal.
That is what I was getting at. The very idea of an income tax is an abomination. Worse still Is the implementation of it.
As for remittances by illegals, it is really not much different than robbery.
“In one case, Accurso claimed on her TikTok in 2024 that, “Over 14,000 precious children have been un-alived in Gaza. Gaza has the largest number of child amputees in history. We can’t be silent about these kinds of conditions for children.””
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2025/05/13/youtube-megastar-ms-rachel-defends-spreading-hamas-talking-points-in-interview-with-jew-hater-mehdi-hasan/
I hate the silly censorship algorithms that has content creators speaking a new language. “Un-alived”, “self-delete”, “grape”, “pdf file”, etc. The auto-generated subtitles on YouTube make even less sense. It will blank out “midget” but not “dwarf”. The person speaking? Brad Williams. The whole thing is “restarted”.
Crocodile tears from monsters don’t really do much for me. How about you go fuck yourself lady.
This is all Iran’s doing. I partly overheard a run-down last night on what this admin is doing to put pressure on Iran. I dont remember the details but my impression was ‘not enough’.
Gaza has the largest number of child amputees in history
It would take a heart of stone to not cry when the kids in Gaza PS #1’s third grade sing “If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands”
To be fair, what is the IDF supposed to do?
You can’t have those kids firing wrist rockets into Israel.
Jimbo, those children can’t speak English.
It’s language dependent as well.
For example here at work if I search for: yoasobi racing into the night in YouTube’s search box
It won’t give me the actual artist video. You can get non-monetized user generated content, but not the actual video.
If you VPN over and use Japanese YouTube it will come right up.
I should mention why – It’s a song that’s about suicide.
Don’t you mean self un-living?
Michael Altman hit hardest.
Seppuku boogaloo?
“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has warned the Trump administration that they will be in for a “problem” if they arrest any more Democrats.”
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/05/13/ocasio-cortez-warns-trump-administration-problem-more-democrats-arrested/
She’s so cute when she’s angry.
They so badly want to be arrested. It would burnish their bona fides as Trump’s #1 Enemy. That is the trophy they all want.
Imagine if anyone said Letitia James would have a problem if she arrested more Republicans.
Or, you know, campaigned specifically on arresting one Republican.
“Now Hakeem Jeffries Goes Over the Edge As He Threatens DHS Officials ”
https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2025/05/13/watch-hakeem-jeffries-threatens-dhs-officials-n2189055
Not cute at all. Why is he that weird grey color?
This tactic is common on the left. Commit a crime or atrocity and then try to paint the other side as the bad guy when they retaliate. Saul Alinsky much?
Congress will be out of session for the month of august save aug1
Arrest the shitheels on aug2 and throw the damned book at them. What is the penalty for assaulting police officers? What happened to the Jan6ers who were accused of that?
Tax payer funded junket to El Salvador for a deep investigation of prison conditions for the entire caucus!
I am as all for the Dems sacrificing themselves on the hill of illegal aliens as I am with them sacrificing themselves on the hill of child medical experimentation.
One of those J6ers was shot dead.
I’d say shot on sight, but they didn’t even do that.
Ashy Larry’s son.
“No one is above the law.”
Speaking of Stupid Trump Reactions: Minnesoda prepares for Trump pardoning Derek Chauvin.
The article is filled with all sorts of people saying “there is no truth to this rumor” as well as all sorts of local officials swearing they will resist Trump’s pardon of Chauvin at all costs.
Lest any of you get the vapors thinking about Chauvin being out on the streets free to hunt black men and kneel on their necks, don’t worry if he is pardoned by Trump he’d be returned to Minnesoda to finish his 22 year state sentence out.
Unless the Feds didn’t honor the Minnesoda detainer and snuck him out the back of the courthouse.
Does Texas recognize judicial orders from other states? I read some states don’t.
I can verify TX will suspend your TX driver’s license based on an unpaid speeding ticket in MN.
DC wishes they could get MD and VA to suspend licenses and registrations.
How is it a federal crime?
Under the in all cases of ginned up race riots the Federal Government shall have whatever authority is needed to ensure that the rioters get what they want clause. It’s in the the stinky glowing part like birth control and abortion.
Federal civil rights violations more than likely. The feds would not have prosecuted murder charges. They come along and prosecute the offender for violating the civil rights of the victims. This was done extensively in the past when states would not prosecute whites that committed crimes against blacks.
But that was a long time ago, and he was prosecuted by the state.
I’m still waiting for an explanation of what happened to the original medical examiner’s report. You know, before he was forced to change it for political reasons.
Of course. Why pardon someone like Snowden when you can pardon a piece of shit like Chauvin? In a way it’s perfect. Chauvin is the Floyd Gorge of the own the libs set. Rather than pick someone actually railroaded, the poster child is a scumbag.
It is the same thing as the D’s going all in on Floyd, as opposed to Tamir Rice.
Yep.
“Diilenno was hit with first-degree money laundering, second-degree promoting organized street crime, third-degree promoting prostitution and fourth-degree maintaining a house of prostitution, police said.”
https://nypost.com/2025/05/13/us-news/illicit-spa-owner-busted-with-600k-stuffed-inside-giant-teddy-bear-during-nj-prostitution-raid/
Those are some weird charges. WTF is fourth-degree maintaining a house of prostitution? Either she is running a whorehouse or not.
Maybe it was a whore doll house?
“Did I fall asleep?”
“For a little while.”
I’m not reading the article to make sure, so this is off the cuff, but the ‘degree’ ratings are probably not sub headings of the specific crime in this case, but rather relate to the potential penalties for that crime. ie. one is a felony in the 1st degree, 2nd degree etc.
My quick reading of NY law: Fourth degree is a single adult. Third degree is multiple or teen. Second is compulsion. First is pre-teen.
It’s located in NJ.
Oops. NJ law is more difficult to read. I get the prostituting basics as:
First: pimping a minor or your ward
Second: “engages” with a minor
Third: compulsion or prostituting your spouse
Fourth: all other
and this is why I should not make comments without looking into the story…
WTF is fourth-degree maintaining a house of prostitution?
Something a square wouldn’t understand.
How many cops got in on this in a year?
That’s a lot of happy endings.
Sounds like an episode of “The Job”.
We have officers deep undercover …
One of the greatest shows ever. I have the DVD’s.
The one where he goes to anger management makes me laugh just thinking about it.
I tried to get into Rescue Me but I thought it wasn’t near as good.
Right there with you guys on The Job.
Tell me more about this series called “The Job”. Tons of shit shows up searching for it.
Since it was mentioned
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GxBx95fU_I&t=13s
“A senior business analyst with Bank of America and dad of four was sentenced to 10 years in Saudi Arabian prison over a single, seven-year-old tweet, according to reports.
Ahmed al-Doush, a 41-year-old British national and former Bank of America contractor, received the steep sentence after the Saudi government claimed a since-deleted 2018 post on his 37-follower Twitter account was a national security threat, according to the Times of London….
The Sudanese-born dad was first apprehended last August in the King Khalid airport in Riyadh by plainclothes officers who refused to inform him or his then-pregnant wife of any charges or reasons for the arrest, the outlet reported….
“When a British national is convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, and neither his family nor his lawyer nor the Foreign Office know what crime he has been accused of, something has gone very badly wrong,” Jeed Basyouni, head of the Middle East and North Africa death penalty project Reprieve, told the outlet.”
https://nypost.com/2025/05/13/world-news/bank-of-america-analyst-sentenced-to-10-years-in-saudi-arabia-prison-over-single-years-old-tweet-report/
Whole thing sounds Al Tryal bin Kafka.
“The information known indicates that the charges against him, the proceedings and his treatment are contrary to international law and human rights standards,” Dijkstal added.
The Saudis are known for following international law and human rights standards.
They are so bad at it, they were almost given a seat on the UN Human Rights Council last year.
That’s why we are BFFs.
Wait… Brit sentenced because of a Tweet?! That would NEVER happen in Britain, aye?
^^ This.
I don’t know what the Brits are complaining about. Sentencing somebody to ten years in prison for a deleted seven year old tweet is very on-brand for them .
It says a thing about Britain when the PM doesn’t call up the Saudi Prince and say tell me WTF is going on with this guy or I’m going to tell you WTF is going on the next time an oil tanker tries to leave a Saudi port.
Music link for those needing a fill on their Christian-influenced progressive metal (as I needed this morning, apparently): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbpKGb8aHTw
Not quite the Ooh song:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgg1Yczq4vI
Three HoFers in todays birthdays.
HoF Roy Halladay 64.2 war (RIP dumbass)
HoF Tony Perez 53.9
Dennis Martinez 48.7
HoF Earle Combs 45.0
Then a huge dropoff, the next best player is Kyle Freeland (17.3 war), but he is still active, so it could increase (although his war is negative so far this year).
“Jennifer Lopez suffers nasty face injury after accident on stage”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14709947/Jennifer-Lopez-stitches-injured-rehearsals-host-American-Music-Awards.html
Good.
Poor girl. Meanwhile I did worse to my face yesterday by clumsily handling a plastic fan assembly. Guess I won’t be hosting the American Music Awards. If I didn’t know better, I would say this story is really to let people know the AMAs are still a thing.
Ask Me Anythings went away? How did I miss this glorious time?
Don’t be silly Neph.
We need the AMA to provide us with trained docs we can trust.
What does the Antarctic Minerals Agreement documentation have that other documentation doesn’t?
I just read an article in the local news about the real estate market. One realtor is blaming “tariffs” for a soft sellers market in used homes. Is there anything the Orange Man Bad can’t do?
I’ve read that a lot of Canuck Boomers threw temper fits about OMB and put their houses in the market in snowbird havens.
I’m not sure exactly what a “soft sellers market” is supposed to be. Not many sellers? Too many? Who the fuck knows.
A lot of homes on the market, keeps prices and bidding wars down. A hard sellers market is one with only a few homes available, and thus allows higher prices and bidding wars.
Yup. If the sellers are hard, they can really fuck you over.
So it’s a buyer’s market. Why not just say so?
I thought the crisis was not enough homes, people can’t afford to buy, etc.? Am I being led to believe that, no matter what, there is a crisis?
Yes, there is always a crisis – Either sellers aren’t able to gouge buyers as much as they want to, or buyers aren’t able to afford the inflated prices.
The used homes are being imported from a foreign country?
Well, it is know that he was the Serpent in the Garden, so apparently not.
Well, it is known that he was the Serpent in the Garden, so apparently not.
Satellite view of Northern Minnesoda Wildfires
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQAfBuU0SkM
Notice that 3rd little (1600 acres) one near the end of the clip? That’s only 20 miles from the my compound / chicken farm.
I hope the rain comes today and that the wind direction doesn’t change.
When life sends wild fires, you make fried chicken?
Hope things work out for you Nick. I want some rain too.
“I’m bringing the boys home for fried chicken and lutefisk!”
-Tundra and PopeJimbo
ZWAKsy:
You need to listen better.
PO’d Nick told Tundra and I to eat a dick. He was not inviting us over to eat one of his prized cocks.
“Horrifying moment TikTok influencer Valeria Márquez, 23, is shot dead by motorbike-riding gunman while live streaming to her followers at beauty salon”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14710583/TikTok-influencer-shot-dead-gunman-live-streaming-followers-beauty-salon.html
Upset by all the filters? She looks like AI in some of those pics.
TikTok kills!
Debbie, who had worked for a real estate attorney for nearly 25 years, anticipated that their property taxes might increase.
Makes me wonder if she was her own client… It feels like she made a calculated risk that didn’t play out like she expected.
‘My Property Tax Went From $15K to a Life-Altering $91K a Year’
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/property-tax-went-15k-life-094500214.html
This is why property taxes are evil.
Taxes are evil.
I dont know what they are thinking. That isn’t the only state that has property taxes that high. How in hell anyone owns land there is a mystery to me. 91K/year ? Who pays that?
We need a nation wide flat tax with a ceiling of about 15% on the sum total of all taxes citizens are allowed to be taxed defined in a constitutional amendment.
It is a certainty that if govt is granted power, any power at all, they will keep expanding it until they are way out of control. They are just the damned hired help but they always end up thinking they are the master of the manor.
There’s a petition going around in Ohio to eliminate property taxes. Guess what the opposition is? Go on… guess:
Don’t sign that petition! The plan to eliminate property taxes would crater our schools: Leila Atassi
Cratering our schools might be the best thing that could ever happen for our society.
Cleveland Heights and Cuyahoga County would rather burn the city down before getting rid of their precious property taxes. I will say though there is somewhat of an awaking in the village because the current mayor, an idiot commie has made the city a joke. The awakening is happening because the taxes are too damn high for the fuckery that we see from city hall and the schools and people are getting tired of not getting their money’s worth. It’s not going to be a Republican revolution but hopefully some return to sanity.
There’s stirrings in Portlandia of the same. A feeling that they are heavily overtaxed and not even getting a reach around. The current commie, er DSA, faction is trying to mash the accelerator to the floor.
Ed:
There’s a substack I stumbled upon recently from a Cleveland mom who seems to be breaking with the progressive hive mind. It’s been entertaining watching some scales fall from the eyes.
I can deal with liberals because while a lot of their beliefs are nonsensical at times, I do think they live in some form of reality. But Progressives, holee shit because they are not only wrong but also willingly ignorant of human nature. Their answer to everything is we need to spend more, or we didn’t spend enough.
EXPOZAY!
President Trump campaigned on a pledge to fight antisemitism.
“Antisemitic bigotry has no place in a civilized society,” Trump said at an event in 2024.
However, the president’s critics question whether antisemitism may have found a place within his administration.
NPR has identified three Trump officials with close ties to antisemitic extremists, including a man described by federal prosecutors as a “Nazi sympathizer,” and a prominent Holocaust denier.
——-
The Trump administration has used the fight against antisemitism as justification for the deportation of pro-Palestinian student protesters and funding cuts to universities.
Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, argues that the administration is using antisemitism as a pretext.
“If the administration were serious about countering antisemitism, first and foremost they wouldn’t be appointing people with antisemitic and other extremist ties to senior roles within the administration,” Spitalnick said.
Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Nazi Party?
“…with ties to…”
Can you be specific?
No, being specific interferes with the mongering of fear. ‘ties to’ sounds much scarier than once worked out at the gym three doors down from the hair salon the nazi’s third cousin’s sister in law uses.
Well, if a federal prosecutor says somebody is a Nazi sympathizer, you can take that to the bank.
“On Saturday, Pacific Lutheran University (PLU), a private liberal arts school in Washington state, opened its campus to host a “Queer Prom,” an event targeted at youth aged 14 to 24 that featured “free HIV testing.” The event, organized by the Oasis Youth Center, a group that receives substantial taxpayer funding, is drawing criticism for its messaging, content, and age inclusivity….
While the event took place at PLU, it was run by Oasis Youth Center, an organization that, according to records obtained by The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, receives $308,342 from Washington State taxpayers through grants from the Department of Health. These funds come from programs aimed at commercial tobacco and cannabis prevention, raising questions over how public dollars are ultimately being spent. Although the Department of Health claims this specific prom was not state-funded, Oasis’ continued operation and outreach are underwritten by taxpayer money.”
https://thepostmillennial.com/lutheran-school-hosts-queer-prom-with-free-hiv-testing-for-teens-as-young-as-14-in-wa
We need to burn down the entire West Coast and start over.
Did anyone test positive for HIV at the prom?
That’s private student information sir!
You do NOT want to know what they’ve replaced the kissing booth with.
NPR headline:
Military colonel reacts to SCOTUS allowing transgender military ban
As opposed to a Salvation Army colonel?
Could be the dude working at Home Depot selling power tools. Colonel Sanders.
I slaw what you did there, Jimbo!
Jimbo misunderstood an advert for a machine for removing the pericarp from corn – the Kernel Sanders
UnCiv, I would LOVE it if there was a machine that could actually do that.
Also, fried chicken.
AP: First female mayor of Omaha concedes in race against likely first Black mayor
Likely? Are they waiting for gemology or genetic testing?
Some past mayors might have been black but passed for white?
[Scene: Korth Product Design meeting]
Wilhelm: Guten morgen mein herren, vat sort of ridikulously expesnzive revolver should ve design today?
Hans: Izzn’t it boring just making ten thousand euro handguns? Ve should try zomething different.
Wilhelm: What about… a fifty thousand euro revolver?
Hans: Too predictable. What about, an eighty thousand euro revolver?
Wilhelm: I love it! We should put gold on it. A full ounce! TWO full ounces!
Hans: Let’s not be gaudy now… 1.7 ounces s still tasteful, Ja?
https://www.nighthawkcustom.com/the-bitcoin-revolver
For that kind of money, they could have at least made it not hideous.
But it comes with a locking gun case made from 185 pounds of aluminum!
You can repurpose the case and keep your bitcoins in it!
NA – exactly. The whole point is the ugly ostentatiousness.
Found in many vehicles both OEM and customized.
And they just had to engrave THE BITCOIN BY KORTH on the barrel.
*shakes head, closes tab*
“Each Bitcoin Korth arrives inside a Cryptex-style case designed and manufactured entirely in-house by Korth. Crafted from 185 pounds of raw aluminum and assembled from 84 precision-machined components, the case opens only when the user aligns a mechanical code that matches the revolver’s unique serial number — a true feat of engineering inspired by cryptography.”
What could possibly go wrong?
Aluminum?
We can probably cut that open faster than we can enter the combination.
The annual inflation rate eased to 2.3 percent in April, the lowest since February 2021, showing that Joe Biden’s attempted destruction of the U.S. economy can be reversed. This represents a 0.1 percent decline in the annual rate from March and 0.1 percent below forecasts. The month-to-month rate increased by 0.2 percent over March, but was lower than the forecast 0.3 percent.
So…. prices are still going up.
I guess the author didn’t look at the chart he included because the biggest drop in the inflation rate was during Biden’s administration.
True, but the drop just partially wiped out the steep rise that happened earlier in the administration, so I’m not sure it counts.
There a subset of European physiognomy that can only be unlocked through extreme exposure to dairy and violence.
This is health advice.
https://x.com/Full_Sterker/status/1922354137489887621
Serious question – what’s his Neanderthal DNA %?
Read through the WSJ Schwab story posted by Sensei in last thred. Hilarious. I don’t see Holder as a neutral investigator (I’m sure he was making bank for his multi month “investigation”) so what’s the angle? Wresting control from Schwab into some other faction? Didn’t even wait until he’s dead to strip his family and apparatchiks out of the org.
Also enjoying how the trustees are put in the hot seat personally (and not necessarily protected by their employing companies for the CEO ones) and are trying to CYA themselves. Of course there was rampant racism and sexism and other -isms abounding. Next will be an expose that alcohol, drugs, and escorts were widespread in the non-public hospitality suites.
It really was a nice chuckle to start the day!
The Schwab reaction was exactly like one would expect from someone believing his own farts. Unlike a tinpot African dictator, he doesn’t have to worry about getting shot in the courtyard or violated with a bayonet.
https://lopezvoiceassistantsettlement.com/
How would I even know? How would you prove that?
Also, $20, same as down town…
Attesting under threat of perjury for false claim. As for how you’d know, Siri responds during a conversation when you haven’t explicitly activated it.
Fed land sales: start with reselling the O&C lands that Congress stole and should have been in private hands for more than a century.
“We are adopting today a 17th sanctions (package),” Barrot told leading news channel BFM TV.
This time it’s going to bring them to their knees!
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/time-suffocate-russias-economy-after-17th-eu-sanctions-package-france-says-2025-05-14/!
Send in Hans Blix.
You’re breakin my bahrs, RoaT, breaking by bahrs!
Duck flashed by Swiss speed camera could be repeat offender
What is the maximum flight speed in the area?
Is it African or European?
Sensei:
This isn’t some eider or situation
I don’t want to put you down, but you are a loon if you think you can duck the narrow gaze with a speedy Swiss pun like this!
I’m waiting for Swiss to Ente the chat.
You really want ducks to flash you?
Uffda.
We are spending gobs and gobs of money to reduce homelessness in Minnesoda. We’ve even lowered our homeless problem but the money from the Feds has dried up. Now we are going to pay for it ourselves.
So the Feds were giving us $20M a year to fight homelessness in one county.
But at least it is working right? After all the commissioners said that the programs have reduced homelessness!
Yup that $20M (minimum) reduced homelessness by from 642 to 427. Amazing effectiveness!
Wait. Did I say $20M?
So $20M from the Feds, $17M from the county for just one program. 200 homeless people saved.
That’s wild. But we know especially after the DOGE’s start up in January that a lot of this money is funneled into the pockets of the non for profits and the NGOs. I wished we had a Congress that is willing to cut the spigot off and force these leaches who lives off the taxpayer’s money to do something of value.
Well, it′s 9th and Hennepin and all the donuts have names that sound like prostitutes.
Get ready for all of your county services to go to shit.
Great. Xfinity increased my home internet speeds, rendering my 9 year old modem obsolete.
>.>
Now I’m supposed to buy a new one?
Well, yeah, that’s how churn works.
They made the change not you, they should be paying for the replacement modem.
That depends on whether he is renting the modem from the provider or bought his own to save on those equipment fees.
I own my own because it paid for itself in less than a year avoiding those equipment fees, so I wouldn’t expect the provider to replace it.
If Comcast made the change and made the existing modem non functional, I would expect them to pay for it even if I owned the modem.
It’s still functional, GL.
So, people who are selling you a service should support whatever ancient piece of technology you cling to regardless of what the rest of their customer base does? Sooner or later you have to decide “Upgrade the modem or cancel the service”
Doesn’t the modem still work like it did before, but the higher speeds are not available? That was my experience a few years ago.
I own it. Yeah, it still works, but now I *know* I’m not getting the full speed I could have.
Same. It will work, but more speed is available if I want to replace it. I may finally break down.
I like that I connect ethernet directly to their ONT.
This time, for sure
He is dusting off old campaign lists to text small-dollar donors. He is doing marathon-length, right-coded podcasts in the manosphere. He has begun holding in-person events, and on Tuesday, before his first town hall since leaving the Biden administration, Substack video chats. The night before, he had beers at an area brewery with his former presidential campaign staff in the state.
“What Pete is doing right now is exactly what he did in 2019 and 2020,” Lis Smith, the Democratic strategist who served as his senior adviser in 2020, told POLITICO. “The strategy then was simple: go everywhere, talk to everyone, meet voters where they are — even if it’s in red areas or on more conservative media. A lot of Democrats are finally waking up to the idea that you can’t just campaign in safe, liberal echo chambers and expect to win over swing voters, but Pete has always understood that.”
People love him.
Yeah, having beers with your former campaign staff is really getting out of the bubble, Pete.
He is campaigning for another cabinet slot. He is never going to be the presidential nominee.
His campaign will be a train wreck. Which means, he won’t realize it until months and months later.
Of course it will be a train wreck. He doesn’t do well with transportation related things.
I see he has a beard now, too.
Wonder what her name is?
Maybe he can take a leave of absence for the entire campaign.
Literally taking food out of the mouths of babies
A House Republican proposal to dramatically reduce federal funding to the nation’s largest anti-hunger program would have a disastrous effect on low-income families, nutrition advocates say.
Monday night’s proposal from GOP members of the House Agriculture Committee would cut more than $290 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps over 42 million people nationwide purchase fresh produce and other groceries, according to the Agriculture Department. Eligibility for the public-benefits program, which used to be referred to as food stamps, is based on participants’ income and household size, among other factors.
——-
“SNAP is life-changing for so many people,” Bussel added. “This is completely unconscionable that, essentially, we’re making it even harder for people to afford healthy food at a time when so many are struggling to make ends meet.”
The drastic reduction to SNAP was proposed in the House Agriculture Committee Republican leadership’s portion of the budget reconciliation bill, a broader effort to extend Trump administration tax breaks that disproportionately benefit wealthy people. The committee scheduled a markup on the bill text for late Tuesday and will decide whether to advance it after it finalizes the wording.
“fresh produce and other groceries” Yes, exactly.
Without that money, how will those people afford necessities like cigarettes and hair care products?
a broader effort to extend Trump administration tax breaks that disproportionately benefit wealthy people
The writer opposes increasing the SALT deduction?
I oppose the existence of the SALT deduction.
Low-tax jurisdictions should not be subsidizing the high-tax jurisdictions.
I would also get rid of charitable contributions and mortgage interest.
If we’re doing a freeform “trim the tax code”, we should just dump the whole thing in the shredder.
I am… ambivalent. You may be right in that the pre-2017 law allowed people in California to pay virtually no federal tax, while other states bore the burden. I’d like to see an article analyzing that vs. current state.
A House Republican proposal to dramatically reduce federal funding to the nation’s largest anti-hunger program would have a disastrous effect on low-income families, nutrition advocates say.
Who are these “advocates”, where are they employed, and do they have any financial incentives related to SNAP funding?
In a post on X on Monday night, the House Agriculture Committee announced its budget reconciliation text “restores SNAP to its original intent—promoting work, not welfare—while saving taxpayer dollars and investing in American agriculture.”
But anti-hunger advocates said it would result in higher rates of food insecurity, including in households whose parents can’t document enough work hours.
“A vote for this bill will result in more kids facing hunger — in every state, in every community, in every zip code,” Jason Gromley, senior director for the nonprofit Share Our Strength and the group’s No Kid Hungry campaign, said in a statement.
Research has shown that SNAP work requirements don’t increase employment but decrease program participation. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., slammed the proposed text as “shameful.”
Millions will starve.
Funny how it was awesome when Bill Clinton did the same thing.
They are conflating “food insecurity” with actual hunger. They define food insecurity as including things like “lack of variety”, because that’s the only way they can pretend that there are people in the US suffering from “hunger”.
“This means more seniors, veterans, people with disabilities and children will go to bed hungry. It means farmers, who are already operating on razor-thin margins, will see billions in lost revenue,” she said in a statement. “It will mean job losses and lost wages for everyone who is a part of the food system — from truck drivers to local grocers.”
Without this vital economic stimulus the economy will collapse.
“go to bed hungry”
Seriously doubt. I mean, they may not have packed in a full load of whatever has made them obese, but very few people are going to go to bed without having had the chance to eat sufficient food.