Good morning one and all to another wonderous day and to the morning links!
House Votes to Advance Bill to Temporarily Avert Shutdown – Bill Heads to Biden’s Desk
Impeachment Inquiry Investigators Interview Hunter Biden’s “Sugar Brother”
Feds flagged transactions with keywords ‘MAGA’, ‘Trump’ for financial institutions: House panel
Here Are The Donors Funding The Shadow Campaign To Stop Trump’s Second Term Before It Even Begins
Judge Denies Trumpâs Bid To Hold Jack Smith In Contempt, But Limits âSubstantiveâ Filings
Javier Milei Speaks at Davos: âSocialism Is Always and Everywhere an Impoverishing Phenomenonâ
TSA Sign Tells Migrants Without Identification They Can Opt Out Of Photo Upon Entry
DOJ Report on Uvalde School Shooting Says Police Response a “Significant Failure”
“Squad” Rep. Bowman Wants $14 Trillion in Reparations
Empty Nesters Holding On To Large Homes Rather Than Downsizing
That’s all I got for today. I’ll leave you with a song and move along with my day.
Re: the empty nesters; if they were all downsizing weâd be seeing stories about all the starter homes being snatched up.
Yup. Why do I perceive a sneer with that story, like the author is implying that they’re kulaks for staying in their decadent mini mansions.
Then the story about the younger home-owners, strapped with unaffordable mortgages. Besides what younger people need a big house when they aren’t having that many kids?
“That’s my game room, that’s the lounging room, that’s a full formal dining room, a restaurant grade kitchen…”
The real estate market has slowed to a crawl because everyone is holding on to what they have. Some fiscal restraint might bring down inflation and let the Fed ease rates. I joke of course.
Given the state of things, I bet many “empty nesters” also are hedging against the possibility that their kids and maybe grandkids will end up living with them again. I am.
Me as well. Possibly even friends. Given Texas property taxes I could use the help with payment, I could drop this onerous corporate job.
There is a big push to say real estate is wrong. It started years ago with the tiny house movement, which at first I saw as innocuous. It is not. It was a Trojan Horse to push people out of their houses and view property as decadent and obscene.
Even further than that, although the tiny house thing was it’s first real manifestation. The middle class is defined by property ownership. Commies hate the middle class, and draw a distinction between personal property (ie, laptop), and real property.
Personally, I don’t have an issue with the tiny house thing. Some people have that preference, which is good. It’s when they try to force everyone into the same thing where problems arise.
Both my parents and my sister’s family have houses that include guest rooms. The house the girlfriend and I have could have a guest room, but that would require giving up the computer room/office or the (needs to be used more frequently) exercise room.
YOU WILL OWN NOTHING AND YOU WILL LOVE IT!
or else…
Klaus has how many divisions?
The entire EU bureaucracy (and hence their weak ass militaries) and the CCP’s military for sure…
I’m quaking in my boots.
I don’t either. I will probably end up in one by a lake somewhere in the next ten years. But the concept is being mis-used by politicians to try to shame people who have large homes. Look for this to shaming to grow in the coming years. The push to strip people of their homes has only just begun.
I believe that. Fucking commies.
Politicians – who are shameless – shaming people? I gotcher shame, right down here [grabs crotch].
I stayed in a dry house in Alaska, had a disposable toilet which was function but had a different odor. I hid behind the house for some functions, though Mrs F was reluctant. It was small, very small, but adequate. Not cheap rent but nothing is anymore.
Seems like it had a sink with a bucket for light hygiene.
In Tucson, a lot of bigger houses have casitas, which are basically detached apartments/tiny houses. I suspect they were originally âmaidâs quartersâ in the pre-war houses (one of my parentâs houses in Texas had one – what a godsend for Teenage R C). Casitas are basically tiny houses. Tucson has been looking at both removing restrictions on people building casitas, and letting them rent them out full time, to deal with the housing shortage here.
One of those is on our 5 year plan for here. It’ll be a guesthouse/office/shed with an eye towards housing one or more of our parents in their dotage.
This is one of those rare issues where the left (at least some on the left) and libertarians can agree. Restrictions on ADUs is wrong.
Of course those leftists don’t like giving up control, so they wont just return property rights, but they are moving in the right direction. I commented on a article earlier this morning related to this: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2024/1/18/every-city-should-do-this-housing-exercise
Same for things like getting rid of/loosening minimum parking requirements.
I’m not sure your maid thought of some teen lurking outside her door as a Godsend.
We’re thinking of putting up a dry cabin for guests, probably where our old greenhouse is now. Wired but not plumbed; opposite side of the house from the well and too difficult to tie into the septic system. But we can put a wood stove in there and it would be great for summer guests.
And we’re not giving up our place. No way in hell. Worked too long and too hard to get here.
Do they though? Every tiny house video just seems like pure cope.
The tiny house movement is trailer parks for the goodthinkful.
But trailer parks are so… tacky!
Locally, there has been on ongoing story about an old trailer park (originally used for temporary housing for Euclid Beach Park) that was rumored to be being bought to be turned into a high rise apartment building.
House is paid for, why move unless the maintenance is getting to be more than you can handle. And a bigger house means room for family to visit (or move back in, as may be). When my parents moved to Amarillo, they bought a four bedroom just for space for kids to visit (although this was in the 90’s when property values were much lower).
^^this^^
A more complete story would have interviewed people who tried to downsize in the past and what results they got. Downsizing is usually very emotional; I would say that many people make huge mistakes when they make their huge purchases: houses and cars.
I do not know a single person who truly downsized: moved into an apartment or into the cabin at the lake. What usually happens is the car thing: you start shopping and the toys distract and you end up with something that cost a lot more than you ever intended; I know people who ended up spending much more for much less (I first noticed this in 1984).
People are not clear about their goals, motives, needs; they are not objective in their assessments. They fuck up a lot. That guy who can’t merge into traffic with any sanity is suddenly going to navigate two real estates transactions and come out on top with money to spare? I don’t think so…..nothing in my personal or professional life tells me that most people will do well with this based on all the other things they’re screwing up all day.
you start shopping and the toys distract and you end up with something that cost a lot more than you ever intended
Wife’s grandfather was an (commercial) architect and designed the heck out of their “downsized” house. It’s amazing, but it’s hundreds of sqft bigger than their old one, and with the 20 foot ceilings in some areas, a bitch and a half to maintain. They now have a live in nanny to take care of all that stuff because it’s too much for them.
I have a lot of junk I don’t use and can leave behind. No emotional attachment. I guess that comes from having to start over in life so many times. The wife, maybe not so much….
My wife can’t part with a thing without tears. Sentimental doesn’t even begin to describe it.
I have a lot of junk I just can’t bring myself to part with. Even after the PITA that was closing out my mother’s estate, when I swore I wouldn’t leave such a mess for whoever has to clean up after me, I still dither about throwing out shit I haven’t looked at in years.
Dad? Is that you?
Seriously, my dad has boxes full of my stuff in his basement. Stuff that I haven’t seen or thought about in decades. Let alone the boxes of family stuff from before the divorce (ca 2003). I tell him repeatedly to save the toys the grandkids will play with and toss the rest. I have no interest in my 7th grade report card.
I just don’t want to be that guy. I have a yearly purge. It will be a big one this year. The advantage of doing that is it reminds you to stop spending so much on junk.
I have about 6 file tubs’ worth of sentimental things and knickknacks, a big hefty tub of art, and a lot of books that stay on a bookshelf. That’s really the only crap my kids will have to sort through that they won’t know what to do with. Everything else is utilitarian (although whether to include my craft supplies in that or not is the question.)
It would be painful to downsize, only because I purge regularly and what I keep is really important to me. It’s nice that I can have people over on a moment’s notice because I don’t have clutter in my living room.
Of course, I don’t have young children, either, and that will account for a ton of clutter.
Of course, I donât have young children, either, and that will account for a ton of clutter.
*thousand yard stare*
Weâre gradually grinding down the pile of stuff-in-storage and excess whatever. Not having an attic or a basement really helps to keep it from piling up. And weâre not going to rent a storage locker.
My basic mindset has been âDo I want to move this again?â, even though we have no plans to move. I would just rather have less clutter, and most of it still has some use left in it, so Iâd also rather it get used than molder away in my garage/closets.
My inlaws successfully downsized from a 4 bed 2 story home to a 2 bed one story home with a lot less living space. But for 2 retirees it’s perfect. More compact and nicely appointed. While the neighborhood is not a senior community, about 2/3 of the neighborhood are seniors that downsized.
As a long time empty nester I built my house both as a challenge and an investment, not for myself but as a way to enjoy the last years comfortably. My kids/grandkids have been able to come visit when they want to. I have been able to enjoy my property and share that enjoyment with friends.
Some have commented that when SHTF they’ll have a place to go. Now as we aren’t able to do so much outside the house is a refuge. While we aren’t as remote as Richard it’s still a good place for a couple of introverts.
BTW, other than HH time the cabin is available for Glibs that are in the neighborhood and want a cheap comfortable place to stay.
And as people live longer/healthier lives, they will be making that downsizing move later and later.
Itâs also harder to get the math to look good. If you have a mortgage, and many to most Boomers/empty nesters still do, Your monthly payment isnât going to improve much at all as you exit your sub 3% mortgage and take on a 6+% mortgage, even for a smaller amount for a (somewhat) cheaper smaller house. Take it from someone who has poked at downsizing.
Artificially low rates lead to totally unforeseeable lock-in. Who could have known?
Yep, I’m at 2.5% and I get emails all the time telling me how much my home is worth.
I looked into it a couple times (just out of curiosity, we have no desire to move) and it looks like my monthly payment would go up, I’d have a smaller and not as nice house, and I would have to start a new 30 year mortgage.
If I was thinking about moving, all of that would change my mind.
I had the luck recently of the neighbors across the street from me selling their house. It was on the market the same time as the house that I wound up buying, and they were priced comparably (as the houses are nearly the same in floor space, bedrooms/baths, basement, etc.). So I now have a fairly strong data point as to what my house is worth now.
I contemplated picking up an equity loan/LOC but would pretty much only use that for home improvements, which I’ve just budgeted for and saved (although I am somewhat tempted to take up one of the window companies that’s still offering 0% interest on multi year loans to replace the big living room window).
That’s where my mom and dad are. They have more house than they need, but financially it doesn’t make sense to pay more for something smaller.
Most of us on the older side are right there…
At some point I will move because I know I do not want to stay in commie land after retire, but I will again buy bigger as investment to keep my wealth safe from the idiocy of government. And this pisses off the people that want to reap the wealth of the productive for personal gain.
And then there’s the property tax increases, if you own a house where the taxable value is significantly less than the assessed value, due to legal limits on how much property taxes can go up annually.
all the starter homes being snatched up
They are being snatched up, but not by downsizers.
Yeah. My goal is to have the mortgage paid off within the next couple years, and then start sinking that into funding a major rebuild. The house is a bit small for 4 kids, but there’s no way to move the homestead. Will at least double, maybe triple, the current living space. But maybe 1/3 of that will be a finished basement with a pool table, wet bar, and arcade. Need to have a space for the kids as they grow into teens. One of my sons will probably always live with us, and then maybe a parent too. Plenty of room as the kids visit with their own families.
I’ve started to think through now how to tear down and rebuild the house in stages while we’re living in it. It’ll be a hell of a project and will probably bring in an architect to draft the plans. As we plan for things declining a bit, I also want to include things like a very large pantry and even building a room in the basement that can act as walk in safe. I’m running out of room now.
Check out Tag and Bee at Life Done Free. He DIY’d their house in 4(?) different wings/pods. I don’t know the details on how he married the wings together, but I know they were living in it while building other parts of it.
It just seems like a few things can be true. The boomers have benefited the most from terrible government housing policy. They are still responding appropriately to incentives/policy.
The only response I can think of to Representative Bowman.
Does joining the “Squad” mean he is a dickless wonder?
Yes. That man has no dick.
đ¤Łđ
You laugh, but people actually believe this.
Why would you not when you believe any of the idiotic shit peddled by collectivism?
The electricity comes from the wall
Economic illiteracy!
It’s what’s for breakfast.
we invested in the American people in a way that kept the economy afloat
That’s not what I would call spending trillions on bullshit while the governors shut down their states.
whaddup doh’
yo whats goody
The part about “buying religious texts” was being spun yesterday on the Townhall group of sites as including The Bible. Given the “Traditional Catholics” thing, it wouldn’t surprise me like it would have several years ago, but without seeing the paperwork — there could be certain religious texts (of Peace!) that would justify it.
Still, the end run around “no general warrants” is infuriating as always. But not surprising since Snowden. And all the major financial institutions sure seem to be in on it… I know folks always tout credit unions at this point — but moving everything is seriously non-trivial. Yay.
Oh, and “Morning, all”. Morning, Banjos — hope that snowman isn’t what the girls decided to build (fun — but the liability lawsuits would be a mess!)
I know folks always tout credit unions at this point â but moving everything is seriously non-trivial. Yay.
We’re in the process of doing so. More because there aren’t any branches of our national bank close. We have been wanting to ditch them anyway. It hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be, but that may be because almost everything is routed through our credit cards first.
The feds monitoring and documenting every non-cash transaction is why I don’t buy ammo online.
But gov’t crypto will be perfectly conducive to a free society.
I am impressed how you managed to say that as if you were serious.
I just rewatched Mr. Robot.
I am less than clear on why CBDC is supposed to be such a big deal. Something like 98% of the money in circulation now is purely digital – very little of the money supply is actual folding money. The government can now track nearly everything you earn and spend, and for them to âdebankâ you and put you outside the economy would be trivially easy now, as far as the mechanism to do it.
What am I missing here?
being a Glib is saying that ship has sailed to yourself day after day
^^ this.
Well, from the horse’s mouth: https://www.federalreserve.gov/cbdc-faqs.htm#:~:text=While%20Americans%20have%20long%20held,not%20of%20a%20commercial%20bank.
While Americans have long held money predominantly in digital formâfor example in bank accounts, payment apps or through online transactionsâa CBDC would differ from existing digital money available to the general public because a CBDC would be a liability of the Federal Reserve, not of a commercial bank.
Not sure what you’re getting at here, but I’ll take the most positive interpretation.
Yes, “gov’t crypto” destroys the only virtue* of crypto, a medium of exchange free from gov’t manipulation.
*not anonymity
Apparently I need to have my sarc meter serviced. Never mind.
There’s a local city that does a flaming ice statue for a festival every year.
That looks cold… and funky.
If you think Our Masters are flagging Korans and not Bibles as a security risk, well, I suggest you look at whether they have flagged conservative/fundamentalist Christians or conservative/fundamentalist Muslims as security risks in other contexts.
*adds another tally to the count of lists that I’m on*
Past few years I bought a bunch of different Bible versions to look at translation differences.
Plus I am here
I was already on lists for stuff I did in CA
They will be tired of putting me on lists soon.
“That guy again”
I was already on lists for stuff I did in CA
I told you not to go kick that baby seal, but no, you had to kick the baby seal.
Doesnât matter to me what theyâre flagging-shouldnât be flagging any of them.
I mean, the head of the DOJ did publicly announce that white conservatives Christians were the number one threat to the nation.
That. Also, “Election deniers” (but only of a certain political persuasion…), “white-supremacists” (witch barely exist and I never hear about in the news), the “far-right” (which is anything insignificantly left) and “those against covid measures.”
I wonder why financial institutions would just buy in like that….
Oh, no I don’t. “Operation Choke Point” was only phase 2. Remember when GM had $30 billion in secured debt and was going under? Remember how Obama threatened to use the regulatory state to ruin those creditors if they didn’t simply give away that $30 billion? And remember how Obama just gave the company to the UAW, even though they had no legitimate claim to ownership?
Yeah, I bet the guys over at the Bank Remember.
House Votes to Advance Bill to Temporarily Avert Shutdown â Bill Heads to Bidenâs Desk
Weak. Shut it down.
Impeachment Inquiry Investigators Interview Hunter Bidenâs âSugar Brotherâ
*yawn*
Feds flagged transactions with keywords âMAGAâ, âTrumpâ for financial institutions: House panel
But MAGA is fascist.
Well, someone in Georgia gives a damn.
From that article — looks like the race card is her goto shtick:
What a lovely person she must be to interact with.
Self-righteousness so thick, you could cut it with a knife:
blockquote>âNow you know, I cannot be bullied,â she added. âSo I do not even think anyone on this team thought someone was silly enough to try that as a tactic. As you are aware, I have now experienced some of the most powerful people in the country call me everything, but a child of God. But, yet here I and my team stand still pursuing justice.â
This man doesn’t have the war-boner to be a real conservative!!!
Personally, I would overlook his TDS because he tends to be pretty damn good on everything else.
And speaking of idiots with war-boners.
More chickenshits than chicken-hawks.
That would be a fun basic training to watch. Putting the camp in boot camp.
I find I just don’t give a shit.
My only real thought on his announcement was “Michigan? Where the GOP state party is bankrupt and unable to even pay their bills, much less help work for a candidate? That Michigan?”
I mean… not the state I’d be trying to run in… but whatever.
He’s in the LP now, so not getting any help is a given.
That article is horrendous.
Amash would be better than 97% of the others in the Senate, but his willingness to fall in line over the impeachment bothers me.
Maybe this explains the tone of that article:
He has said more presidents should be impeached. I like that.
are part of a loose alliance preparing legal action to block Trump from taking certain executive actions if he takes office, according to NBC News.
Such as undoing the damage from the Brandon admin? Sorry, but anything done by executive order can be undone by executive order.
The organizations fear that Trump may use the armed forces to act undemocratically if elected
I don’t even know what this means. He would be commander in chief, civilian controller of the military.
To address this, they seek to limit his potential influence over the executive branch.
Seems legit. Not like he’d be the chief executive in charge of the executive branch.
âWe are preparing for litigation and preparing to use every tool in the toolbox that our democracy provides to provide the American people an ability to fight back,â Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, told NBC News.
Fuck democracy and fuck you.
One might think — but I remember more than one court decision in the 2016-2020 timeframe that said otherwise. And that’s what I expect to happen if the fortification doesn’t happen (well, after the obligatory riots and burning down of cities settles down in DC at least..).
And what isn’t blocked by the courts will be ignored by the agencies. Again.
And I don’t think OMB has learned a thing about actually handling it.
Exactly what I was going to say. The courts are hopelessly corrupt, and the progressive alliance knows who to go to in order to get nationwide injunctions blocking federal actions. After a couple of years of delay, the Roberts court then can declare it moot, or too late to change, or too close to an election…
Remember when we pretended to be a “Nation of Laws, not of men”? Yeah, that was a fun fantasy.
Ideally Trump would take Vivek as his VP. Vivek has a plan to cut federal agencies including getting rid of the FBI and reallocating the field agents, so Trump would unleash him and let him do that. Then Vivek would do such a good job he’d be the next president.
Sound like a dream, but not necessarily impossible.
And I donât think OMB has learned a thing about actually handling it.
A smart exec would use the system against itself.
Pink slip a bunch of civil servants, and let them hang in limbo for a while until the courts reinstate them.
Then transfer them to random offices around the country and let them hang in limbo for a while until the courts block that.
Then give them extended paid leave and let the courts figure that one out.
Then give them 6 month parental leave and 6 month gender identity change leave and 6 month bereavement leave and 6 month wellness leave and every X history month and pride month off and let the courts try to formulate a position that doesn’t make them bigots while saying that the bureaucrats actually have to work to get paid.
Just pull every HR trick in the book out to make them want to do nothing, and then do what you will in their absence.
A smart exec
Well, that eliminates Trump.
That’s not how it works anymore.
Obama’s EO’s are set in stone, but Trump’s were written in the sand by the ocean with an incoming tide.
I’m sure Biden’s will be treated as holy proclamations also.
SecDef Lloyd Austin is still missing. Supposedly Biden visited him in the hospital and released a picture of him with a masked man in a room. The rumor going around is that Austin went to the Ukraine and got blown up in that big Russian missile strike a couple weeks ago and is either dead or wounded.
There should be documentation of his supposed recent hospital stay.
You’ll see it right after the full Epstein flight logs and Seth Rich evidence.
It’s to protect
ourTHEIR democracy…They keep it in the file next to Hoffaâs body next door to Kubrickâs moon landing set.
Was he holding up a newspaper with the day’s date shown?
Seems like if the story they were putting forward was true theyâd have shitcanned him already but who knows?
Fire a black man? The Biden administration? Yeah, thatâll happen.
And his AWOL-ness is really ticking me off because it might disrupt my out-there prognostication about him replacing Harris in the VP slot.
Thinking my only choice for outrageous prognostication is gonna be to double-down – they’ll put him in the VP slot (to step into POTUS when Brandon hits room temperature) in spite of all this disappearance crap, just to show us all that they can.
They seem comfortable running dead men and doppelgangers – so you still have a shot there Nostradamus.
Going with a Weekend at Larry’s White House?
Migrants without proper identification may apparently opt out of being photographed by TSA upon entry at Miami International Airport.
Well we would want to document the undocumented illegal alien invaders now would we?
Throughout all of history citizens enjoyed privileges not given to outsiders. We are living in bizarro world.
And empires exacted tribute from other nations. In our case the money goes in the opposite direction.
NH Glibs: I will be in Epping/Exeter 7/17-7/22
I will be busy with gunplay most of that time but may be able to work in a meeting particularly on the first or last day.
DOJ Report on Uvalde School Shooting Says Police Response a âSignificant Failureâ
You don’t say.
You spelled “Abject failure” wrong.
It even seemed kinda deliberate (criminal, even). Like all the cops just waited and prevented the parents from doing anything about it themselves.
prevented the parents
I posted my outrage at the time and caught unending flak for publishing outright lies
One of the huge failings of my Boomer childhood culture was this obsession with heros and who gets to be branded what. I’m not going to decry the fireman snatching baby twins out of a third-story inferno, but all the deference turned off a lot of brains: it was all good guys and blackhats and KAPOW!. Instead of saying as Milei just did that the businessman is a hero, we were taught that cops and teachers were demi-gods; no one in my childhood was was pointing out that they put their pants on one leg at a time, same as you.
Couple that with the A+ mentality: no one can fail or not be excellent in all things. In my childhood, divorce was evil and staying with a terrible person was holy. In that kind of unthinking society, it’s easy for cops and teachers to entrench themselves as clergy.
Heroes are criminals. It is known. Witness the prosecution of folks who dare to stop violent assaults.
Ah. The subcultures I was a part of were anti-cop, anti-authority, and DIY for a long time. Now a lot of them have decided that authority is really cool when they’re the ones wielding it.
Ah, the punk rock scene then? At least Rottenâs still around.
Lots of cross over with the punk scene.
Stinky why is your avatar the picture of one of Satan’s greatest lieutenants, if not one of the numerous antichrists running around in this century?
I thought that was that from the unreleased Star Trek episode where Telly Savalas played Spockâs dad. My bad.
One of the huge benefits of my Gen X childhood culture was this obsession with heros and who gets to be branded what. I also will not going to decry the fireman snatching baby twins out of a third-story inferno, but all good guys were guys that had to step in when the system failed (Magnum PI, Duke Boys, A-Team, most other shows, not to mention the Rebel Frickin Alliance) and the government was either overwhelmed by blackhats or actively in league with them. We had characters played by Michael J Fox saying that the businessman is a hero, we were taught that cops and teachers were either incompetent or evil; everyone in my childhood was was pointing out that they put their pants on one leg at a time, same as you. We also had Red Dawn and Rocky 4 reminding us how bad the Ruskies were.
Then 9-11 happened and we raised 2 generations to bend the knee to an all knowing, all seeing, benevolent god called government. I’ll take the A-Team and Magnum PI (original flavor), and even Murder She Wrote over CSI and NCIS.
Then 9-11 happened and we raised 2 generations to bend the knee to an all knowing, all seeing, benevolent god called government.
It was well in force before that. The examples that come to mind are seatbelt laws and 1987’s South Dakota v. Dole.
Maybe the local bakeries were out of donuts?
The first duty of the police in this kind of situation is the same as it is for any soldier: Move to ‘the sound of the musketry’. And it took the DOJ two years and 500-odd pages to come up with the conclusion that the cops failed to do so.
As opposed to doing anything to actually hold someone accountable. Much justice there.
Oh, but they did move to the sound of the musketry. And then turned around and pointed their guns at the citizenry. Some of them were essentially defending the shooter from people willing to bring his killing to an end. Hell, they even stopped one of their own from taking the shooter on.
In the name, I suppose, of protecting people from themselves.
Cretins.
Lysander Spooner was born today in 1808.
When I started reading him, I didn’t want to believe that the government was an illegitimate gang appointed by unknown people, but here we are.
I remember the crazy folks who used to say that back when I was a kid in the 70s and 70s. Government is just legitimized mafia. Crazy.
Then I grew up and got a little experience. Suddenly, reality became clear.
Iâd prefer the Italian mob over the feds at least any day.
Until recently, the various versions of criminal overlords limited themselves to taking about 10%. Any more than that risked armed rebellion.
What scares me are the people who grow up and completely miss the obvious.
Or worse, stick their fingers in their ears and start screaming “la la la la la la” at the first hint that they might be confronted by the obvious.
These days it takes hard work to remain an oblivious prole.
I believe Tonio’s dog is named after him.
âSquadâ Rep. Bowman Wants $14 Trillion in Reparations
Nah. Fuck you.
We can just mint a bunch of million dollar coins and give one to each of our black brothers and sisters.
Because if you give a mouse a cookie…
It had better be laced with warfarin
Empty Nesters Holding On To Large Homes Rather Than Downsizing
Kulaks.
The one thing that I think will be genuinely different in the US than in other countries that have slid down the slope into totalitarianism, is that no country on earth has ever had nearly as many armed (to heavily armed) civilians as the US.
Whether that will serve to limit the more severe kinds of overreach (which, believe it or not, we have not even begun to see), or whether it will result in internal/civil conflict of unprecedented savagery, who knows?
We are already being pre-programmed.
The trailer says it is by the writer of Ex Machina, which was fantastic.
But..
The trailer also seems to portray journalists as heroic truth-tellers who are targeted for execution by Washington DC, which seems silly on the face of it.
Here in reality, only whackadoodle fake journalists on the internet strive to tell the truth, while “reporters” dutifully repeat the stories they were told to cover.
I assume you’re referring to the movie and not the comic? The problem is the only thing after Ex Machina that Garland has done that I enjoyed has been Devs. I enjoyed his take on Dredd, and 28 Days Later is a classic (28 Months Later on the other hand… and the fact they’re doing 28 Years Later…).
Well, the premise of this one seems to be that Trump is a dictator and the good people of California will have to journalism the evil deplarables out of office using fighter jets.
At least, that is what I guessed from the trailer.
Which would be obvious to anyone who watched “The Boys”. Nazis… duh.
28 Days Later lost me at the attempted rape of the women.
It’s been a fucking month and you already found 2 chicks. Gosh. Give things a year or two and you might have run out of space in the barracks for all the women.
Yeah. Those weren’t the good guys, and it is what spurred the glorious rampage of revenge.
The premise of the movie does not match reality in any way that I can tell. As is the “Western Forces” (oooh, spooky, militant secessionists) would have the manpower to advance on DC, or would even want to if they did…
*Note the Florida Alliance and Western Forces appear to be aligned. The naming convention for these factions is just silly.
**I loathe the use of the term “Loyalists States.”
Indiana as a “Loyalist State” does not match reality. The Republic of Indiana would have a flag with a firecracker and an AR-15 on it.
…and a car with Illinois plates at a gas station, filling up on non-IL taxed gas.
^^^ This guy gets it.
Why do that when all they have to do is block the food from coming into the cities?
I caught something interesting in Tucker’s recent interview with Vivek. He was talking foreign policy and how the donors really influence the messaging on Ukraine towards interventionism. Then he said something along the lines of “just like they won’t let you hear the truth about 9/11, they won’t let you hear a coherent policy on Ukraine”.
I didn’t realize he was a 9/11 truther. Did he talk about it elsewhere?
I donât heâs a fire wonât melt steel truther, just more of a it sure was weird that they flew those Saudis put of the country almost immediately and Bldg 7 seemed kinda strange truther.
^This. It was the government running cover for the Saudi’s that got him stirred up.
This theme of false flags and complicity has me intreagued.
Kosin has a video where he goes to a pro Palestinian rally in London and several people opined that Oct 7 was actually done by the Israeli government or never happened.
Tucker interviewed Alex Jones and had a clip of him predicting 9/11, saying he had read some intelligence and defense newsletters and white papers saying that such people were in place and that the government needed a large terror attack to justify things they wanted to do. He wasn’t claiming any special powers of deduction or clairvoyance, he simply said he read what these people wrote and took them at their word. He even quoted the WTC towers as a possible target.
Easy to see how conspiracy theory kooks could get swept up in such an environment.
I find this whole “they let it happen” conspiracy theory variant fascinating… because it doesn’t deny any of the presented facts, ot simply reframes them in a world where nefarious powers allow things to happen.
If anything, I lean in the “they let it happen” direction. The main two datapoints that push me in a more conspiratorial direction are the involvement of the Bush family and the CIA’s long history in Afghanistan.
Like Pearl Harbor?
I’m not sure they knew it was going to happen, but I’m not sure they didn’t know either.
The Pearl Harbor comparison is where my mind goes too.
And the RMS Lusitania. They didn’t KNOW the Germans would sink it, they just loaded it up with with a bunch ammo and American passengers and let it happen.
^
I don’t think they knew Pearl was going to happen — they expected it to be The Philippines where they set their tripwires.
FDR ordered the Pacific fleet out of home port for a two week exercise – over the objections of the Navy brass – in May 1940. The fleet never returned. It may have been the most costly bit of dick waving this country ever engaged in.
Didn’t he fire the fleet commander who told him exactly why a bluff like that would not work on the Japanese?
That I don’t know, though it would be a dick move which means it is plausible.
Yup, wouldn’t surprise me in the least.
And I wouldn’t put anything past the FBI anymore.
My question to any GOP candidate would be, what are you going to do about the FBI creating terror plots to then arrest the plotters they created? What are you going to do to stop the government and the media/internet companies from conspiring to control information?
Vivek was the only one I thought had a chance of actually making it happen. (If you are firing everyone, you can get around civil servant protections)
Back in the day, there was bitter fighting between the LIHOP and MIHOP factions on prisonplanet.com
over pancakes?
I think Vivek’s quite smart enough to drop those quickies on purpose. Kindof a dog-whistle where he signals something without saying it.
When pressed, his follow-on will not be the silly truther stuff – it’ll be about the FBI knowing about them ahead of time, or not connecting the obvious dots because of stoopid or (his most likely attack) fear of being called a racist. That truth – that the gov’t let it happen.
This is what I’ve heard him say. There was a lot known ahead of time and the government is hiding that from us.
There is also the blatant covering for the fucking Saudi dogs.
How many times have the American populace been sold on wars from some big event?
– USS Maine explosion in Havana
– Lusitania
– Pearl Harbor
– Gulf of Tonkin
– 9/11
Without them, could any of the ensuing wars have been sold as being in our national interests?
UK thought police.
Civil servants in the UK, people working for the government, have been issued guidance that tells them they should show support to transgender identifying colleagues by âthinking of the person as being the gender that they want you to think of them as.â
If everybodyâs crazy, nobodyâs crazy?
Itâs not enough to go along with the program, you gotta BELIEVE brother (and if you donât youâre fucking fired).
That’s the totalitarian mindset.
I played https://squaredle.com/xp 01/19:
26/26 words (+3 bonus words)
đ In the top 9% by bonus words
I played https://squaredle.com 01/19:
66/66 words (+18 bonus words)
âąď¸ In the top 42% by speed
đĽ Solve streak: 117
Meh.
I had an okay morning with it.
I played https://squaredle.com/xp 01/19:
*26/26 words (+1 bonus word)
đŻ Perfect accuracy
I played https://squaredle.com 01/19:
*66/66 words (+11 bonus words)
đŻ In the top 4% by accuracy
đĽ Solve streak: 193
Obviously, there are no potential negative consequences to this.
The cost to overdraw a bank account could drop to as little as $3 under a proposal announced by the White House, the latest effort by the Biden administration to combat fees it says pose an unnecessary burden on American consumers, particularly those living paycheck to paycheck.
The proposed change by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would potentially eliminate billions of dollars in fee revenue for the nationâs biggest banks, which were gearing up for a battle even before Wednesday’s announcement. Exactly how much revenue depends on which version of the new regulation is adopted. …
âFor too long, some banks have charged exorbitant overdraft fees â sometimes $30 or more â that often hit the most vulnerable Americans the hardest, all while banks pad their bottom lines,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “Banks call it a service â I call it exploitation.â
You call it taxation. I call it theft. And the bank overdraft fee is not a service. It’s a penalty.
You want more “unbanked” folks? This is a good way to get there.
Maybe that is the goal
I never thought I’d have to get a credit check to get overdraft enabled on my account, but here we are.
Hey Joe,
what you doing with that ice cream cone in your hand?You know how you could best help consumers? REDUCE SPENDING AND CUT TAXES.
You’re welcome,
pistoffnick
We ran up a trillion in debt in the last quarter. Had never done it in a whole year until recently…. and that took national emergencies. Now it is a 4 times a year thing.
We.
Are.
Doomed.
I remember the last time the feds pushed for changes in overdraft protection, and made it opt in.
Is there plan to force more people into credit card debt?
It would help collapse the banks and move us towards Currency 2, Electric Boogaloo.
âAdorable Crocodile Wants Cuddlesâ
https://youtube.com/shorts/hChUx5YBxzY?si=AiipQRNgvcRtS8-f
Shouldnât that read âWell Fed Crocodile?â The anthropomorphization has gotten a little out of hand.
Yeah, crocs definitely don’t cuddle. Not a social animal.
It’s just a
furscalebaby. *insert estrogen noises here*đđđđđđđđđđ
(can I express my hatred for treating pets like infants strongly enough using only emoji?)
âHey Bob, remember that time you didnât feed your croc and he went into a death spiral and tore off your arm? Good times.â
-That guyâs best bud in ten or twenty years
Jugsy is annoyingly all in on “Mommy” and “Daddy” when she talks to the dogs.
My last vet (whom I really like but is a bit far away now) would always refer to my doge as “the animal” when referring to them.
Keeps it in perspective for me.
I catch myself saying âgo get momâ sometimes; However, while sheâs adorable, I know the dog is just a dog and not a child. I would never compare the two.
It made my family a lot of money to include that type of talk…just sayin.
This is extremely stupid.
There is nothing that the feds won’t ruin.
In December, the Federal Highway Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation, issued new guidance on traffic-safety messages: Signs should avoid language that uses pop-culture references or humor.
Federal officials said funny signs can distract drivers. …
The Federal Highway Administration lays out its position in the newest edition of a 1,100-plus page Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Flipping to page 519 finds guidance stating humorous signs âmight be misunderstood or understood only by a limited segment of road users.â They could also require more time to understand, the manual said.
And?
Make it so goddamn boring that everyone will ignore it. Thatâll work.
In other words, racist.
Those signs are abused for stupid messages. They are a distraction that causes people to slow down and read the sign causing traffic. Just give useful information. I don’t need to know that there was a kidnapping in LA when I’m in the Bay Area. I also don’t need to know that 405 in LA will be shut down next month.
The unsung hero of economic freedom
https://capx.co/the-unsung-hero-of-economic-freedom/
The world is falling behind on economic freedom. Even before the Covid lockdowns, citizens in most developed countries were subject to growing regulatory burdens, taller trade barriers, and higher taxes. Governments through the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 â not least in the UK â accelerated the process, and are now reluctant to reverse it despite its substantial costs. We cannot claim ignorance, because the long-run consequences of such policies are well documented by two and a half decades of international research. Had it not been for James Gwartney, we might not have had such a precise empirical understanding of the importance of economic freedom, though.
Jim, who passed away on the 7 January at his home in Tallahassee, was born in rural Kansas in 1940 and worked on the family farm before getting an undergraduate degree in economics at Ottawa University. He later earned his PhD at the University of Washington, focusing on discrimination in US labour markets, which resulted in his first publication in the prestigious American Economic Review. After taking up a position at Florida State University in 1969, Jim would throughout the 1970s contribute important insights by providing accurate numbers documenting how substantial a problem discrimination against black Americans was in the US labour market at the time.
In the 1980s, Jimâs work mainly turned to economic policy and development, much of it with the Cato Instituteâs James Dorn. His interests led him to take part in a series of conferences in the late 1980s and early 1990s, organised by the Fraser Instituteâs Michael Walker on the possibility of measuring economic freedom.
Former NASA administrator hates Artemis, wants to party like itâs 2008
Essentially, Griffin told the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, NASA could not afford to faff around with a complex, partly commercial plan to put humans back on the Moon, with an eye toward long-term settlement. Instead, he said, the agency must get back to the basics and get to the Moon as fast as possible. China, which has a competing lunar program, must not be allowed to beat NASA and its allies back to the Moon. The space agency, he said, needed to “restart” the Moon program and chuck out all of the commercial space nonsense.
I guess somebody is thinking of the lobbyists and public teat-suckers after all.
It isn’t the 1960s. NASA only has union workers now, not motivated scientists. We cannot repeat that success.
There was a podcast a while back on Econtalk or maybe the Federalist where someone looked at NASA and was talking about the complexities of going to Mars, but also about how not just funding but the intensity and passion of NASA and the country was different in the 60’s. Essentially, the best and brightest wanted to go work at NASA or Bell or one of the major labs and help man get into space. Now they want to be investment bankers and tech tycoons.
Inventors don’t get rich working for corporations.
I think there’ s a lot of those types of people working at SpaceX and similar companies.
Cold War high ground!!! Commies in space above us!@!!!!
ÂŁ10-a-shot laser destroys drones in âmajor defence milestoneâ
DragonFire system burns through targets from miles away during test in the Hebrides and could be ready for battle in five years
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/laser-weapon-aerial-target-porton-down-xzzwn00ls
So, it could be used by insurgents against the sophisticated weapons of a world power?
The Urbanist Case for a New Community in Solano County
https://californiaforever.com/news/the-urbanist-case-for-a-new-community-in-solano-county/
We drafted the initiative after an extensive community engagement process with the people of Solano County. The initiative proposes a change to the general plan and zoning to allow the creation of a new community in southeastern Solano County, together with a list of 10 significant voter guarantees and community benefits. Located on approximately 18,600 acres, the community is designed to eventually accommodate up to 400,000 residents many decades from now.
@Trashy, it’s good to see you posting more.
Thanks! It’s good to stop in. I try to at least hop on the links to see what’s up in the glibosphere. Hopefully I can be present a bit more often going forward.
@trashie And how are you and yours?
Well I hope
All doing well. The girls were just showing off the results of art class to me. They do watercolor painting of prompt images that trshmomma provided. Today was pictures of them holding their kittens. The 6yo did a really good job, but I’m constantly impressed by the 3yo’s ability to actually draw relevant shapes and approximate the picture.
We’re dogsitting our friends’ giant schnauzer puppy, which has been an adventure. At some points I have felt abusive in the amount of force I have to use to redirect him (I’m used to small dogs where a tap or a light shove is enough), but he doesn’t seem to mind. He just wants to play, all six foot four 150lbs of him.
I think your friends are messing with you – thatâs a dire wolf, not a schnauzer.
You dropped some good stuff on the tail end of yesterday’s PM Links thread.
Thanks! I almost pulled it into the evening article since I dead threaded it, but it seemed too heavy for the conversation at the time.
Reading through the comments about houses up top, I was reminded of that scene in Doctor Zhivago where he comes home to find about a hundred squatters living in the country house (something like that, it’s been a while).
There are people living in the street while you rattle around in this giant luxurious macmansion, you hoarder!
I just want to pause and bask in the glory that is the law firm named Anand and Anand.
Pity the poor phone receptionist.
Roseanne Roseannadanna?
https://bobloblawlaw.com/
I’d rather push for all out peace.
Civilians must prepare for all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years, a top Nato military official has warned.
While armed forces are primed for the outbreak of war, private citizens need to be ready for a conflict that would require wholesale change in their lives, Adml Rob Bauer said on Thursday.
Large numbers of civilians will need to be mobilised in case of the outbreak of war and governments should put in place systems to manage the process, Adml Bauer told reporters after a meeting of Nato defence chiefs in Brussels.
âWe have to realise itâs not a given that we are in peace. And thatâs why we [Nato forces] are preparing for a conflict with Russia.
âBut the discussion is much wider. It is also the industrial base and also the people that have to understand they play a role.â
The role of the people is to be incinerated in a nuclear hellfire, I suppose.
Ah, a Dutch admiral. Hey USA, imma hold your coat while you two fight. If you have any control over this stuff Geert make sure this guy is included with your housecleaning.
Translation: Our other means of forcing the populace to bend to our will are not going as planned.
Send camo tarps
With nowhere else to turn, Palestinians are now living in tents or makeshift shelters made of wood beams and sheets of nylon. And the swelling demand for shelters and the lack of supply has sent prices for materials skyrocketing.
Satellite imagery provided to NPR by the company Planet shows the rapid expansion of the tent camps since mid-December.
——-
Before the war, tents in Gaza were mainly used for recreation, such as family gatherings at the beach. A high-quality tent might have cost 200 shekels, or about $50.
This month, a small tent cost Abu Salah 700 shekels, or about $185, he said. That’s cheap, he added: People occupying nearby shelters paid double, or more.
“Opportunists are making use of this war. They hope this war continues so they can keep making money,” Abu Salah said.
War profiteers!
Won’t you give generously to the Red Cross?
Whatever they do, they shouldn’t go to Bass Pro to buy those tents or they might end up on a list.
But enough about Hamas and their billionaire leaders in Qatar.
Paradise compared to the living conditions of the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Reap the fruits of letting your government invade other countries, kill, and commit criminal acts. That goes for Americans, too, who are horrified when inflation hits or hordes cross the border or government dick gets poked into some foreign hornet’s nest.
I gave all my money to those folks providing ready made Israeli bomb shelters.
Quick question – saw some comments about these books on Twitter- anyone read the “299 days” series? Sounds like it’s a bit more prepper focused – but havent seen it mentioned most of the places I hang out online.
https://www.amazon.com/299-Days-Preparation-Glen-Tate-ebook/dp/B00930ZBLQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=33X6H7NC8T08L&keywords=299+days&qid=1705682242&sprefix=299+days%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-1
Looks promising, trying to slog through another EMP doomsday porn that you get from kindle for free. That one is awful.
Before the war, nearly six in 10 Palestinians were poor, and 80% were already dependent on aid, according to the World Bank. Unemployment stood at 45%. The average daily income was only $13 in 2022, the State Department reported.
A socialist paradise.
Neo-con Nikki was getting around?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12970377/Nikki-Haley-cheated-affair-husband-affidavits-witnesses.html
Believe all men. Why would you need an affidavit? Was there some court procedure or legal matter about all this?
The divorce case for one of the guys, for whatever that’s worth.
Since my ebook formatting is all caught up for the moment, I only do an evening shift on my medical transcription, I don’t really want to stitch, doing housework is out of the question, and I don’t have all my 1099s yet, I’ve been struggling to find something to do (my therapist says I’m struggling to find a purpose). Anyway, I woke up today realizing that I can now do those admin things for my business that I’ve been putting off for 15 years. Like…
…build a client database. No, I don’t have one. My database right now consists of a file tree and the file explorer search bar. I’ve never been much interested in the granular details because I had work to do, dammit! I’m not even curious now, but it would be nice to have. Further, I need to really dig into Excel (and Access/SQL some time later), so I’ll take this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
My medical transcriptioning uses an Excel spreadsheet for keeping track of production, and it is a marvel. A wonder. Dare I say, a wonder of wonders. It’s got not just formulas, but macros! That’s what I want to learn. I’m starting with free tutorials on YouTube. I may move up to paid courses in a while.
If anybody has any Excel bits of wisdom, please feel free.
Excel is awesomely awesome! 𼰠I’m afraid I haven’t ever learned macros or pivot tables, but I HAVE successfully set up nested IF function formulas on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, it’s been infrequently enough that I kinda have to relearn the process each time. đ
I’m starting at the beginning (already learned a couple of handy tricks, though), and some of it overlaps Word and I know Word like the back of my hand. Sorta. Sometimes it makes a liar of me.
Pivot tables and Vlookup are very useful
“Here Are The Donors Funding The Shadow Campaign To Stop Trumpâs Second Term Before It Even Begins”
A bunch of organizations with “democracy” in the title (Democracy Forward, Democracy Fund, etc.) are coordinating to thwart the agenda of a duly elected president. Meanwhile, an entire apparatus pumps out a constant stream of “end of democracy” while simultaneously trying to ensure through lawfare that you’ll never have the opportunity to vote for a guy. They’ll get back to that whole sacred democracy thing once the dread demon has passed. Promise.
Most of these organizations are ginned up to raise money and provide cushy salaries and consulting fees for party operatives.
I saw it all the time in the 1960s-70s conservative movement. Probably goes for libertarian orgs too. How much of money donated to Libertarian Party actually goes for grass roots organizational and advocacy stuff?
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. They called milquetoast choirboy Mitt Romney “literally Hitler”. There is no such thing as de-escalation with these people.
“EXCLUSIVE Nikki Haley DID cheat on husband Michael – had affairs with her comms consultant and a MARRIED South Carolina lobbyist before she became governor, sworn affidavits and new witnesses claim”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12970377/Nikki-Haley-cheated-affair-husband-affidavits-witnesses.html
Not good, but hardly the worst.
Politician gonna politick.
Trump would never.
Sexy escapades seem fitting for a successor to Kamala.
I see what you did there.
The most unbelievable part of that story is that a couple of actual flesh-and-blood voters wanted a picture with Nikki.
The Devil in the dock
Trumpâs confrontational stance is strategic: What better way to show contempt than to be held in it? But his frustration with the proceedings appears genuine. In the sealed bubble of Judge Kaplanâs courtroom â where cameras, computers, and phones are banned â Trump has finally encountered an environment he cannot control. He canât even argue his innocence. A jury in a civil trial last year, which Trump chose not to attend, found in Carrollâs favor when it came to her claim of sexual assault. This second trial is about tallying up damages for defamatory attacks Trump lobbed at Carroll from the White House. Judge Kaplan, citing the earlier verdict, has ruled that the truth has been âconclusively establishedâ that Trump âsexually abused â indeed, rapedâ Carroll, and then smeared her by questioning her credibility. Trump can protest all he wants in the outside world, but inside court, in the eyes of the law, he is guilty.
The process is so much more streamlined when operating under an assumption of guilt. Why waste time listening to his side of the story? The facts are clear. Off with his head.
inside court, in the eyes of the law, he is guilty.
In the eyes of a biased judge, you mean.
Fulton DA accuses special prosecutorâs wife of âinterferingâ with Trump probe
Fulton Countyâs district attorney on Thursday fired back at allegations she has engaged in an âimproperâ relationship with her top deputy, accusing his estranged wife of trying to obstruct her prosecution of Donald Trump and his allies.
Maybe I’m amazed.
Are there any of these people that aren’t pieces of shit?
Uh-huh.
More black on black violence.
How dare the wife complain about her cheating husband. Doesnât she know Our Democracy⢠is at stake?!
Jubilee!
The Biden administration announced Friday it would forgive $4.9 billion in student debt for 73,600 borrowers.
The relief is a result of the U.S. Department of Educationâs fixes to its income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
âThe Biden-Harris Administration has worked relentlessly to fix our countryâs broken student loan system and address the needless hurdles and administrative inaccuracies that, in the past, kept borrowers from getting the student debt forgiveness they deserved,â U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
With friends like you, who needs enemies?
How do you do, fellow chumps?
Iâm sure we qualify for a refund, just explain that we did the responsible thing and lived within our means until we payed them off per the agreement to get them in the first place and theyâll drop a check in the mail.
I feel like such a chump for paying them back. Wonât make that mistake againâŚ