Wednesday Afternoon SugarLinks – Hang to to your hopes, my friends

by | Feb 14, 2024 | Daily Links | 222 comments

Cop resigns after mistaking falling acorn for gunshot, firing at unarmed suspect cuffed in patrol car

A Florida cop resigned after opening fire on an unarmed black man who was handcuffed in his patrol car — because he confused the sound of an acorn hitting the vehicle with a muffled gunshot.

Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Jesse Hernandez handed in his badge in December following the Nov. 12 Fort Walton Beach incident, officials said Friday.

Sgt. Beth Roberts, who also opened fire, was exonerated in an internal investigation and remained on the job, according to police.

The suspect, Marquis Jackson, was luckily uninjured, but the “situation was traumatic” for him, police acknowledged.

The police-involved shooting was captured on Hernandez’s bodycam footage and released by the department.

The deputies had responded to a complaint from Jackson’s girlfriend, who alleged that the man had committed grand theft auto, threatened her and was in possession of multiple firearms and a silencer, according to police.

Fatherless oak trees, letting their damn kids run amuck, dropping anywhere they damn well please. And you know a Soros DA let the tree out with no bail.


 

Let me see your immortal O-Face…


 

Everyone Needs to Stop Freaking Out About Biden’s Age Immediately

Because last week’s natterings unerringly become this week’s news, we are now trapped in a mind-numbing collective freakout about special counsel Robert Hur’s purposefully deceptive and broadly misunderstood takedown of President Joe Biden’s possible criminal conduct, a “report” replete with wholly gratuitous potshots about his mental acuity. The freakout has become a national news story on par with former President Donald Trump on Sunday threatening to abandon our NATO allies and let Russia “do whatever the hell they want.” (Note for those at home: these two things are actually not at all on par in terms of threats to world order and planetary stability.) As Margaret Sullivan points out, the Biden story consumed the weekend news cycle, while the Trump comments barely registered as a blip.

Interestingly, all of the #BidenTooOld coverage is about as new and revelatory as #ButHerEmails. If nothing else, it proves that a scandal holding that the president forgets things is always going to go down smoother than a scandal in which a special counsel flagrantly violated a long-standing Justice Department practice and protocol not to “criticize uncharged conduct.” As Sullivan was quick to point out, CNN and the New York Times and every U.S. corporate media entity and its cousin jumped onto the bandwagon. “For the media to make this the overarching issue of the campaign is nothing short of journalistic malpractice,” the former public editor of the New York Times wrote.

It’s like they took a college degree in being as vile and stupid and gaslighting as humanly possible. (Oh, wait…) Biden is old and clearly doesn’t have a working brain. I get that they have ginned-up fantasies about Daddy Donald oppressing them, but fuck, just get a candidate someone other than Biden, who isn’t even a Boomer because he is too old.

(Also, note the bone thrown to MurderCankle: “all of the #BidenTooOld coverage is about as new and revelatory as #ButHerEmails.” This is the saddest bloody shirt too wave, especially since the blood on the shirt is probably Seth Rich’s.)

Run Newsom, flip over the rock of California politics so we can see the bugs, grubs, and snails that crawl sightless in the poisoned earth.


 

Heresy to some, but Bob Dylan songs are almost always better as covers. [SugarFree is a dum dum ed.] But such a good cover to be wasted on a terrible movie. I mean, I guess you can enjoy it if you’ve never read the book, but this might have been the first movie that I was uncontrollably angry at after leaving the theater. A betrayal of every fiber the book was woven from. (Although, Iron Man vomiting up cum from sucking dick for crack is an image that stays with you.)

The ironic addendum is that Bret Easton Ellis’ first draft of Less Than Zero had the main character shocked and upset that his friends had had fallen into drug abuse when he first returned from college and fighting to get them clean among much general moralizing. The professor who read it told him it was just a melodrama and more than a bit schmaltzy, so Ellis removed all of Clay’s reactions and agonized internal monologue and created the ice-cold masterpiece that launched his career at 21. A novel that prompted Michiko Kakutani, jaded reviewer at The New York Times open her review” “One of the most disturbing novels I’ve read in a long time”

The movie, therefore, is a perfect adaptation of the version of the book that was never published.

About The Author

SugarFree

SugarFree

SugarFree hates author bios.

222 Comments

  1. Common Tater

    I thought Eagles fan celebrations were bad.

    • Common Tater

      “At least TEN Kansas City Chiefs fans are shot after two gunmen open fire on million-strong crowd at Super Bowl parade”

      “Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: At least one dead and multiple injured after gunmen open fire in Union Station while a MILLION gathered to watch Travis Kelce and teammates celebrate Super Bowl win

      The two gunmen were detained, although their identities and motive remains unclear.

      Reports indicate up to 10 people may have been injured, with multiple children reportedly rushed to nearby Children’s Mercy Hospital.”

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nfl/article-13084401/Kansas-City-Chiefs-parade-descends-chaos-police-draw-guns-rush-Union-Station-fans-duck-cover-spectator-carted-hospital.html

      Good thing Mojo said she would stay home and watch it on TV.

      • SDF-7

        So… Another Vegas or another “Free Palestine” trans activist I wonder….

        I know, I know… shouldn’t speculate. Bad llama.

      • DEG

        That’s over by the First World War Museum isn’t it?

      • Spartacus

        Right across the street.

      • Mojeaux

        +1

      • DEG

        I’ve been to the First World War Museum. I thought some of the buildings/scenery in the videos and pictures looked familiar.

  2. Common Tater

    “A Florida cop resigned after opening fire on an unarmed black man who was handcuffed in his patrol car — because he confused the sound of an acorn hitting the vehicle with a muffled gunshot.”

    That’s retarded.

    • Common Tater

      “The suspect, Marquis Jackson, was luckily uninjured, but the “situation was traumatic” for him, police acknowledged.”

      So he also missed?

      • SDF-7

        Both of them apparently, yeah. Real masters of the shooting range apparently.

        At least he resigned — I’m assuming he realized that if he’s this jumpy, he just isn’t cut out for that as a career path.

    • Urthona

      Seems like an honest mistake.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Must have been some acorn.

    • Fatty Bolger

      I just had that happen to me, a couple of acorns fell on my car when I was standing next to it, and it made a Pop! Pop! sound that kind of sounded like gunfire, except it wasn’t nearly loud enough of course. It’s a little startling, but I can’t imagine shooting a gun based on that. Anybody that tightly strung should not be a cop.

      • Urthona

        A walnut or pecan? Yes. An acorn? Also yes.

      • DEG

        I posted about this yesterday. I found, but did not post, the official police report on the incident. It’s a 44 page PDF.

        The closest thing you can get to a mitigating factor is that the police had seen pictures of the guy in the back of the patrol car with a suppressed pistol. But the police had searched him before putting him in the car. They claimed it was a perfunctory search as he wasn’t under arrest at that point, but I’m willing to bet whatever search they did should have turned up a pistol and a suppressor.

      • R C Dean

        “the police had seen pictures of the guy in the back of the patrol car with a suppressed pistol”

        So, they put him in the car with a gun, somebody took a picture of him and showed it to the cops?

      • DEG

        The details of the picture and how the cops saw it, but not the picture itself unfortunately, are in the report.

    • Common Tater

      “Before the shooting started, a barely-audible sound of an acorn hitting the car is heard – which the officer then erroneously mistakes it for shots being fired.

      Hernandez is seen dramatically rolling on the ground, shouting ‘shots fired’ four times, and struggling to stand up as he started shooting at his vehicle – shattering its rear window.

      He then screamed: ‘I’m hit.’ No shots had been fired – so he had not been hit. His partner Sergeant Beth Roberts then started shooting her firearm at Jackson – who was still in the backseat.”

      I suspect drugs may have been involved.

      • Spartacus

        And people think I’m kidding when I say Reno 911 is a reality show.

      • R C Dean

        In a decent world, they’d both be charged with attempted murder.

      • Lackadaisical

        I can see letting the other officer off considering her partner is opening fire at someone and claiming he’s been hit… It would be reasonable to assume he’s telling the truth.

    • Suthenboy

      The cop was scared and panicked. That guy has no business with a gun.

    • B.P.

      Dude’s a bad seed.

  3. Nephilium

    We were discussing the fact that Biden isn’t even a Boomer at the Superbowl party.

    • SDF-7

      “Look, Jack… just because I don’t swim as well as I used to doesn’t mean I can’t lob missiles at Chairman Mao if he gets uppity with our Japanese sushi sounds good to me, maybe before the pudding and boy those little sailor girls have nice smelling hairy Kerry is my advisor!”

      • SDF-7

        Alternate take — at least we aren’t stuck with Christie who’d be more of a BUFF than a Boomer.

  4. Common Tater

    “(Note for those at home: these two things are actually not at all on par in terms of threats to world order and planetary stability.)”

    Yes, the Biden situation is way worse.

    • Common Tater

      “a scandal in which a special counsel flagrantly violated a long-standing Justice Department practice and protocol not to “criticize uncharged conduct.” ”

      What?

      • Spartacus

        Reminds me of something about a stained dress…can’t quite put my finger on it.

      • Tres Cool

        Or in it.

      • R C Dean

        But he didn’t violate that policy. He explained why he wasn’t charging Biden, which is very different than criticizing uncharged conduct.

    • rhywun

      Yeah, I would think that the actual president is a far greater danger to world peace than a former president but I suspect that isn’t the “thought” process here at all.

  5. Shpip

    If nothing else, it proves that a scandal holding that the president forgets things is always going to go down smoother than a scandal in which a special counsel flagrantly violated a long-standing Justice Department practice and protocol not to “criticize uncharged conduct.”

    AFAICT, the Hun report basically said “We got the fucker dead to rights, but he’s a doddering old man and the cattle that would comprise a DC jury would never convict a Democrat.”

    • kinnath

      That’s how I interpret the Hur report.

      • Nephilium

        I’ve seen at least a couple headlines telling me that I shouldn’t believe the ultra-right-wing lies, and the Hur report completely exonerates Biden. I don’t hate myself enough to click through to read the stories (more than the first paragraph at least).

    • Pope Jimbo

      ^THIS^

      Think of the shitstorm if he had declined to press charges, but left out the reason. I still think it is a complete bit of horseshit whitewashing. The fucker should be on trial. (And why aren’t any of the non-senile fuckers who also violated all the rules about classified docs not under indictment?).

      But if they had acted like Jerry Seinfeld not wanting to eat Poppy’s pizza and given no reason for giving him a pass the country would have been in a way bigger uproar than it is.

  6. kinnath

    IMDB is now blocked by the company firewall. So what is the linked terrible movie?

    • Urthona

      There can be only one.

      • Ted S.

        The director of Highlander also directed the music video for “Total Eclipse of the Heart”.

      • Bobarian LMD

        The Highlander was a wonderful movie. Too bad they never made a sequel.

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, There can be only one.

      • Nephilium

        Well, there was that series, which wasn’t great but was usually entertaining enough.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        It’s a shame I didn’t see the nonexistent 2nd Highlander on opening night in the theater, at the end of which was definitely not a chorus of “boos”

    • Nephilium

      The ironic addendum is that Bret Easton Ellis’ first draft of Less Than Zero

      Less Than Zero.

      • kinnath

        thanks

      • Common Tater

        Even if IMDB is blocked you can see which movie it is by putting the TT number into a search engine.

      • kinnath

        thanks

        I shall remember that.

    • Common Tater

      Less Than Zero (1987)

    • KSuellington

      Less than Zero.

      I dug it but then I’ve never read the book.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Jami Gertz was at her prime in that movie, but it was terrible.

    • Suthenboy

      They have? I am pulling them up fine.
      Why would they do that?

  7. Ted S.

    The movie version of Less Than Zero is what you’d get if you remade The Lost Weekend as a screwball comedy.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Jami Gertz playing a model. 🤷🏻‍♀️

      • Common Tater

        She’s worth over $3B now.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Married well.

  8. SDF-7

    flip over the rock of California politics so we can see the bugs, grubs, and snails that crawl sightless in the poisoned earth

    Why yes, I did get my non-partisan primary ballot in the mail today, thanks for asking.

    And yes — any state where the likely frontrunners are Lee, Schiff and Katie Porter is unbelievably pitiful.

    • creech

      Also, that turning over the rock will mean squat to most voters.

      • The Last American Hero

        Newsome would eat Trump alive in November. He can sound sorta normal and is a panty dropper for the soccer mom demo.

    • rhywun

      Barbara “The minimum wage should be $50” Lee? I fell out of my chair when I heard that, because I think she’s serious.

    • one true athena

      Right? Bug Eyed Evil Lizardperson, not very bright witch,
      And Congresswoman 50 Dollar min wage. #blessed

      I’m glad someone is taking Porter to the cleaners and pointing out how her “never take any money” thing is bullshit.

    • Pope Jimbo

      The good thing about Newsome is that we’ll still have a president who lies his ass off as he tells tall tales about his life.

      Newsom, who signed California’s Fair Pay to Play Act on LeBron James’ HBO show and has been an outspoken advocate for student-athlete rights, was a student athlete himself.

      In fact, Newsom said the experience changed his life. “The only reason I am governor of California, the only reason you are talking to me right now, is because of baseball,” Newsom said. “The only reason I got into college is baseball.”

      Or how about this howler?

      A Guy, Maurice Bignon — I remember he struck me out three times and [I] was embarrassed, devastated, and I went home. I had a single mom raise me. I lost her to cancer almost 20 years ago now. She was, as a mother, devastated. So she brought me back to the field later that night, and she pitched to me over and over and over again. True story. This is — God is my witness. I played against that same team a few weeks later. Maurice Bignon pitched again. I hit a damn home run.

      A kid from a single parent home who only got into college because of a baseball scholarship!

      • Pope Jimbo

        Unless maybe, you know, he knew a few rich people.

        He has said he was primarily raised by his mother, who at times struggled to make ends meet. But Gordon and Ann Getty viewed him as a son, according to interviews the couple gave to the San Francisco Chronicle and W Magazine, and they provided him with experiences his parents could not afford, including an African safari when he was a teen, Newsom said in an earlier interview with The Times.

        And his aunt was Nancy Pelosi.

        Sure. He would never have gotten into a college without baseball

      • rhywun

        No, no, no… he has not at all been groomed for a life of politics since childhood by the cream of the crop of Northern California— Ugh I just threw up in my mouth a little.

  9. JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

    I’m surprised that the Post didn’t go with a headline like “Dropped nuts cause premature shot”.

  10. grrizzly

    I bet there’s no gay sex in the movie either.

  11. The Late P Brooks

    Sgt. Beth Roberts, who also opened fire, was exonerated in an internal investigation and remained on the job, according to police.

    The “panic is contagious” defense? She fired blindly but didn’t hit anything?

  12. The Other Kevin

    That song brings back memories for me. In high school, I hung out with older kids (which was in retrospect a great strategy). When I was a freshman one of the older kids who befriended me went to a party over Christmas break, got drunk and hit another car head on. He died a few days later. There were other people in his car, and the other car, who were injured, but luckily teenage stupidity only claimed one life. He was a sweet guy and everyone liked him. But that song was out at the time and it reminds me of him.

  13. kinnath

    Bring over from the dead thread:

    The only way to get rid of both Biden and Harris is to engineer a floor vote at the convention that brings in a new candidate for Prez that has no existing obligation to Harris.

    So my guess is that Biden remains the candidate right up until the voting starts at the convention. Then Biden can release his delegates to vote for whomever the chosen candidate is.

    • KSuellington

      It will either be at the convention or if they don’t mind keeping Kamala on as VP (which solves the “what are they gonna do with her” problems) they will do it in the weeks after. I think that might be the most likely to happen as then they can run all the All Woman Power ticket. Michelle is (unbelievably) still a highly popular figure in this country and as I mentioned before I think it’s more that she doesn’t really want to campaign than not wanting to be (First Woman) Pres. Plus, she has a husband who I very much think would love to have another 4 years that she can basically hand off a lot of the stuff to him. She will absolutely smoke Trump. The Dems know this and will promise her the world to save them from an inevitable Trump victory versus Biden.

      • Nephilium

        I don’t think Kamala would accept a VP under Michelle. I have a feeling she’ll pull the “it’s my turn!” bullshit, Michelle may be willing to take the VP slot under Harris (expecting incompetence or thinking she could manipulate the master strategist that is Kamala).

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Keeping Kamalamadingdong as VP without staying with Biden is an open admission that she is both incompentent, and there to pander to black voters, whom they are worried about bailing on the party.

      • KSuellington

        The Dems will have no problem doing that. Kamala has shown nothing if not a complete willingness to do what she is told. The Dems know they stand more chance of losing black voters in a Trump v Biden contest than a Michelle/Kamala duo v Trump. They will get 85% of the black vote with that lineup.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        A beer says you’re wrong.

      • KSuellington

        That Michelle is the candidate or that Biden gets replaced?

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Michelle becomes the candidate.

      • KSuellington

        Sure. You’re on.

      • creech

        Why do you think she would beat Trump?

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        The Wokie isn’t getting in. She has no political experience, and after Hilary and the massive fuck up that was, they will not risk that again. Michelle is only popular because she is not in the mix. As soon as she opens her mouth and the boilerplate anti-Americanisms come out, she would nose dive outside of D enclaves. Newsome does have actual political experience, weak though he is. And that, even though CA is total clusterfuck, counts for a lot more in a race like this. D’s are nothing if not insider peeps at this point, and I can guarantee you that the wife of BO cannot work a room, make a sound bite, select a team that isn’t fawning on her, and so on.

      • The Other Kevin

        I just think she’s been outside the game for too long. They need someone who’s active in politics.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        She could run with the tacit acknowledgement that she’d be a figurehead only, and Barak would be running things. The media would call that a conspiracy theory, misogynist and racist, and it’s totally not the case and it’s a good thing it’s happening. Dem voters wouldn’t care. They’d get the satisfaction of voting for a woman and that dreamy Barak would be back in the White House.

      • rhywun

        I hope you’re right.

        Because I find her terrifying, but yeah maybe that’s only the media fawning after all.

      • R C Dean

        I just don’t think Big Mike wants it. She’s made her pile, had her turn in the spotlight. She knows what a massive pain in the ass the job is.

        And I don’t think she’s a shoe-in, either. Who does she get that isn’t already in the tank for any warmish body with (D) after its name? Women? In the bag. Black people? In the bag (although she might move a few men into the (R) column. Obama already cashed the First Black President check. Hillary tried to cash the First Woman President check, and it bounced. Big Mike has approximately zero charisma, the fawning coverage of her as First Lady notwithstanding. She’s had zero profile in any kind of public affairs or forum since 2016. What’s the juice that’s going to put her in the White House?

        Other than another stolen election, of course, but they’ll do that for any candidate.

        As far as getting rid of Kamalamadingdong, why? The agencies and power brokers love a biddable non-entity figurehead in the White House. She can’t win? In what universe can they not get close enough with any warm body with a (D) after its name to close the deal (again) with a little judicious fortification?

      • The Last American Hero

        It will be Whitmer.

    • Urthona

      They’ll just keep Biden, and I think they’ll pretty easily win.

      • The Last American Hero

        Yes they will.

  14. JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

    Damn you for showing Newsom and Suzanna Hoffs with the same expressions on their faces.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Jesse Hernandez handed in his badge in December following the Nov. 12 Fort Walton Beach incident, officials said Friday.

    Did he say, “I’m getting too old for this shit”?

  16. The Other Kevin

    “as a result of the Hur report and the wall-to-wall questions it spontaneously raised, 86 percent of Americans now believe that Biden is too old to serve in office”
    LOL as if that number wasn’t already that high.

    “go around the country arresting illegal immigrants in large-scale raids.” Then, he would build “large-scale staging grounds near the border, most likely in Texas,” to serve as internment camps for migrants designated for deportation.”
    This person underestimates how many people would cheer that on.

    • R C Dean

      *raises hand*

  17. DEG

    Interestingly, all of the #BidenTooOld coverage is about as new and revelatory as #ButHerEmails.

    What difference does it make?

  18. The Late P Brooks

    I guess you can enjoy it if you’ve never read the book

    The book sucked. Hard.

  19. Certified Public Asshat

    Perhaps one way to navigate yourself through this seemingly insoluble morass would be to ask yourself why Biden, who is stipulated #Old, has managed to helm the most successful presidency in modern history. Booming economy, eye-popping jobs reports, first gun violence reduction bill in decades, $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan plus COVID relief, Inflation Reduction Act, infrastructure prioritized, judges seated. Pick your metric—there have been a lot of wins. And the reason this old man who sometimes forgets things like dates has gotten all this done? He has, for the most part, surrounded himself with experts, genuine scientists, respected economists, and effective governmental actors and advisers.

    Not old enough if you ask me.

    • Common Tater

      “has managed to helm the most successful presidency in modern history. Booming economy, eye-popping jobs reports, first gun violence reduction bill in decades, $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan plus COVID relief, Inflation Reduction Act, infrastructure prioritized, judges seated. Pick your metric—there have been a lot of wins.”

      LOLOLOLOLOL

      • The Other Kevin

        Oh I can pick my metric? How about grocery prices + number of people kicked out of schools and community centers for migrants + number of wars.

      • R C Dean

        You left out his unprecedented, record-setting number of illegals that his Border Patrol is working day and night to paper up so they can stay here indefinitely.

    • R C Dean

      “Booming economy, eye-popping jobs reports, first gun violence reduction bill in decades, $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan plus COVID relief, Inflation Reduction Act, infrastructure prioritized, judges seated.”

      Jesus, they really do live in an alternate universe.

  20. The Hyperbole

    At the risk of missing an in-joke what’s the Dylan song, Also if SF’s talking about the Simon song, those covers are almost never better than the original. Maybe Aretha’s bridge but it’s Aretha FFS.

      • The Hyperbole

        Ha, I’ve never heard that, not as good as an impression as Adrian Belew’s Dylan on Flakes but a nice parody.

      • Gender Traitor

        See also The Beatles’ “Rocky Raccoon.”

    • SugarFree

      No, I’m just retarded. I was thinking of “All Along the Watchtower.”

      • Necron 99

        Don’t worry scro, There are plenty of ‘tards out there living really kick ass lives.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Joe Biden was ‘tarded. He’s President now.

      • The Hyperbole

        So what I’d do is like ehh, ya know like uhhh, know what I mean.

      • Necron 99

        Line from Idiocracy, or Joe Biden?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        “I like money. I like sex. We should hang out.”

      • Cunctator

        —“I was thinking of “All Along the Watchtower.”—

        The best version of “All Along the Watchtower” is without a doubt the Dave Mason version. Some (all) of you may disagree, but you would be wrong.

  21. SDF-7

    Let me see your immortal O-Face…

    Clancy Brown enhances every production he has ever been in. ‘Nuff said.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    ” Then, he would build “large-scale staging grounds near the border, most likely in Texas,”

    And hire Elon Musk to build a gigantic trebuchet with which to fling them into the Gulf of Mexico.

  23. Bobarian LMD

    ANYONE who has ever done a cover of a Dylan song, has done it better than Dylan, but there are some Dylan songs that only he can do.

    • Fatty Bolger

      He’s just a turrible singer, if you can even call it that. Great songwriter, awful singer.

    • Sensei

      Fact.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    So my guess is that Biden remains the candidate right up until the voting starts at the convention. Then Biden can release his delegates to vote for whomever the chosen candidate is.

    No way hr goes voluntarily or quietly.

    • kinnath

      Ok. So Biden’s delegates are committed to vote for him on the first ballot. He can release them. Or, he could become unavailable to run somehow. Same difference.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    there are some Dylan songs that only he can do.

    “God said you can do want, Abe, but

    the next time you see me comin’ you better run.”

    • The Hyperbole

      There’s a Texan albino that may disagree with that.

      • Gender Traitor

        A hazy shade of Johnny Winter?

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        And a tiny English woman.

      • Cunctator

        Johnny Winter version is THE best version.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Talking points were issued

    National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard on Tuesday blamed higher consumer prices on “shrinkflation,” doubling down on the latest battlefront of President Joe Biden’s corporate pressure campaign.

    “If you look at some of the staples, like eggs or milk, they have come down. But consumer brands, instead of actually lowering prices, they’ve shrunk packaging,” Brainard said on CNBC’s “Money Movers.” “That’s the shrinkflation that the president is really calling attention to.”

    Brainard’s comments came hours after the consumer price index showed inflation trending above expectations, coming in 0.3% higher in January. In particular, food prices slid up 0.4% during the month. Consumer brands like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and more have raised prices over the past year to keep profits afloat.

    Shrinkflation, the practice of reducing product sizes while keeping prices the same, is Biden’s latest line of attack against corporations, which he debuted on Super Bowl Sunday.

    The narrative must go through.

    • kinnath

      Shrinkflation has been happening for a decade and a half at least.

      Biden is mistaking impotence as economics.

      • Ted S.

        Much longer than that. I can’t remember when the national brands stopped selling coffee in one-pound cans.

      • Mojeaux

        And sugar went to 4 pounds decades ago.

      • Tres Cool

        And bacon from a pound to 14 ounces then to 12.

      • The Hyperbole

        Regular bacon still comes in 16oz packages around here it’s only the fancy center cut bacon that is in 12 oz packages.

      • Tres Cool

        I know you routinely bitch about lack of Claussen’s hearty garlic, but have you noticed a reduction in inventory of the others?

        Both my Meijer and Kroger have only been stocking chips or spears.

      • The Hyperbole

        I only go for the sandwich slices, I can reliable get the regular ones but the hearty garlic ones have been gone for months. Spears, chips, halves and wholes seem to be there but I’m not really looking for them so I won’t swear to their availability.

      • rhywun

        Yep, it’s been decades.

        But hey, Biden is bitching about inflation. He’s doing it in the stupidest way imaginable but it’s nice for him to admit that inflation sucks.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        I got a package of boneless skinless chicken breasts last week. There were TWO breasts. Used to be 4.

        I think I may need to practice my chicken deboning skills

      • Ted S.

        Where I shop, meat is sold by weight.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        It’s sold be weight, but the chicken is Perdue or Tyson or grocery store pre-packaged. Now the pre-packaged chicken costs more per pound, so you get 1/2 as many breasts. See?

      • Tres Cool

        You know who else got half as many breasts ?

      • rhywun

        Is it possibly gentically enhanced gigantic breasts? I’ve noticed how huge they’ve got over the years – the same size wrapper can probably only fit 2 of ’em.

        Look at the “organic” ones next to them on the shelf. Here, they’re much smaller & around the size I remember from another age.

      • Suthenboy

        You haven’t seen the commercials? The chickens are….creepy. Oversized breasts, funky feathers on zombie chickens.
        I wild chicken is a lean, wily, sleek sparky-ass critter.
        Absolutely they are genetically enhanced.

      • The Hyperbole

        And it’s a wonderful thing, can’t wait until they perfect lab grown meat, every chicken thigh, every pork chop, every beef steak will be perfect, thick juicy and tasty.

    • Suthenboy

      Coincidentally most states have price controls no milk and eggs.

  27. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Duran Duran’s cover of Lay Lady Lay was 🔥

    • Nephilium

      Was it as good as the Ministry version?

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        Simon Lebon imploring me to lay across his big brass bed? Yeah.

      • Nephilium

        Al doesn’t do it for you? 🙂

  28. kinnath

    Dylan was a great writer, but there isn’t a single recording of his that I like. His voice grates on me terribly.

    • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

      This is the correct answer. Every cover is better than his original.

      • The Hyperbole

        There’s no cover better than Dylan’s original Hurricane, Ani Difranco’s is just trash, and the other one google came up with of is to much of a cover – i.e. they didn’t ‘make it their own or add anything interesting to it.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Tangled Up in Blue was good.

      • kinnath

        Great song, vocals are barely tolerable.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    “The president is going to continue emphasizing that input costs have come down, supply chains have healed,” Brainard said. “He’s going to keep calling on corporations to pass those savings on to the American consumer.”

    If corporate profits go down, whom will Joe plunder for his pie in the sky spending sprees?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Us

    • Sensei

      On an absolute or relative basis?

    • rhywun

      Where would we be if we didn’t have Joe Biden to explain to us how capitalism is supposed to work?!

      Scratching in the dirt, I suppose.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Son of Star Wars

    The White House’s national security adviser and leading lawmakers on Capitol Hill sought to allay public concerns on Wednesday after the House Intelligence Committee chairman warned of a “national security threat” related to a “destabilizing foreign military capability” so serious that President Joe Biden should declassify “all information” about it.

    Two sources familiar with deliberations on Capitol Hill said the intelligence has to do with Russia wanting to put a nuclear weapon into space.

    This would not be to drop a nuclear weapon onto Earth but rather to possibly use against satellites.

    Still, “it is very concerning and very sensitive,” said one source, calling it “a big deal.”

    Quick, throw another 100 billion at the SpaceWarsForce!

    • R C Dean

      So their big national security threat is Russia is going to nuke the Moon? That’s what they’re going with?

      • Sean

        Putin is Marvin the Martian.

    • Suthenboy

      Mrs. Suthenboy disturbed my outside work earlier to inform me that some congress critter assured the American people that we should not worry about the Ruskies disrupting communications because the congress critters will not be affected. they will be fine.

      I cant tell you what a weight lifted off of me that was. Whew! Thank God.

      Goddammed sociopaths aren’t worth the water it takes to keep the fuckers alive.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    “We are going to work together to address this matter, as we do all sensitive matters that are classified,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon.

    “But we just want to assure everyone steady hands are at the wheel,” he said.

    And now I’m terrified.

    • Lackadaisical

      Like the Secretary of defence who is about to die. Yeah, real steady.

    • Suthenboy

      That is cute and generous but….I know where that tongue has been.

      • Tres Cool

        Did it involve peanut butter ?

      • Suthenboy

        It involves dogs loudly slurping their own assholes for 20 minutes then running over to you with a big smile and wanting to lap your face.
        I know…one asshole so what is another….that one writes itself.

  32. Sensei

    Unlike state bar rules, under the Justice Manual probable cause to believe that the would-be defendant committed the crime isn’t enough to bring charges. Section 9-27.220 adds the requirement that the prosecutor determine that “the admissible evidence will probably be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction.” In other words, the Justice Manual insists on an analysis of not only whether the person is factually guilty of a crime, but also whether a jury is likely to convict at a trial in which the burden of proof is beyond reasonable doubt, the strictest standard in American law.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/robert-hurs-report-is-the-work-of-a-consummate-professional-biden-memory-7d55e2be?st=47cleffyraxmr5a&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    • Suthenboy

      Do they really think they are fooling anyone but the most brainwashed useful idiots with that horseshit?

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Spectacular view

    A massive landslide on a coastal bluff has left a Southern California mansion on the edge of a cliff, but authorities have determined that the ocean-view home and neighboring residences are not in immediate danger.

    The slide occurred last week in the city of Dana Point after back-to-back drenching storms that also caused numerous mud and debris flows throughout the region.

    The city’s building inspector assessed the residential structures and a geotechnical engineer observed the slide site, the city said in a statement Wednesday.

    “At this point, the City has deemed that no additional action is necessary, and out of an abundance of caution has recommended that the property owner contract for a professional engineering assessment of the property,” the statement said.

    “The house is fine, it’s not threatened and it will not be red-tagged,” the owner, Dr. Lewis Bruggeman, told KCAL-TV. “The city agrees that there’s no major structural issue with the house.”

    Great place if you like hang gliding.

    • Suthenboy

      A geologist and I were driving along the coast highway sometime back in the early seventies when he suddenly opined…”All of this shit is going to slide off into the ocean, and soon.”
      I replied “You are wasting your breath.”

      Most of the cliffs there are gravelly crap mixed in with sediment. Pour a bucket of water on it and instant mudslide. What kind of idiot would build on steep hills of that shit?

  34. Tres Cool

    “Two sources familiar with deliberations on Capitol Hill said the intelligence has to do with Russia wanting to put a nuclear weapon into space.”

    So we’ve been fucking around with that space stuff for 60+ years. It only now occurred to someone to put an offensive nuke in orbit?

    • Rat on a train

      It occurred to people back in the 60s so countries agreed to a treaty prohibiting putting nuclear weapons in space.

      • Suthenboy

        Oh. There’s a treaty?
        For a minute there I was worried.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        The treaty banned nuclear explosions in space, not just weapons. Carl Sagan outlined this in the original Cosmos when talking about propulsion for deep space travel.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        (reactions, not explosions)

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        (man-made reactions, obviously. Presumably they didn’t ban the Sun)

        (you people are such pedants I’m-a just have to keep making more and more parenthetic replies)

  35. Pope Jimbo

    That’s not how it is supposed to work! That isn’t how any of it is supposed to work!

    St. Louis Park Public Schools will allow opt-outs for families who don’t want their children to read books with LGBTQ+ characters, after six Somali Muslim families threatened to sue the district.

    “We think this is a win for religious freedom for people of all faiths, without even having to go to court,” said Kayla Toney, an attorney for the First Liberty Institute, a Texas-based law firm focused on religious freedom that represents the parents.

    Hodan Hassan, who has lived in St. Louis Park for 14 years and has four children in the district, said that she was glad when the district granted her request to allow her children to opt out of books with LGBTQ+ characters last week.

    “We came to America for religious freedom in the Constitution, and so our kids will have a great opportunity,” Hodan said in an interview. “By granting us and other families the opportunity to opt out of teaching that violates our deeply held religious beliefs, families are able to raise their children according to the principle that they value the most.”

    I’m waiting for the DFL to pass some law that says only Muslim families can opt out. Either that, or waiting for when the local Somali faction gets big enough to add an anti-LGBT plank to the DFL and make the gays join the GOP.

  36. Shpip

    You know, Glibs, your wives will have you skinned if you forget Valentine’s Day. So here’s a virtual card.

    • Rat on a train

      It was Popeyes and Tubi for Valentine’s dinner.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Some Ecards has some pretty good ones.

      One
      Two

  37. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Happy birthday, Frederick Douglass!

    “To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”

    “People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.”

    “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

    “A man’s rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box”

    • The Hyperbole

      The second one isn’t even close to being true and I’m not sure that’s a bad thing, why shouldn’t some people get to skate through life with a silver spoon in their mouth? I might begrudge the lucky bastards at times but as the man says ‘It’s nice work if you can get it’

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        I think it’s meant more as an aphorism than a statement of fact for every human being.

  38. The Late P Brooks

    The old fashioned way

    Speed dating, singles mixers and other group dating parties have made a comeback since the Covid-19 pandemic ended as singles look to get off their screens and meet potential partners in person. (“Mardi Gras Singles Social” in New York City, “Shuffle Speed Dating in Chicago,” and “Game Night Social” in Los Angeles are a few upcoming events.)

    Attendance at dating events in the United States grew 42% in 2023 from 2022, according to ticketing platform Eventbrite, and was higher than pre-pandemic.

    ——-

    Meetups and other in-person dating events are ways to recreate “third spaces” that existed before apps where people could spontaneously get to know each other, she said.

    Forty-five percent of Baby Boomers met their partners through a set-up or at work, compared to 26% of Millennials and Gen Z, according to Ipsos polling.

    You’re liable to end up in trouble if you date somebody from work, these days.

    This just occurred to me as a speed dating tactic. Bring a handful of scrabble letters and see what the other people can do with them.

    *not that I would ever in a million years participate in a structured dating event of any sort

    • Suthenboy

      I saw a story recently about some dating event thingy where the women were bitching because not one single man showed up.
      Apparently no men want to take a chance that some woman will accuse them in 50 years of who knows what.

      • Pope Jimbo

        But in 50 years, $83M will be chump change. Barely enough to buy a pop. Why should they be worried about that?

  39. Derpetologist

    I have a job interview for a math teacher position tomorrow and another one at different school next week. Hopefully I’ll have an income again soon.

    Yay me.

    • Shpip

      Must be a sine of the times.

      • Derpetologist

        There was a knight who specialized in geometry. His name was Sir Cumference. His consort was Princess Di of Ameter.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Great another thread that veers off on some tangent.

      • Shpip

        Cut us some slack. It’s only the secant time this week.

    • The Hyperbole

      Jesus Christ man it’s February, enough with the god-damn Xmas music.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        You don’t like it? What a rump pa bum bummer.

  40. Lackadaisical

    I’m back in the USSA, say what you will, but it’s better than… India?

    • Tres Cool

      I was in Philly and Camden, NJ last week. I argue it depends on what part.

      • Common Tater

        Where did you get shot?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Better than the Central African Republic, so we got that going for us.

    • grrizzly

      Welcome back. I might travel myself to… Russia in a few months.

      • R C Dean

        Well, you can see it from your house, so why not?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Quick, check his computer: She definitely has a type.

      • R.J.

        Her type is “Loaded with other people’s money.”

      • Tres Cool

        Given who his Dad is, and Hillary was her sugar mama…..

      • Suthenboy

        After Carlos Danger she has definitely traded up.
        On the other hand, I have a hard time believing that guy is interested in women.

    • Suthenboy

      I forgot about that spider. I think I just puked in my mouth a little

    • R.J.

      More like the last. That generation can’t keep up the racket. They are too soft.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Soft no doubt, the guy looks like a human version of Spongebob.

  41. prolefeed

    Speaking of Less Than Zero, anyone else watching the TV series Euphoria on Max?

    • Ted S.

      Nope. Don’t subscribe to any of the premium services.

    • Urthona

      I saw it. I remember Sidney Sweeney boobs.

  42. Pope Jimbo

    I agree with SugarFree. Minnesoda Mudthroat is a great songwriter and I like hearing talented musicians cover his songs. Him? Nah. I’ll pass.

    • The Hyperbole

      Listen to enough Tom Waits and ol’ Zimmerman will sound like Sam Cooke.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Uffda. Another unlistenable guy that everyone insists is wonderful.

      • The Hyperbole

        De gustibus and all that but Sam Cooke is eminently listenable.

      • rhywun

        Waits? Yeah, much of our generation went nuts for him for some reason. I didn’t get it.

      • The Hyperbole

        I dig him, it helps if you start with his early stuff where he is still actually kinda trying to sing. The beatnik poet phase takes some effort but like most music (In my experience anyway) it’ll grow on you.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Anyone who doesn’t show for his Nobel, doesn’t answer their phone calls and goes missing, and then only shows up a day or two ahead of the deadline to collect the one million bucks is OK in my book.

  43. DEG

    History for Granite has a video out on his new theories of the Great Pyramid’s channels.

  44. Common Tater

    Update:

    “Nine children are among 22 people SHOT during Kansas City Super Bowl parade rampage that left one person dead: Cops arrest THREE suspects and ‘recover AR-style rifle from one'”

    Nine children are among 22 people SHOT during Kansas City Super Bowl parade rampage that left one person dead: Cops arrest THREE suspects and ‘recover AR-style rifle from one’