Wednesday Morning Links

by | Feb 4, 2026 | Daily Links | 274 comments

No sports. Moving right along.

I guess they just didn’t lead ’em so much. Yes, war is hell. (Side note: I don’t believe a word Hamas says.)

Dammit. I wanted most of the shutdown to continue. Maybe I’ll get lucky and some of it will stay shuttered.

What a joke. All to placate the feelings of one mentally disturbed person.

They’re getting what they asked for. Good and fucking hard.

There’s a lot of deep regret going around. I wonder who none of these people expressed it before their names were made public. It’s not as if they didn’t know what they did before the info was dumped.

I doubt this was Trump’s idea. It’s some quality trolling whoever came up with it.

I’ve got a good idea for a sentence here. Everybody who pushed this to the media should be forced to drink a jug of piss. And every reporter should be forced to drink a jug of piss too, just because.

The fascism is getting out of control. I wonder why it’s getting so little coverage. If the Trump admin had done this to any internet company or media outlet in the US, they’d all be screaming from the rooftops.

This is a really interesting case. I know very little about it, but it’s intriguing.

These people seem sane. Yes, I believe he should be put out of a job. But for other reasons…and so should his government handlers.

Here we go. A little uplifting music for you. Such good stuff. Enjoy them both.

And enjoy this lovely Wednesday, dear friends.

About The Author

sloopyinca

sloopyinca

274 Comments

  1. Common Tater

    “No sports.”

    I demand a refund!

    • UnCivilServant

      As always, refunds will only be issued after reciept of the nonrefundable $50 processing fee.

    • Nephilium

      Fine, you get have to watch the Pro Bowl.

      • Chafed

        That’s an Eighth Amendment violation.

    • Ted S.

      There was that volleyball story….

  2. Common Tater

    I don’t believe what either side says. I don’t believe the Russians are Ukrainians, either.

    • Common Tater

      *or, not are

      *needs moare covefe*

    • rhywun

      This.

      You know it’s all bullshit when every media outfit has a “house” opinion and prints only one side of the story. The NYPost for example, is staunchly anti-Russian to the point where I just ignore anything articles on that issue.

  3. UnCivilServant

    a cartoon lump of coal, complete with giant eyes and yellow mining garb, called “Coalie”.

    So, we’re just going to admit we live in a parody now?

    • (((Jarflax

      We live in a simulation. Unfortunately we live in the one run by the Timmy lives down the street where all the small pets disappear and the other children have nightmares about that one time little Timmy showed them his basement, and Timmy’s mom cries all the time.

      • UnCivilServant

        I was joking that the guys responsible for writing the New World expansion got lazy and did a bunch of copy-paste and reused assets a lot when it came to people because they did all that during crunch time, having spent all their development time on the food.

      • Nephilium

        Wait… are we all in the cornfield?

      • (((Jarflax

        If our world’s developers would stop using the dystopian ideologies tool kit it would be great. Can someone buy them the rational policies kit? Or even just get them to install the It kind of works but it isn’t great fan made patch that fixes the “Only sociopathic pedo retards can by leaders” bug?

      • (((Jarflax

        Wait… are we all in the cornfield?

        No we are all locked in the elaborate secret room under the weird kid’s basement and he’s putting on his homemade leather outfit. We got the REALLY bad version.

      • SDF-7

        I’m just wondering when the Fed using the cheat codes to spam cash into their accounts is going to bring Godzilla / tornadoes / earthquakes / fire disasters all at once.

      • Ted S.

        Timmy Walz?

    • Not Adahn

      Douglas Adams was ahead of his time.

    • SDF-7

      I’m just worried that the HVAC industry will try for “Coolie” now….

    • Sensei

      He’s good friends with Towlie.

    • rhywun

      I laffed.

      Anything that sets off the smug elite assholes at The Guardian is OK in my book.

      • sloopyinca

        Exactly. I think it’s great. Why? Because people who are upset about it are humorless douchebags.

    • Not Adahn

      Some of you twitterers need to find the inevitable Coalie x Amelia porn.

      • SDF-7

        They work the black seam together?

      • WTF

        “Coal mining” just took on a whole new meaning.

      • Not Adahn

        Who knew Sting was such a fascist?

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Well, so much for THAT fool proof method of birth control…

  4. (((Jarflax

    PG&E should end their contracts with everyone to save the planet! California can take the lead into our new human future! No longer shall mankind depend on burning fossil fuels and inhuman machines! Instead we can harness a more human power source. Slavery!

    • SDF-7

      “Look what it did for Conan! Now all California kids will have PE and all other schooling pushing the grist mill!”

    • rhywun

      Putting the homeless to work should at least keep their blood pumping instead of them freezing to death on the street. This will become more urgent when the Green New Deal causes permanent blackouts during the winter time.

    • Ted S.

      Too bad they can’t do a Baltimore Colts on the state.

  5. SDF-7

    They’re getting what they asked for.

    To be fair — and yes, allowing that the world likely isn’t the ideal I have in mind — the Mayor of NYC really shouldn’t have much effect on winter storm power outages / heating issues / whatnot. I’ll give you making sure the roads are plowed… but the power grid / heating / making sure every landlord in every tenement does the right thing should either be outside his bailiwick or properly delegated and not micromanaged.

    I expect them to get it good and hard in other ways (forcing out businesses, city owned groceries with empty shelves, taxes exploding, etc.)

    • (((Jarflax

      The claim is that he directed the police not to round up the homeless as they usually do because that interferes with their autonomy, so a bunch of them froze to death on the streets.

      • Fourscore

        Herding cats

      • Nephilium

        That sounds a bit like letting them suffer the consequences of their poor decisions.

      • (((Jarflax

        That sounds a bit like letting them suffer the consequences of their poor decisions.

        It does, although schizophrenia raises questions about agency that don’t have nice clean answers. Fortunately as his policies take hold the schizos will be joined on the streets by those suffering the more culpable forms of mental illness, like a propensity for voting Democrat orc communist.

      • UnCivilServant

        voting Democrat orc communist.

        Make Manhattan Mordor?

      • The Last American Hero

        Commies aren’t supposed to let you suffer the consequences of your actions. The state is supposed to be there to care for you.

      • Threedoor

        Bumsicles are fine with me.

    • rhywun

      His reign is going to be so comically inept in all of those more relevant ways, especially since he has placed the absolute worst person in every position as communists always do.

      This is just the “dissident” media jumping on his first “fail”.

  6. SDF-7

    Everybody who pushed this to the media should be forced to drink a jug of piss.

    Didn’t expect the day to start off with a piss take.

    More seriously — and yeah, I just skimmed the article… libel suits all around on behalf of the kids for the press outlets at least seems reasonable. At some point these idiots have to be held to some sort of standard, after all.

    • Suthenboy

      No matter how many false flags they fly people always seem to get sucked in by it.

      • WTF

        They don’t care if it might be a false flag, the important thing is promoting the proper narrative.
        By the way, the Ilhan Omar apple cider vinegar “attack” seems to have disappeared mighty fast.

      • Sensei

        You might say it soured quickly?

      • rhywun

        The false flags get hand-waved away with the excuse that “it sounds like something that might have happened”.

        The people pushing this garbage will not. ever. stop.

      • Swiss Servator

        *narrows gaze at Sensei*

    • R.J.

      The kids accused in this case will never have normal lives, will have to move away to escape this shit. They need some form of compensation so they can get away.

    • Swiss Servator

      I think we have the figure to help with that…

      • DrOtto

        This is how I know I’m living in a simulation. I was just watching old episodes of Beavis & Butthead last night, and one of the videos was Michael Watt’s Piss Bottle Man.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Not the hero we have, Swiss, but the hero we need.

    • The Last American Hero

      You mean the 2 sentence retraction on page 14b lower left corner of the paper, or the one they ran right before closing credits on the 1 am news show doesn’t count?

  7. SDF-7

    But for other reasons…and so should his government handlers.

    Wow… no kidding. I’m not a fan of Palantir (or any other data mining / “AI” surveillance crap these days)… but that’s way way down the list of PG&E’s sins as far as I’m concerned. I guess when your NPC programming is all “10 ICE BAD / 20 GOTO 10” currently, you go with what you see….

  8. Common Tater

    “Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action”

    beyond parody

    • Rat on a train

      They really empowered the community.

  9. invisible finger

    Who knew the left was more interested in self-righteousness than actually ending racism.

    • Rat on a train

      Why would the want to end it when they benefit from it?

      • WTF

        Racial animus was at an all-time low just before Obama was elected. It has shown a marked increase since then.
        It’s a real mystery as to why.

      • rhywun

        marked increase since then

        Deliberately so.

  10. Sensei

    ‘The focus was always, he knew a lot of very rich people and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health,’ Gates said in an interview with Nine News on Wednesday.

    Plus the Russian ladies! Too bad about the STDs.

    • SDF-7

      It doesn’t surprise me that Gates was bad about using a proper antivirus.

      • Nephilium

        There was a meme I saw, with the label “Yet another Microsoft product full of viruses:” with a picture of Bill Gates.

    • Not Adahn

      You know, if I was going to have a self-contained living space with ensuite whores, in addition to having security and a cleaning staff, I’d have an on-premises gynecologist to pre-screen the entertainment (and obtain fun drugs!)

    • DrOtto

      He originally lied about his relationship with Epstien, but he’s telling the truth now, trust him.

  11. Common Tater

    “Court records show that Smith put less than $1,000 of the nearly $120,000 GoFundMe windfall toward her son’s schooling. Account statements reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show the remaining funds were spent on luxuries, including a designer dog, dining and travel, beauty products, liquor, vapes, cell phones, car payments, and rent.”

    designer dog?

    • SDF-7

      Purse poodle to match a really pricey purse?

    • Fourscore

      Sounds like she got a lot bang out of her 120K. I need her for a financial advisor before I waste any more money on food and stuff.

      • SDF-7

        I would have thought Winston’s Mom would be the best advisor on getting the maximum bang for your buck.

      • (((Jarflax

        She specializes in maximizing bucks for the bang not bang for the buck.

      • Ted S.

        Not the guy with the WW1 artillery shell up his ass?

      • SDF-7

        That would be maximizing bang for the butt, Ted.

      • Fourscore

        Look, Doc, I accidentally swallowed a hand grenade and it got stuck in my lower intestine,

        No, I’m not kidding

    • WTF

      Hey, she thought she won the ghetto lottery.

    • Ted S.

      Rent isn’t a luxury, either.

    • Suthenboy

      Poor people are poor because they are exploited by the rich. I have seen it a thousand times.
      I am watching it happen right in front of my eyes as I type this.

    • Not Adahn

      Labradoodle? Pomksi? Peekapoo?

    • rhywun

      Comically stereotypical 🙄

    • Suthenboy

      Heh. It’s not far off.

    • Drake

      The comment about the catcher being the fattest kid isn’t far off either.

      • rhywun

        That tubby guy catching for I forget the team was fun to watch last year. Dude was a HR machine too.

      • slumbrew

        My favorite fat baseball player – Rich “El Guapo” Garces.

        Him batting during an interleague game, getting a hit and huffing down to first had both benches cracking up.

      • rhywun

        tubby guy

        … Blue Jays – Alejandro Kirk

      • Fourscore

        Girls softball, right?

    • robc

      Pretty close.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      You sorely need to see The Bad News Bears, Pie.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Every time someone watches Bad News Bears, a GenXer gets his wings.

      • Nephilium

        ZWAK:

        What happens when someone watches the Sandlot?

        Which Pie should watch as well.

    • DrOtto

      As someone who always played right field, and came in last during laps, I can vouch for the accuracy of that position.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Right Field — Most likely to be standing there staring up at the lights when he gets hit in the head with a ball.

    • Ted S.

      If you work for a chain restaurant and your work takes you to various outlets, why should the company pay you to eat elsewhere?

      • R.J.

        Agreed. Also said employees can report back on quality. It’s a win-win. I don’t see this as an issue.

      • R C Dean

        Yeah, “don’t blow the company’s money on expensive travel” was always pretty standard when I travelled on business. We didn’t need a cutesy name for it, either.

        Unless it was for a board meeting. Then, all bets were off.

      • Fourscore

        My boss always said, “Spend it like it’s your own money, ’cause it is”

  12. R C Dean

    The fascism is getting out of control.

    Yes, I totally believe that the French and the British Powers That Be are outraged and horrified by child porn on X.

    I’m sure Musk is going to show up in France for a little sit-down with the gendarmes, too.

    • Drake

      Purely a coincidence they are going after the company owned by the one guy not in the Epstein Files – while we learn that our leaders are a cabal of satanic pedos.

      • Ted S.

        For minute there, I thought Alex hacked your account.

    • Nephilium

      Is Polanski still hiding out in France?

      • DrOtto

        If by hiding out, you mean still semi-active in directing films, yes.

    • rhywun

      I can see Musk being the first case of telling western Europe to fuck off and taking his ball and going home. At some point you’re losing money doing business in those authoritarian regimes.

      • The Last American Hero

        All he has to do is air drop a bunch of Starlinks like they do in Ukraine and 3rd world shitholes.

    • Rat on a train

      A shell full of drugs?

    • Common Tater

      Again?

    • EvilSheldon

      “‘Worse still, it had not exploded,…”

      Worse for whom, exactly?

      • SDF-7

        The anal retentive logistics officer presumably.

    • Threedoor

      I like that they are going to charge him for possession of an explosive as well.

      That crap has to be all over the country.

      Call the cops, hey I dug up a bunch of munitions can you come get rid of it for me?
      Get cited for having it.

  13. Sensei

    I do enjoy some audiofool puffery! All this can be yours for $4,300. What do you get? An Android based music player with 245GB of storage.

    They claim it helps preserve finer sonic details by keeping interference at bay. According to A&K, the copper body gives the player a slightly different sonic character, describing it as having deep bass, a rich midrange, and a more natural treble decay. Whether or not you’ll notice the difference is up to your ears (and maybe your cables), but it’s part of what makes this version special.

    Astell&Kern Wrapped Its Flagship Music Player in Copper (And It’s Not Just for Looks)

    https://hometheaterreview.com/astellkern-wrapped-its-flagship-music-player-in-copper-and-its-not-just-for-looks/

    • Suthenboy

      Didnt we already have a story about morons throwing money to the wind? WHEEEEEEEEEE!

    • R.J.

      Who buys these things?

      • Sensei

        That’s an extreme version. But the audiophile community is a strange place.

        I fortunate in my younger days I had no money. As the internet progressed it became much easier to learn about what matters and what doesn’t.

        Our own OMWC makes reviews and has been called out more than once.

      • WTF

        People with more money than sense?

      • DrOtto

        I was the same as you Sensei. I used to love prowling high end audio/video shops back in the day. The salesman hated, but tolerated me. I’m not sure why, they knew I wasn’t a buyer.

    • EvilSheldon

      Truly there is no faggotry like high-end audio faggotry.

    • UnCivilServant

      I can’t hear the difference between mp3, CD, FLAC, tape, vinyl, and live.

      • Sensei

        Tape and vinyl are easy. MP3 depends on the bitrate and compression used. A FLAC made from a CD is indistinguishable. FLAC is lossless.

        Where it gets nuts is sample rate. Whatever the final sample rate used in the final mix after recording is the best it’s going to be. There is no advantage to upsampling it. But that gives you audiophile bragging rights.

      • Not Adahn

        Yeah, if you can’t tell cassette tape, your ears are pretty broken.

      • UnCivilServant

        Are you sure you’re not using inferior audio tapes?

      • Sensei

        NA only uses Metal (Type 4) with Dolby C as a minimum. DBX is better, but most car cassette players can’t decode that.

      • Not Adahn

        You’re not wrong… but I don’t actually listen to music in $CURRENT_CAR ‘casue it was designed to let in lots of engine noise. Very pretty engine noise.

        The old 328xi was a much better music environment.

      • DrOtto

        Car cassette doesn’t do well with Dolby C either. Dolby C has a strange drop out/flutter on Dolby B systems. Dolby S was made to compensate for that. Dolby C levels, but compatible with B, C or S playback.

    • Mad Scientist

      Posers. True audiophiles build a portable Faraday cage for their portable music players to eliminate radio frequencies that interfere with high frequency fidelity. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on certain compression artifacts from your Taylor Swift MP3s.

      • Nephilium

        Those compression artifacts are digital steganography that allows translations of the number stations.

        WAKE UP SHWIFTIES!

  14. Common Tater

    “An illegal immigrant with an active deportation order was hired to be a New Orleans cop — and even given a gun, according to the feds.

    Larry Temah, a 46-year-old illegal migrant from Cameroon, was nabbed by ICE at his home on Jan. 26 — just one week before he was set to graduate from the police academy….

    Temah entered the US legally on a visitor visa in 2015 before being granted conditional residency the following year when he married an American citizen, according to ICE.

    His green card application ended up being rejected in 2022 after the feds flagged concerns the marriage was fraudulent, ICE added.

    He was subsequently ordered to appear in immigration court but failed to show up three times, the feds said.”

    https://nypost.com/2026/02/04/us-news/ice-nabs-illegal-immigrant-new-orleans-police-recruit-who-was-issued-firearm/

    Sounds like he would have fit right in the NOPD.

    • Drake

      Sounds like the New Orleans police committed some Federal crimes.

    • Rat on a train

      Trump is anti-police.

      • Not Adahn

        Let’s not be hasty now… had Temah paid his union dues in full yet?

    • EvilSheldon

      Remember what I said about arresting and prosecuting the heads of companies that employ illegals? That goes double for cops.

    • rhywun

      Love the pic of the masked concern troll.

      (I thought masks were bad now? I can’t keep up.)

    • DrOtto

      “Sounds like he would have fit right in the NOPD.” A buddy just sent me a news article about an overtime scam at NOPD with several of these guys raking in north of $200k. Nice work if you can get it.

  15. rhywun

    Yes, I believe he should be put out of a job.

    I have no idea because I tapped out the moment it became obvious this was more anti-ICE bullshit. The mass hysteria is beyond tiresome at this point.

    • Suthenboy

      It is all theater. If the Trump admin wanted it to stop they could stop it by this afternoon.
      I think they are letting these people make asses of themselves in prep for the midterms.

    • EvilSheldon

      Now I really want a Negroni…

    • R.J.

      His decisions are a complete mystery.

    • Drake

      Friends and family? Making assumptions there.

      His first wife went off to be a full-time feminist at Smith. His 2nd wife – is she a Chinese spy?

    • Suthenboy

      Yep. psychotic narcissists and their insatiable hunger for power. I think RBG has them all beat. It would be funny if it weren’t so expensive for all the rest of us.

      My brother and I put our family land in a living trust AND a time limit on our executorship. 78 and we are out. The kids can have it. We are going fishing with the grand/great grand kids. Literally.
      I have seen dementia sneak up on people over and over soooooo many times. Then they start doing incredibly stupid things and no one can stop them. I aint gonna do that to my family.

      • The Last American Hero

        At the rate we’re going, Clarence Thomas is going to join the RBG club. I respect the man, but the time to replace him might have been when Team Red had the trifecta, not during mid-terms or after the Dems retake the House and start impeachment-fest.

      • Fourscore

        We’re in the process of changing the trust. Upon our departure everything is to be sold and divvied up in cash. Kids/grand kids are allegedly grownups.

      • Threedoor

        My father has about 1000 acres. I garantee it’s all going to his wife’s grandchildren.

        Narsacissm is a hell of a drug.

  16. Rat on a train

    The kids are back in school! The first quiet work day in almost two weeks.

    • slumbrew

      “Nice business you got here… “

    • Not Adahn

      Isn’t liquor haram?

      • R.J.

        Yes. Pretty sure this petty crap is coming from a gaggle of Karens.

      • Rat on a train

        A cunning plan to get alcohol banned in Minneapolis?

      • Suthenboy

        Granted it was a long time ago but when I was in MN everyone had two fridges, one usually in the garage. The one in the kitchen was for food and such, the one in the garage was for beer. Just beer.

      • DrOtto

        And the one in the garage was to keep it warm.

      • Fourscore

        Oh-oh, Suthen’s on to something.

        /Hides garage key

      • Bobarian LMD

        If you’d have went to Wisconsin, you’d have seen a bar with a running tap in every basement.

    • rhywun

      More anti-ICE hysteria.

      JFC

  17. Common Tater

    “Democratic Long Beach, Calif. mayoral candidate Rogelio Martinez invited 55 gang leaders to join him Monday peacefully protesting against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a video posted to social media Friday….

    “My name is Rogelio Martinez. I am calling all 55 gangs in my beautiful city,” the candidate says in the video recorded in front of Long Beach City Hall. “I expect a gang leader from every gang, all 55 gangs.”

    “I’m not going to name them by name, but I’m calling the Latino gangs. I’m calling the Cambodian gangs. I’m calling the Filipino gangs. I’m calling the black gangs. I’m calling the Pacific Islander gangs,” Martinez added. “I’m calling all gang leaders to meet me right here, Long Beach City Hall this coming Monday.””

    https://dailycaller.com/2026/02/01/mayor-candidate-rogelio-martinez-rallies-gang-leaders-end-immigration-customs-enforcement-presence-long-beach-california/

    drugs/ass? Remember that day drinking Latina pol?

    • sloopyinca

      Will he at least say “can you dig it!” once during the event? If not, he’s a fucking idiot.

    • Not Adahn

      You’re no Cyrus, Roger.

    • UnCivilServant

      If your city has 55 separate criminal gangs, maybe interfering with immigration shouldn’t be your top priority.

      • Rat on a train

        You play to your base.

      • Fourscore

        “You need a photo ID or your probation officer to verify your citizenship before you can vote”

    • rhywun

      I hope this happens and whoever is running the show there now just tosses them all in jail.

      You’re welcome, Long Beach.

    • DrOtto

      The Aryan Brotherhood wasn’t invited?

  18. PieInTheSky

    Back a while there was some drama on conservative women influencer trad wife twitter about one who got.angaged and the otheres called yhe ring too small. Now there is aditional drama because the tiny ring girl was cheating on her man with some conservative influencer named elijah schaffer. So trad and christian and conservative.

    • Suthenboy

      I am gonna plug a book now: The Myth of Monogamy: Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals and People = David P. Barash and Judith Eve Lipton.
      It is one of those ‘cant put it down books.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      I went too deep on the drama, but if you listen to Milo’s leaked audio she is only admitting to the first encounter and at least, from her explanation, Schaffer SA’d her.

    • R.J.

      “ It is a remarkable reversal for a vital pillar of American journalism that had looked to Bezos — one of the wealthiest people on Earth — as a champion and a financial savior.”

      So these fuckers were looking at Bezos to pay them for crappy work, forever. Because he is Mr. Moneybags. The gall of these commies!

      • Nephilium

        I’ve been seeing lots of people lament the lost of the Washington Post’s sports section, with everyone saying how it was among the best.

        I don’t think I’ve ever even thought to look to the Post for sports news in my life.

    • Rat on a train

      Subsidies aren’t enough. Mandate its use!

    • Fourscore

      Was Aspen poplar or more of a real birch?

  19. robc

    For those unaware, olympic curling begins today.

    • Sensei

      That must have swept by most of us.

      • Not Adahn

        I thought Sloopy was a big sportsrock fan.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        More puns like that and we’ll be on thin ice with Swissy.

    • Rat on a train

      The Olympics started?

      • robc

        Opening ceremonies is Friday, but curling starts preliminary rounds today for mixed pairs.

      • Rat on a train

        I quit watching because Olympic coverage is worse than sportsball. Show me the damn events. Stop cutting back and forth between recorded events.

      • rhywun

        Tennis coverage is infuriating too.

        I want to watch a match from start to finish but if you’re forced to watch it on ESPN, it’s 50% fluff and the rest of it is bouncing around a dozen matches with an emphasis on whoever’s currently on the It list. Like they’ll break away from action to follow Djokovic into the toilet because.

  20. Not Adahn

    So, it looks like 2026 will see me “working” FIVE majors. The shitty part about this is at least three of these are scheduled to be Asst. Range Master jobs, which is much less fun (and much less actual work) than actually working a stage. I’ll need to burn gobs of vacation time and spend way more than I want to on this hobby, but NROI declared my ARM experience was lacking to finish out my RM cert, so there it is.

    Race Gun and Factory Gun Nats
    Areas 7 and 8
    Mid-Atlantic Sectionals

    • DrOtto

      This is why I stay aways from groups and associations for my hobbies, because pretty soon, it gets expensive and turns into work. Now if you excuse me, I have to go replace an AC compressor on a recent acquisition.

    • EvilSheldon

      Hopefully you’ll be able to shoot a bit, too…

      • Not Adahn

        I’m planning to shoot all of these. That adds ten days of vacation time to the total as opposed to just working them. ARM is the laziest possible way of “working.”

        I am not planning on shooting any majors I’m not working, but will try to both local USPSA level 1s each month, plus KFGC, and Guan-Ho-Ha. But those won’t start until April. Maybe an SCSA in March. Mostly L10, I kind of want to shoot PROD for FGN, but maybe that’ll be CO so I’m just using one gun all season.

      • EvilSheldon

        My major match schedule is going to be heavily dependent on leaving Virginia. But I’m hoping to do the PCSL 2-Gun GOAT and Nats at least.

      • Fourscore

        Time to retire, NA, this work thing is causing too many problems…

    • The Other Kevin

      Sounds like me and hockey. I usually burn a lot of vacation time for tournaments. But what the hell, you might as well spend your time doing something cool that you enjoy. There will come a time when we won’t be able to do these things.

      • Not Adahn

        This game is so good for my brain. When I get too old to hack it, I can always work Chrono.

      • EvilSheldon

        When I get too old to shoot the practical stuff, I plan on buying a Sharps repro and taking up long-range black powder shooting. There’s something very satisfying about black powder smoke…

      • UnCivilServant

        Ever figure out how to get that one back out of whatever mode it had gotten into at Winter Steel?

  21. Evan from Evansville

    Tired of the Grammy headlines? Sydney Sweeney says “I’m not hear to speak” about politics. “I’m in the arts. [Politics isn’t] an area I’ve ever imagined getting into.”
    ^^^
    The Left can’t understand why this could be popular and will continue to try and unseat her from her Sex Symbol throne. Surely with some body-positive dude with ‘equal’ bust size. (But no jeans.) She seems like fun. The vague humility of ‘I’m an entertainer, not a Life Coach’ is refreshing. Goodness, gracious, how difficult is that? (Very, for entertainers paid to repeat someone else’s lines.)

  22. The Other Kevin

    Like so many things lately, the Epstein situation is turning out to be 10x worse than expected. The initial theory was he was tempting people with young girls and then blackmailing them. Now it looks like he ran an exclusive club for the rich and powerful, like a more perverted Davos. His conviction didn’t change a thing. At best they all knew about the underage girls (and seemingly tons of other sick and illegal things), at worst some were willing participants. He didn’t need to blackmail anyone. They all went willingly. The number of people involved is sickening.

    Mrs. TOK is a fan of Peter Attia, one of those fitness scientists Pie isn’t fond of. Attia exchanged emails to Epstein. He admits he knew about all the illegal stuff but looked the other way. Mrs. TOK is sad that his work will now be dismissed and forgotten because of this. He might have been morally reprehensible, but his work is still valuable.

    • UnCivilServant

      You don’t expect people you look up to to be human – with all the ups and downs that implies.

    • SDF-7

      like a more perverted Davos

      Objection — assumes facts not in evidence! Davos may well be even more perverted and just ill reported.

    • The Last American Hero

      And yet not a single arrest.

      Like the Diddy party stories, all I’ve seen so far is behavior that is gross and amoral. I haven’t evidence of a crime other than prostitution. If there was underage prostitution, where are the arrests.

      Gates banging a whore and passing on an STD is juicy gossip and disgusting, but isn’t really news nor is it criminal. Same thing could have happened if he banged a gold digger at CES.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Try being a 40 year old who works the counter at a quick shop who somehow regularly bangs 16 year olds. It won’t work out too well.

      • Nephilium

        Stinky Wizzleteats:

        The male manager at the McDonald’s I worked at as a teenager waited until the were 18. He moved on to another store. The [female] assistant manager who slept with the underage guy [17] got fired (and made many of us who were 18 question her taste in men).

      • B.P.

        My question is: Why is one of the richest guys in the world emailing Epstein for antibiotics? Can’t the guy figure out how to get them himself?

      • UnCivilServant

        No, that’s something he has other people do. In this case he clearly wanted to keep the number of people in the know low, so the existing connection should be helping out.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Yeah, apparently the people roped into all of that actually benefited from what the goings on and didn’t have to be blackmailed at all which is worse in a way. It is strange that his trove of incriminating vids was used by him as wanking material but that does appear to be (mostly) the case.

    • Mojeaux

      ow it looks like he ran an exclusive club for the rich and powerful, like a more perverted Davos.

      I thought this was obvious. “Epstein’s island” is “Epstein’s island” for a reason.

    • Gustave Lytton

      I’m assuming behind the scenes, Davos is just as perfected as PedoIsland.

    • Threedoor

      When one of us gets busted we’ll all say the same thing.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    “ It is a remarkable reversal for a vital pillar of American journalism that had looked to Bezos — one of the wealthiest people on Earth — as a champion and a financial savior.”

    They like the idea of being wards of Bezos, with a luxurious sandbox to play in.

    • WTF

      If they tried doing actual journalism instead of niche propaganda, they might be able to build up some readership.

    • The Last American Hero

      Someone at the Federalist had speculated that it’s more important to control WaPo than for it to make money. So it loses $40 million a year. No big deal for Bezos and his billions. In exchange for 40 million a year, you get the #2 voice at controlling the narrative outside of the NYT. And since most major city newspapers are regurgitating whatever NYT and WaPo spit up, it’s a pretty big voice.

      I don’t think they are right, but it was an interesting point about how all these media outlets lose gobs of money and keep marching on.

      • Common Tater

        +1 The Atlantic

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        “You’re right, I did lose a million dollars last year. I expect to lose a million dollars this year. I expect to lose a million dollars next year. You know, Mr. Thatcher, at the rate of a million dollars a year, I’ll have to close this place in… sixty years.”

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Epstein is the new Goldstein.

    • Evan from Evansville

      “Dr. Robert Goldstein” was an alias of mine in Korea.

      Truth.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Unexpectedly turned violent

    Geoffrey Hiller, a photographer (view his images from the day below) working on a five-year project about bike culture in Portland, was on the bike ride. He knew emotions were high after the killing of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis, but didn’t expect one of the many mass bike rides he’s documented in the past five years would end in him being tear gassed for the first time. “Once I got to Southwest I felt a huge shift of energy,” Hiller shared with me after the event. “The solemn feeling in the air was so different from the way the ride began.” As he walked with hundreds of other cyclists south to the ICE building, he heard the first loud bangs. “And a few seconds later I was engulfed in tear gas,” Hiller recalled.

    Totally unanticipated, but large numbers of the people in the photos just happen to be wearing masks. Maybe they’re afraid of catching something.

    • Suthenboy

      …..and they just happen to have their protest signs with them.
      They went there looking to stir shit.

      “You cant stir the shit without getting it on you.” – my grandfather

    • R C Dean

      Is there a stupider motto than “No one is illegal on stolen land”?

      • Nephilium

        I’m entertained that people are calling out Billie Ellish for the fact her house is built on Indian land.

      • Ted S.

        Free advertising, just like the New York Post does for all those “influencers”.

      • Threedoor

        Too funny.
        At least they are not federally recognized.

    • rhywun

      I’d be afraid of catching something unpleasant from those dirty commie hippies too.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    If they tried doing actual journalism instead of niche propaganda, they might be able to build up some readership.

    But WaPo is the in-house newsletter of the Deep State. Democracy Dies in Darkness.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Speaking of the Taint of Satan, I saw a headline about the NFL “investigating” the owner of the New York Giants for associating with the fiend Epstein.

    • WTF

      After Robert Kraft’s rub and tug incident, I doubt there’s anything that they can do about Tisch for talking about women with Epstein.

      • Sensei

        A happy ending if you will.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    Never saw this coming

    Two brothers of Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in her car last month in Minneapolis, gave emotional testimony Tuesday in Washington about the death of their sister and its impact on the family.

    ——-

    “The deep distress our family feels because of Nee’s loss in such a violent and unnecessary way is complicated by feelings of disbelief, distress and desperation for change,” Luke Ganger testified Tuesday at a public forum held by Democrats to discuss violent tactics and use of force by DHS.

    ——-

    The public forum was held by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Members of the Department of Homeland Security were not expected to testify Tuesday. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the forum or agents’ encounters with Good and others.

    “The completely surreal scenes taking place on the streets of Minneapolis are beyond explanation,” Luke Ganger said. “This is not just a bad day or a rough week or isolated incidents, these encounters with federal agents are changing the community and changing many lives, including ours, forever.”

    The ritual exhibition of the bereaved and cries for vengeance.

    • R C Dean

      You know what else i changing hte community and changing many lives?

      The mass importation of third world savages.

    • Suthenboy

      They want money.
      The left’s narrative about this is complete horseshit and seems to be getting more unhinged by the day.
      They really do want civil war II.

    • WTF

      Stop obstructing and assaulting federal agents enforcing the law and all of this goes away.

    • rhywun

      “beyond explanation” 🙄

      A bunch of commie agitators were paid to descend on a left-friendly town and fuck with law enforcement, with the expected and desired results. Not hard to explain at all.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    After the shooting, Noem said Good was a domestic terrorist and, without providing evidence, that she “weaponized” her vehicle against law enforcement. Noem also added that the officer who fired the fatal shots, Jonathan Ross, acted in self-defense. DHS said the officer sustained injuries.

    The mythology of the hero’s tale.

    • Suthenboy

      …without evidence. Except for multiple videos from multiple angles.

    • WTF

      Frame by frame video shows the wheels on her vehicle start to spin when the wheels were positioned straight at the ICE agent. The wheels didn’t turn until after he had fired and been hit. I would say that actually constitutes evidence of weaponizing her vehicle.

    • Brochettaward

      It doesn’t matter if the officer suffered injuries for real or not. I can’t be bothered to verify that claim though it’s disputed by the typical media types based on anonymous sources and such.

      The video of that incident is pretty fucking clear to me from the few times I watched it. Dumb bitch whether accidentally or not drove her vehicle and made contact with federal agents. You do that to any law enforcement regardless of what stupidity brought you there, you are likely to get shot real good like. And that’s what happened.

      The Pretti situation is more ambiguous as to what the fuck prompted lethal force, though that hasn’t stopped the usuals and a lot of other people from jumping to conclusions. If it’s shown that somehow a shot fired from Pretti’s gun first or at any point really, that entire narrative is gonna get really awkward real fast. At best it was a confusing situation. The exact sort the political creatures directing all of this are hoping to create and dopey little foot soldiers like Pretti convinced of their righteousness are willing to oblige.

      • R C Dean

        It’s one thing to carry a gun if you are going to a protest march or a rally. A little outside of my comfort zone, but OK.

        It’s another thing entirely to carry a gun with the intent of confronting and hopefully impeding a law enforcement operation. At that point, my “assumption of the risk” alarm goes off.

        Peaceful protests aren’t just “non-violent”, either. Peaceful means more than non-violent. For example, banging pots and pans and blowing airhorns, especially outside a hotel at night, isn’t “peaceful”.

        Civil disobedience means you are expecting, perhaps intending, to get arrested to show the injustice of a law or regime. The minute you resist arrest, it’s not civil disobedience any more.

        I hate seeing tacticooled cops roaming the country. I also hate the “I’m not touching you” insurrection infesting Minneapolis and other cities.

    • Brochettaward

      I’ve seen some people even on here attack the shooting of Good. You don’t shoot a moving vehicle or some such bullshit.

      That sounds good. I’m sure some second amendment self-defense courses do teach that. The reality of the situation at that time was that the vehicle was making contact with ICE agents and by that point shooting is just about the only thing you can actually do. It’s not a situation where there’s multiple tools in the toolkit, you know? Shooting a moving vehicle isn’t ideal, but it’s often the only solution available.

      • Not Adahn

        Solution for what?

        “Attacking the shooting” is just a peachy/dishonest as fuck way of describing people saying if your intent is preventing yourself from being injured, getting the fuck out of the way is a much better tactic than shooting.

        If your intent is “stopping that bitch who’s pissing me off,” then yeah, busting a cap in her is much higher on the effectiveness chart, but then don’t go whining afterwards about how you were just defending yourself and in fear for your life.

      • Brochettaward

        I have an idea. How about we set up an obstacle course and we have people in vehicles drive at the average Glib making that argument and see how well they dodge them. Especially in close quarters and how they respond if the vehicle is actually making contact with them.

      • Brochettaward

        I was in the Army. I was in Iraq. I was taught if a vehicle blows a checkpoint, you open fucking fire. If it’s coming at you, you open fire. I don’t think I need to say what the protocol would be if the vehicle was trying or did hit you.

      • EvilSheldon

        The other thing that to can (and should) do is get out of the way of the vehicle. We know that Ross could have done that, because he did exactly that.

        We also know that his shooting Good was ineffective at stopping the threat, because it didn’t stop the vehicle.

        If we’ve learned nothing else from the ICE shootings, we’ve learned that the Right is just as eager to re-arrange reality as the Left.

      • EvilSheldon

        I was in the Army. I was in Iraq. I was taught if a vehicle blows a checkpoint, you open fucking fire. If it’s coming at you, you open fire.

        The ROEs for military checkpoints are not remotely the same as for domestic law enforcement vehicle contacts. I would have hoped that you would know this.

      • Ted S.

        This is a guy who doesn’t know what the word “first” means. Why would you expect him to know about rules of engagement?

      • Gustave Lytton

        Angry Cops had a good dissection of how bad ICE’s tactics are. I disagree with his justification (and the deference given to law enforcement use of force in a free country), but it’s just terrible. Also not mentioned is the mishmash of clothing. No uniforms, whatever you want to wear street clothes. With plate carriers on top. Defeats the entire purpose of no uniforms.

      • Not Adahn

        Army is NOT the same as police.

        Police are NOT (or at least should not) be held to the average schmoe standard.

        Fuck off, badgelicker.

      • Brochettaward

        The ROEs for military checkpoints are not remotely the same as for domestic law enforcement vehicle contacts. I would have hoped that you would know this.

        When a vehicle is making contact with you (being generous in that description of it), they start to resemble one another is all I’m sayin’…

        We also know that his shooting Good was ineffective at stopping the threat, because it didn’t stop the vehicle.

        I’ve mostly stayed out of these debates around here, but I do recall making one statement after watching the video and clearly observing an ICE agent getting hit by the car and you responding that this never happened so who exactly is doing the re-arranging here? The guy was literally on the front hood of the thing.

        You can argue about ROE or effectiveness all you want. In that situation you are GOING to get shot at by law enforcement across the country. They are not going to attempt to dodge the vehicle.

      • Brochettaward

        Fuck off, badgelicker.

        I feel pretty comfortable and safe in saying that I’ve had far more contentious run-ins with cops than you, freedom fighter Adahn. But yea because I’m pointing out the reality of how law enforcement is going to respond to ANYONE hitting one of them with a vehicle I’m a “badgelicker.”

        This is the epitome of stupid middle entitled class white woman fucking around and finding out what ANYONE who has interacted with law enforcement could have told them. They aren’t special and you do stupid shit, you win stupid prizes.

        So no, I’m not going to direct an ounce of sympathy or spend much time debating the shoot here. Dangerously excelerating your vehicle in the proximity of law enforcement is a real fucking dumb decision that is almost certainly going to result in the use of deadly force.

      • Threedoor

        The ROE we took to Iraq was idetical to the ROE we had on base.

        Five steps
        Warn
        Raise weapon
        Warning shot
        Kill shot

        One I don’t remember

    • slumbrew

      The shouted “I knew this was a bad idea!” is just perfect.

    • EvilSheldon

      I’m all for Dads giving their kids impromptu driving lessons. But really they should be doing it in large empty parking lots.

  30. Brochettaward

    Bill Gates says that Epstein sent those emails to himself. It’s a conspiracy. He never went to the island, no girls were ever involved etc.

    He is the sort of powerful guy who just isn’t used to being questioned or having anyone in his presence dare to doubt what he’s saying.

    • creech

      “And even if I went to the island, I never saw any young girls. And if I did, I never touched them. And if I touched them, then it was with their consent.”

    • Suthenboy

      Didnt I just see some photos of him on the island with some teenage looking chick sitting in his lap?

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Blumenthal said Good and Pretti should have had the chance to appear at the event in person, but “they were murdered by their own government. They were killed in cold blood.”

    Things like this would never happen if those hateful fascist racists would tone down their unhinged rhetoric.

    • R C Dean

      Yup, just standing on the corner, minding their own business, when a black SUV screeched to a halt in front of them and the ICEstapo gunned them down for giggles.

      • The Other Kevin

        We know you’re being sarcastic, but that’s exactly what my mom and dad believe. They spent their entire lives with no reason to disbelieve “the news”, so when every TV station they watch says the same thing, they believe it, and I’m “brainwashed” because I question it.

    • rhywun

      But Team Hitler is the one engaging in the heated rhetoric. 🙄

      • Common Tater

        Kidnapping people!

    • EvilSheldon

      Do people even understand what, “In cold blood,” means anymore? *shakes head*

      • UnCivilServant

        Do people even understand what, “In cold blood,” means anymore?

        What’s when someone is killed by the lizard people, right?

      • EvilSheldon

        Was Truman Capote a lizard person?

  32. B.P.

    “The protesters called on PG&E to cancel its contract with the tech company Palantir, a data and artificial intelligence outfit that has become the focus of ire over the past year due to its extensive work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

    Grandpa gave my kid $1K to invest in the stock market in mid-2023. (No, grandpa is not Trump.) The Boy picked his own stocks, and invested $285 in Palantir since it is now headquartered locally. By September 2025, the investment was worth $5,400. Thanks for the stock tip, kid.

    I’m a little torn on this incident. Conference symposia are endlessly boring and I’d do anything to get out of one. However, if there were a bunch of protestors shutting one down in front of me, I’d have the urge to take whatever blunt object was handy and start bludgeoning people.

    • Drake

      Just “cancel the contract…”

      Contracts are written to make that extremely painful.

      • Threedoor

        They flew tons of missions in Iraq that the army wouldn’t do.

        Their 747 firefighting bird was held up by the Forrest service for reasons while the west burned under Obama. It was all politics.

  33. PieInTheSky

    Marx deserves better critics.

    The claim “Marxism collapses when applied to real human behavior” is rhetorical fog. Name the proposition that allegedly fails. Which prediction? Which mechanism? “Human behavior” isn’t an argument.

    Under capitalism, necessity appears as market compulsion: sell labour-power or lose access to life. Under a democratic/cooperative order, necessity can appear as collectively governed obligation. Pretending these are identical is the whole trick.

    If you can’t distinguish interdependence from exploitation, you’re not critiquing Marx, you’re just confusing dependence in general (social life) with a specific property-mediated power relation (capital).

    Calling collective self-government “dependency” is like calling democracy “institutionalized subordination” because you accept binding collective decisions. Yes, collective life entails obligations. The issue is: imposed by owners/markets, or decided democratically?

    https://x.com/ygzgzot/status/2018448529337810996

    many binding collective decisions in 80s Romania. soo many.

    • Ted S.

      If you want to drop out of society, you can mostly do it under capitalism. Good luck trying to get out from under the obligations socialists would impose on you.

    • Brochettaward

      Is there any case outside of small tribes where socialism ever actually amounted to anything resembling even the idea of “collective self-government”? I can’t think of any. Even if I take that at face value and as a good thing, it’s never what Marxism has actually produced in the real world so, yea…

      • Brochettaward

        And this isn’t really so much even considered a flaw in Marxism as socialism under a dictatorship of top men is supposed to bring about the real communism. That’s where the gravy is really supposed to be there, you know? We just can never seem to get past that whole dictatorship of the proletariat thing where a small group of cadres lords over their fellow man.

  34. PieInTheSky

    If it hasn’t been clear by now, the Chomsky–Epstein saga has shown that for much of the dirtbag left and self-styled anti-imperialists, “activism” and standing up for the oppressed is often superficial, used to mask politics rooted more in anti-Western ideology rather than in any real care for human dignity. If they truly cared about the oppressed, they wouldn’t have spent decades glomming onto a man like Chomsky, who has never backed down from his willingness to side with an oppressor/perpetrator when it suits his ideological agenda.

    At this point, claiming that a man who dabbled in genocide denialism with Bosnia & Cambodia and later downplayed war crimes in Syria & Ukraine is an “activist hero” is hysterical at best.

    https://x.com/florida_sophia/status/2018727714799108232

  35. The Late P Brooks

    Under a democratic/cooperative order, necessity can appear as collectively governed obligation.

    So, ummm… slavery, right? What did I win?

  36. The Late P Brooks

    Schroedinger’s pantomime martyr:

    Simultaneously an innocent uninvolved passer-by and a heroic freedom fighter battling the forces of fascist oppression.