Ace of Spades HQ

July 28, 2025

Mid-Morning Art Thread

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Venus, Adonis, and Cupid
Annibale Carracci

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (212) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 7/28/25

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Good morning kids. Let's start off with a bit of good news that broke late yesterday.

President Donald Trump announced a sweeping trade agreement with the European Union (EU) on Sunday, setting a baseline 15 percent tariff on European imports — including automobiles — while keeping existing 50 percent duties on steel and aluminum in place. As part of the deal, the EU committed to purchasing $750 billion in U.S. energy products. Trump announced the agreement during a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after a private meeting at Trump Turnberry in Scotland. . .

. . . “We don’t know what that number is,” he said, but went on to note that the purchase of military equipment would be in the “hundreds of billions of dollars.” 

Moreover, the EU will pay a 15 percent tariff rate to import products into the U.S., ranging from automobiles to other goods. 

“So we have a tariff of 15% we have the opening up of all of the European countries, which I think I could say were essentially closed,” Trump said. “I mean, you weren’t exactly taking our orders, you weren’t exactly taking our agriculture, and then you would have smaller things, but for the most part, it was closed, and now it’s open.” 

This is kind of a pretty big Effin' deal, and we'll know how big in the short term by how the propaganda media distorts and/or totally ignores it as it continues to push Epstein-Epstein nonstop while also ignoring Obamagate or painting it as a Trump witch hunt/persecution of the Dog-eating commie. Of course the markets will no doubt have their own reaction to the news of this deal reflecting sentiment over the long term.

As Trump 2.0 demolishes much of the insanity of the regulatory state, this item, along with the renewed commitment to take full advantage of America's vast fossil fuel resources while we and much of the world come to our senses and abandon the green energy/climate change madness is most welcome indeed.


Car Lovers Rejoice! After 50 Miserable Years, CAFE Standards Are Dead

. . . One of the most important provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill has gone completely unnoticed, but promises to make the auto industry great again.

For 50 years, the federal government has been forcing fuel economy standards on auto companies. If the average fuel economy of the cars sold in a year exceeded a federal standard, the companies had to cough up enormous penalties.

Passed in 1975 as a way to deal with an energy crisis (that was caused by government price controls), “corporate average fuel economy” (CAFE) standards – required the fleet of cars sold by an automaker to achieve an arbitrary miles-per-gallon goal. If they missed the goal, they paid hefty annual fines.

CAFE standards along with many other onerous regulations did much to strangle American dominance of the automobile industry. So hallelujah to this news and it comes after General Motors announced last week it's expansion of manufacturing of gasoline-powered trucks and SUVs.

Shifting gears completely, there was a mass-stabbing attack at a Michigan Walmart over the weekend and despite the carnage, a hero citizen with a gun managed to stop the maniac cold.

Dramatic video shows a heroic Walmart shopper armed with a gun confronting a knife-wielding maniac moments after he allegedly stabbed 11 people inside the Michigan store on Saturday night.

In wild cellphone footage shared on X, the brave man, identified by family members as Marine veteran Derrick Perry, is seen yelling at the suspected attacker to drop the weapon in the parking lot of the superstore in Traverse City, about 255 miles northwest of Detroit.

Perry is being praised for his actions, with some even suggesting he should be nominated for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “Give this man the recognition his actions deserve,” one commenter said. “Good men who are armed save lives.”

. . .On Sunday, authorities identified the suspect as Bradford James Gille, 42. He faces charges of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder following the shocking stabbing spree in Traverse City — a popular Michigan tourist destination. His victims range in age from 29 to 85, with six of them over 60, Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said. They are all expected to survive. Shea revealed that Gille has a history of arrests for drug offenses and vandalism.

All things considered, Michigan, the situation in the Middle East, open borders and my first thought was that the perp was a Religion-of-Peace Peacenik. Surely something set this psycho off and if all we hear is radio silence in the coming days, you can be sure this sicko is somehow Democrat/Leftist inspired or otherwise motivated.

Funny how we haven't heard any calls from the usual quarters for common sense knife control! Pfft.

And this leads in to my shot/chaser segment of the day. First up the shot from annoyingly and dangerously clueless dolt Adam Milstein

On one hand, the Islamo-left alliance, a coalition between far-left ideologues, anarchists, and Islamists, is working to dismantle America from within. On the other end of the political spectrum, white supremacists, while a fringe movement, still have the capacity to take weapons into their hands and kill Americans.

In addition, a dangerous new ideology is taking root on the American right. What began as a sensible “America First” doctrine to prioritize American interests has, in some circles, morphed into an “America Only” worldview that seeks to isolate the United States from the outside world and abandon its global responsibilities as leader and ally of free nations.

These groups may seem to have little in common, but all of them advance ideologies that are deeply hostile to America’s founding principles and its international interests. They aim to reshape the very fabric of our society. Alarmingly, through years of strategic planning, infiltration and coordinated efforts, they appear to be making real progress.

What an abject asshole. While there are for sure dozens if not hundreds of examples of Islamic, Leftist and Islamo-Leftist violence that have spilled rivers if not oceans of blood over the past few centuries, especially going back 1500 years to the founding of Islam itself.

I defy Milstein or anyone to point to any mass organized "FAR RIGHT" movement or organization that has perpetrated any acts of mass or singular political terrorism. And please define for me the political manifesto of this so-called "Far Right" Sorry, Isolationism and some nebulous bullshit about defying our founding principles is just that. So because I reject the insanity of America as the world's policeman and endless wars all over the world purely for the growth of the political class' stock portfolios makes me into some sort of extremist, eh Milstein?

Shame on FrontPage Mag for publishing this idiot's essay that does nothing to advance the cause of warning the public about the real dangers we face and instead muddies the waters and creates phantasms for us to chase.

"On the other end of the political spectrum, white supremacists, while a fringe movement, still have the capacity to take weapons into their hands and kill Americans." And yet it has yet to happen, certainly to even the tiniest fraction of what happened during the summer of 2020. Funny, what about black supremacists? I guess he never heard of BLM or the Black Panthers, or Black Liberation Army. All Milstein is attempting and failing to do is to take a swipe at President Trump and normal sane America who reject Milstein and his ilk.

Now the chaser:

Law enforcement has grappled with a wave of alleged or confirmed arsons, shootings, threats against government officials and mass rioting stemming from outrage at Trump’s policies or U.S. support for Israel. In the months following Trump’s reelection, media outlets and “experts” quoted in their articles predicted that America might see a resurgence of mostly right-wing or white supremacist violence on his watch. (RELATED: Outfit Behind Slanted ‘Terrorism’ Studies Pleads For Private Donors After Trump Funding Cuts) “That analysis never made any sense, but was always the a priori assumption of research conducted by left-leaning academics incentivized to tell the government the narrative it wanted to hear, in order to receive more government ‘countering violent extremism’ funding,” Kyle Shideler, senior analyst at the Center for Security Policy, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “No matter how many attacks were organized by jihadist terrorists or committed anarchists or communists, ‘Extremism’ was a problem to be found only on the political right, and specifically was the fault of their main political opponent’s rhetoric.”

“Whether Donald Trump won or lost, either result was taken as evidence for an increase in ‘Far Right’ extremism,” Shideler, who has a history of briefing law enforcement officials, told the DCNF.  “Even a decrease in ‘hate groups’ could be identified as evidence of their growing power. Heads we win, tails you lose,” Shideler added, referencing media coverage of a Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) report which claimed that extremist groups decreased in 2024 as their views “entered the mainstream.”

Meanwhile, an April study from Rutgers University and the National Contagion Research Institute found that more than half of self-identified “left of center” Americans believe murdering Trump — who was nearly assassinated ahead of the 2024 election — is at least somewhat justified. Nearly 40% of respondents also said “it is at least somewhat acceptable (or more) to destroy a Tesla dealership in protest” of Musk, according to the researchers.

“These attitudes are not fringe — they reflect an emergent assassination culture, grounded in far-left authoritarianism and increasingly normalized in digital discourse,” the study said.


Oh give me a break, Milstein! I'm sure his next column will paint the Michigan mass-stabber as a Far-Right terrorist!

And lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.

Have a great day!


Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:32 AM | Comments (276) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 28 July 2025

Top Story



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July 27, 2025

Sunday Overnight Open Thread - July 27, 2025 [Doof]

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Howdy Hordelings! The time has arrived for the Sunday ONT! Thanks for stopping by. What's on your mind today? Care to dazzle us with wit and wisdom? Entertain us with humor? Something else you need to get off your chest? The comment section is here for you - perhaps even for you long-time lurkers who are itching to become regulars. Come on in!

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (260) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: Late July Edition!

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Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be late July? Know what's coming next? August! August is coming next! Going to be a quick one tonight, guys and gals, as I goofed around and waited until the last minute to write something.

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

Posted by: Weasel at 07:00 PM | Comments (240) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: Dijon Mustard...It's Hot?

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That looks like a regular jar of Dijon mustard...right? It's a French label, but the company exports a lot of it to the United States, so I am sure that most of you can find a jar of it fairly easily. It's good quality stuff, if a bit expensive, so I usually buy another brand (Roland) in bulk.

But the stuff in France is far, far hotter than the American version! Wow! Amazing stuff, delicious, but sinus-clearing hot! And the other brands we have tasted have been hotter than their American versions, so it isn't an anomaly.

And that's weird, because the frogs are not fond of spicy food. They are definitely surrender monkeys when it comes to Scoville Units!

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (218) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First World Problems...

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Today is the last day of The Tour de France, and it is routed right around the corner from my apartment! If you haven't seen professional cyclists ride, it is an absolutely amazing thing. They ride really, really, fast! And because there is a climb just a mile and a half or so up the street around Sacré-Cœur, they will probably be bunched up, which makes it even more exciting.

Of course there are hundreds of pedestrian barriers all over the neighborhood, and where they have been placed is quintessentially French. Not neatly along the curb. Not stacked at the corners ready for deployment on Sunday morning. No...they are lined up in no particular plan, in no particular place! Like...blocking off 75% of the walkway across the main road. Or splitting the sidewalk neatly in two.

They do similar things around street construction, but the best is at the airport. 7:00am, and the barriers leading to immigration are fully deployed, as if they are expecting 5,000 people instead of a few hundred. So back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, about 30 times. It takes far longer to walk the maze than to clear customs.

And we wonder why we had to bail them out twice in 25 years?

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (173) | Trackbacks (Suck)

America Should Have A Longer Memory

America and Americans are famously forgiving. After a few fits and starts, our relationship with Great Britain became a pillar of our foreign policy. Our own War Of The Southern Rebellion was brutal and cruel, but aside from mostly friendly differences, we are one nation. Japan and Germany were bitter enemies, yet 10 years after WWII had ended we were well on our way to becoming loyal diplomatic and trade partners with both countries. Even Vietnam, whose conduct after we signed a treaty and left was reprehensible, is now a trading partner and a travel destination for Americans!

And terrorist groups get off just as easily. Hezbollah killed 241 Americans in 1983, and continued their attacks on America for years, yet they are still around! Iran kidnapped 66 American diplomats and kept them as hostages for 444 days, then spent the next 45 years attacking America whenever it could through its terrorist proxies (like Hezbollah!).

And we mostly just went about our business, because none of these attacks were existential threats to us, and certainly not to the homeland. Even September 11th's attacks quickly faded into the past, and instead of hunting down every al Qaeda member on earth, we mostly just droned the obvious ones. And now, even our president is lauding a former al Qaeda member as some sort of Syrian Thomas Jefferson.

But maybe that isn't such a good idea. Having a long memory of our enemies and their attacks seems to be a strong indicator of cultural and social strength. Having a commitment to punishing their transgressions against our country and people, and more importantly, never forgetting seems to be a wiser approach than our culturally embedded attitude of almost instant forgiveness.

For instance:

This flight instructor was either a moron, or was purposefully obtuse, yet the worst we did was revoke his work permit?

Vueling pilot of plane that saw Jewish kids removed was flight instructor of two 9/11 terrorists

According to his book, Marwan al-Shehhi and Mohamed Atta, hijackers of United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 11, respectively, were entrusted to him by the aviation academy after they “paid hefty sums of money to get the best instructors.”

Chirivellas described them as “normal,” but noted that they had an aggressive attitude, short tempers, and a strong interest in Boeing commercial flights. “I didn’t understand at the time their interest in those planes, when they couldn’t even pass the basic theoretical exams.”

Only an hour after the September 11 attacks, Chivirellas was called by the aviation academy about an FBI investigation that involved two of his students. “When it was confirmed that they performed the attack, I felt shivers down my spine.”

The official investigation declared that there was no connection between Chivirellas and the terrorists, and that he trained them without knowing their real intentions. Still, his work permit for the United States was revoked once he had to renew it after the attacks.


If he was guiltless, then why did we revoke his permit? And if he had some culpability, why is he not in Guantanamo? Or dead?

Israel sees these issues very differently. For instance, after the murders of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the Munich Olympics in 1972 by the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September, Israel spent years chasing the organizers.

And after the catastrophe of October 7th, Israel has clearly and publicly embarked on a comprehensive program to kill every single person involved in its planning and execution. That will go a long way towards forging a national consensus, and perhaps allowing some sort of acceptance of the many failures in policy that led to the attacks.

Perhaps it is time for America to remember the many fallen, and instead of moving on, exact a price for every single American killed.

And if that means decapitating Iran? Well, as they say, revenge is a dish best eaten cold.

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (188) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread - 7-27-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]


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Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (349) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 27 July 2025

Top Story



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July 26, 2025

Saturday Night "Club ONT" July 26, 2025 [The 3 Ds]

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Mystery Click carries extra importance tonight. Keep reading.

Welcome to Club ONT! A collaboration of your Sunday through Wednesday ONT Crew - The Disco, The Doggo, and The Dino. Congratulations, if you are here, you are officially part of the Club - sorry about that.

Clever comments earn restroom tokens. The same tokens can also be used for the jukebox so proceed with care. Club ONT management has instituted a strict policy based on the mystery click above. Anyone caught not having fun and not Wanging Chung will be removed from the premises immediately.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (311) | Trackbacks (Suck)

A Guest Music Thread [Joe Mannix]

What do you think of when you hear "bootleg" in the context of music? I usually think of cassette tapes with hand-scrawled labels or CD-Rs that will rot unless quickly backed up. I might even think of "a bunch of MP3s someone recorded at a show.' What I didn't think of until recently, though, was "professional-looking, commercially-pressed CD with liner notes and label information."

I have been sanitizing and updating my digital music library and stumbled across an album that I just couldn't find anywhere. It wasn't on the big metadata services and when I searched for less-well-known track names, various search engine AIs responded along the lines of "that artist never did a song by that name, but these other artists did." Yet I had the CD in my hands. It was professionally manufactured, not a CD-R. It was a mainstream artist, not an unknown independent. It had a record label and a catalogue number printed on the liner notes. No barcode, but that isn't too weird.

So I looked up the catalogue number and still got nothing. Going for broke, I just looked up the record label, hoping I could find some reference based on the label. I finally got a legitimate hit. It wasn't a label, it was a pseudo-label - a European company that produced and distributed bootlegs. It was referenced as a "bootleg label," and that's all they did. They did it very professionally, but the reason I could find nothing about this album on the internet is that the album doesn't technically exist. It is a pirate album.

I have some bootlegs in my collection and I know what they are, but this was a first for me! I don't think "serious, professional product" when I think "bootleg." Expectations status: subverted.

Do you have any bootlegs in your collection? How's the production value, both of the physical medium and the recording?

NOTE: As always, the intro is just a conversation starter if needed. You're welcome to go off-topic, just please keep it to the world of music!

***

Posted by: Joe Mannix at 07:30 PM | Comments (351) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - July 26, 2025 [TRex]

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Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it wobbled and lurched and shook and made terrible scraping sounds. Apparently, it either needs a tune-up or a vacation. Either way, the wheel was of no help which means this edition of the Hobby Thread is a random grab-bag of miscellaneous content.

I have faith that you can either find something in the content that resonates or contribute your own hobbying interests.

You might be tempted to say "I have no hobbies or interests." Bah. Dig around in the content and soak in the comments. Be curious. Glad you're here.

[Top photo: Sunflower Festival, Monongahela, PA]

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (181) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, July 26

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Courtesy Misanthropic Humanitarian

* * *

Good afternoon and welcome to the almost world famous Ace of Spades Pet Thread. Thanks for stopping by. Kick back and enjoy the world of animals.

Would you like a treat?

Let's relax a little with the animals and leave the world of politics and current events outside today.

Posted by: K.T. at 03:28 PM | Comments (97) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, July 26

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Spotted in a raised garden bed at a local assisted living facility where my mother lives. Not ours but they caught our attention.

Cheers,
TRex

A lovely scene for residents of that facility and a great photo! Thanks for sending it in!

*

Bleg:

Hello,

I hope you can help me. I've been a (really) long-time lurker at Ace of Spades HQ, and was wondering if you still have links to the old gardening threads.

Way back when-- unfortunately, I don't have a date, or this would be much easier -- there was a thread on Christmas/Thanksgiving cactuses. The advice in it was invaluable..... among other things, we finally understood why my father's cactus, would bloom twice a year, once around thanksgiving, and once again in early spring.

Unfortunately, I didn't think to save the thread, and various internet searches have turned up nothing.

Is there any hope?

Thanks,
Heather

There's a video with information in the post on 12/2/23 and more information on 11/22/14.

There are a couple of other mentions and photos, too. Anybody else have tips on growing these cacti?

Posted by: K.T. at 01:22 PM | Comments (36) | Trackbacks (Suck)

After Russiagate, where do you go for news?

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Above, a cartoon borrowed from a lefty. I'm surprised that he's still hanging on to this issue. Can't decide if that lefty agrees that networks like the one Colbert dissed should die, too. Would you be okay with that?

The Colbert kerfuffle is widely misrepresented as involving his cancelation after CBS gave in to Trump concerning the way Trump was portrayed on CBS. But remember that Trump's lawsuit concerned the refusal of CBS to release the transcript of the interview of Kamala Harris on "60 Minutes". It was NOT about programs like Colbert's criticizing Trump.

One of my lefty's own commenters said, "He's still alive but no longer caged!" What repression!

Their misrepresentation of the Trump suit against CBS in current memes demonstrates that they aren't used to people fighting back.

He then posted a worrisome meme about the impending transformation of CBS into another Fox News with the upcoming buy-out of the network. You get the idea . . . Progressives are under siege in the mainstream media. Heh.

Posted by: K.T. at 11:07 AM | Comments (193) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival

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Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. As much as I love coffee it does not inspire me to utter unsolicited opinions. I can do that on my very own, thank you very much.

So before we enter the Prayer Revival, just a few housekeeping matters to take care of. (Rulz for those of you in Valders)

1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate or try all three!
B) Be kind, be nice. Trolls have feelings or so I'm told.
3) No. You will not have our endorsement or condolences if you run with sharp objects.
D) A big Thank You to Annie for her stellar work on the Prayer Revival.
5) Finally, please have a wonderful weekend.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 07:00 AM | Comments (380) | Trackbacks (Suck)

July 25, 2025

Gentlemen, This Is The ONT Manifest

Welcome to meme day! How about we start with some animal facts?


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Posted by: WeirdDave at 10:00 PM | Comments (340) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Fri-Yay Cafe

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Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland


I think this is what JackStraw sees when he smokes his marijuana cigarettes.

Tucking in your baby elephant for a nap.

These geese are employed by DHS to disappear progressives.

Out of control.

Dog demonstrates proper form in the hurdles. (The fourth dog. They're all good boys but the fourth dog is the best boy at hurdles.)

This dog DOMINATES the stairs.

A horse's buddy lends him a hoof.

You wanted to get close to nature but nature decided to get close to you.

Stray cat is very happy to see the human who feeds her.

We need to limit cats' screen time.

Baby bear practices going out of control.

That's a lot of coke.

I've linked this before, but it's good: a parachute fails to properly deploy and the diver gets "shrouded" by the parachute's cloth, which wraps around him and blocks him from deploying his safety chute. He only has 10-15 seconds to free himself and get that second chute opened.

Is it Friday yet?

Steve Inman:

A FAFO collection, mostly showing bestial left-wing women who have drank the Feminist and Transgender Kool-Aid and really believe they can beat up men if they just ignore "Society's Patriarchal Programming" and believe in shemselves.

A truck thief gets asphalt justice.

Dog is so shocked that a cat slapped him he just doesn't know what to do.

Aggressive panhandler meets aggressive manhandler.


Posted by: Ace at 07:30 PM | Comments (251) | Trackbacks (Suck)

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