February 27, 2025
The Morning Rant 
The United States Postal Service's informal motto is, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" My response to this constitutionally authorized agency's informal motto is, Bull Fvcking Shit. The following may fall under The Morning Rant and/or First World Problems $9.5 billion worth. Yes, $9.5 billion, with a B that was the 2024 deficit the USPS ran up. As many of you know yours truly lives in the boondocks of The Frozen Tundra. The move took place in 2018. One of the first things completed was installing an approved mail box to a specified height. Over the years the mail carrier or whatever the approved title is would place flyers in my mail box. Everything from the USPS collecting food items or a friendly reminder on how I was to keep the snow away from the mail box so they could deliver the mail. The USPS felt it was fine they could place "their mail" in my receptacle. As we all know, the USPS certainly takes a number of days off due to Federal Holidays. The last holiday the USPS celebrated was President's Day Monday February 17th. The following day our mail box was full of the regular items one expects. However there was no flyer from the USPS what was about to take place the following day. On Wednesday there was no mail in our box. No problem, as it is not uncommon to go a day without mail. Thursday morning I walked out and placed mail in the box with the good old red flag placed in the upright position. The outgoing mail was not picked up on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Nor was any delivered. I had been expecting several important pieces of mail and I'm starting to worry and also getting peeved about the situation. So Monday February 24th I drive into town to find out what is going on. I asked to see the Post Master. Well, that can't happen as the Post Master is somewhere in the southern part of the state filling in and won't be back until May. So I then proceeded to talk to the most senior employee there. Also our mail carrier was present and joined the conversation. My simple question was, "Where the hell is my mail and what is going on?" The story I received was one that makes one's head spin. From September 2018 until May 2024 our mail had been delivered by a contractor who was delivering mail for the USPS under a "Highway Contract". There had been a couple of problems during this time. But nothing compared to this. I was informed by our postal carrier that they had won the "Highway Contract" in May 2024 but there were approximately 85 mail recipients who were not included in the route. The contractor advised us that they had made numerous attempts to have the contract reviewed and revised to include the 85 residents. As a sign of good faith our mail carrier advised us she was delivering mail to us without getting paid for her time and mileage. I said, "Hang on a minute here. Our neighbor approximately 1/2 mile from us is getting mail but we aren't?" She advised us that the "Highway Contract" mail route ended at our neighbor a 1/2 mile away. Our mail and our adjacent neighbor's mail were not part of the contract. She indicated she was putting on approximately 9 miles a day without getting paid. And this had been going on since May 2024. According to her numerous efforts had been made to get the problem resolved. And since it hadn't been resolved she wasn't going to deliver to our mail box or the other 80+ residents. My response was something to the effect, "That's all fine and dandy. But in the age of communication and transparency why wasn't I notified? You are pretty happy to keep slipping reminders in our box to keep the area free of snow but you couldn't tell us about this problem?" I was informed that she was prohibited from placing any notice of this in our mailbox as it was not approved by the Postmaster or the USPS. With gas at $3.02 a gallon at the moment, I get it that 9 miles per day 6 days a week for 9 months and not getting paid is utter BS. So now if I want to mail a letter or get my mail, I have a 13 mile round trip to town. I have better things to do with my time and the wear and tear on my vehicle to obtain my mail which is Constitutionally guaranteed. The USPS doesn't care about my carbon footprint but they are willing to spend $$$$$ to purchase 66,000 EVs by 2028. (I suspect Buck Throckmorton will talk about all the mail that will go up in flames due to these rolling firebombs.)
One job, pick up and deliver mail. And if you wonder why they have a $9.5 Billion deficit, check out the following pricing for a package I recently sent.
The United States Postal Service's informal motto is, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" My response to this constitutionally authorized agency's informal motto is, Bull Fvcking Shit. The following may fall under The Morning Rant and/or First World Problems $9.5 billion worth. Yes, $9.5 billion, with a B that was the 2024 deficit the USPS ran up. As many of you know yours truly lives in the boondocks of The Frozen Tundra. The move took place in 2018. One of the first things completed was installing an approved mail box to a specified height. Over the years the mail carrier or whatever the approved title is would place flyers in my mail box. Everything from the USPS collecting food items or a friendly reminder on how I was to keep the snow away from the mail box so they could deliver the mail. The USPS felt it was fine they could place "their mail" in my receptacle. As we all know, the USPS certainly takes a number of days off due to Federal Holidays. The last holiday the USPS celebrated was President's Day Monday February 17th. The following day our mail box was full of the regular items one expects. However there was no flyer from the USPS what was about to take place the following day. On Wednesday there was no mail in our box. No problem, as it is not uncommon to go a day without mail. Thursday morning I walked out and placed mail in the box with the good old red flag placed in the upright position. The outgoing mail was not picked up on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Nor was any delivered. I had been expecting several important pieces of mail and I'm starting to worry and also getting peeved about the situation. So Monday February 24th I drive into town to find out what is going on. I asked to see the Post Master. Well, that can't happen as the Post Master is somewhere in the southern part of the state filling in and won't be back until May. So I then proceeded to talk to the most senior employee there. Also our mail carrier was present and joined the conversation. My simple question was, "Where the hell is my mail and what is going on?" The story I received was one that makes one's head spin. From September 2018 until May 2024 our mail had been delivered by a contractor who was delivering mail for the USPS under a "Highway Contract". There had been a couple of problems during this time. But nothing compared to this. I was informed by our postal carrier that they had won the "Highway Contract" in May 2024 but there were approximately 85 mail recipients who were not included in the route. The contractor advised us that they had made numerous attempts to have the contract reviewed and revised to include the 85 residents. As a sign of good faith our mail carrier advised us she was delivering mail to us without getting paid for her time and mileage. I said, "Hang on a minute here. Our neighbor approximately 1/2 mile from us is getting mail but we aren't?" She advised us that the "Highway Contract" mail route ended at our neighbor a 1/2 mile away. Our mail and our adjacent neighbor's mail were not part of the contract. She indicated she was putting on approximately 9 miles a day without getting paid. And this had been going on since May 2024. According to her numerous efforts had been made to get the problem resolved. And since it hadn't been resolved she wasn't going to deliver to our mail box or the other 80+ residents. My response was something to the effect, "That's all fine and dandy. But in the age of communication and transparency why wasn't I notified? You are pretty happy to keep slipping reminders in our box to keep the area free of snow but you couldn't tell us about this problem?" I was informed that she was prohibited from placing any notice of this in our mailbox as it was not approved by the Postmaster or the USPS. With gas at $3.02 a gallon at the moment, I get it that 9 miles per day 6 days a week for 9 months and not getting paid is utter BS. So now if I want to mail a letter or get my mail, I have a 13 mile round trip to town. I have better things to do with my time and the wear and tear on my vehicle to obtain my mail which is Constitutionally guaranteed. The USPS doesn't care about my carbon footprint but they are willing to spend $$$$$ to purchase 66,000 EVs by 2028. (I suspect Buck Throckmorton will talk about all the mail that will go up in flames due to these rolling firebombs.)
One job, pick up and deliver mail. And if you wonder why they have a $9.5 Billion deficit, check out the following pricing for a package I recently sent.
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian (ONT Cob Emeritus) at 11:00 AM | Comments (381) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Mid-Morning Art Thread
N.C. Wyeth
N.C. Wyeth
Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (349) | Trackbacks (Suck)
The Morning Report — 2/ 27 /25 
Last week Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) was interviewed by British journalist Steven Edginton of Britain’s GB News. After the conversation, Edginton mentioned Tucker Carlson, which caused Crenshaw to say the following that was captured on a 'hot mic.' “We’ve talked a lot on Twitter,” referring to the exchanges he and Carlson have traded online, “If I ever meet him, I’ll f*cking kill him.” . . . During the interview, he viciously criticized Carlson's stand against providing unlimited and unaccounted aid to Ukraine.Yes, Dan Crenshaw is not technically a Democrat but his rhetoric, whether that could be construed as a legitimate death threat against TuCa or merely hot-under-the-collar schoolyard machismo blowhardism it demonstrates a mentality whereby when one cannot reasonably articulate a cogent and importantly persuasive argument for one's position, the default is to lash out in frustration. And as for Trump and his views on the Ukraine war, as CBD and I discussed on the latest edition of the podcast (here and in the sidebar), regardless of the fact that Putin's invasion is inexcusable, to not seek an end to this bloody conflict for humanity's sake all by itself but to think that courting a disastrous miscalculation by going to war with Vladimir Putin is what the US must do is insane. Period full stop. And the argument that Putin is going to roll all the way to the English Channel and then cross the Atlantic to invade America is ridiculous. But the salient point is, no argument that goes against the accepted memes, shibboleths and beliefs of the Leftist globalist enterprise shall not be countenanced. And that extends to the mere presence of Donald Trump as President of the USA, regardless of the fact that what he is doing has broad support of long-frustrated GOP voters and even the much vaunted independents as well as some Democrats. From infantile bluster we go to actual organized criminal behavior that is likely funded by Leftists and leftist aligned malefactors given aid and comfort by Democrats in and out of office:
Anti-ICE protesters have been taking matters into their own hands by disrupting illegal immigration raids while publicly doxing the identities of federal agents. “Immigration rights activists have banded together to conduct patrols throughout Los Angeles communities and, in a few instances, have stopped raids as they were happening,” reported KTLA. One group of 100 volunteers, Community Self-Defense Coalition, interrupted ICE raids in the San Fernando and Alhambra areas. Video footage showed the volunteers driving up to the scene of the raid and saying, “There they are, there’s ICE, ICE spotted in Alhambra.” The group says it patrols the streets to inform the public about ICE activity in the area. “We denounce [ICE] and alert the community with megaphones,” volunteer Rob Gochez told KTLA. “We were there until the agents left. They didn’t kidnap anybody today.” According to Fox News correspondent Bill Melguin, the anti-ICE protesters have taken to the extreme measures of doxing federal agents, putting their lives at risk.Scratch the surface and somewhere in there has got to be La Raza, Mecha, ties to Soros and someone like tarantula faced Raul Grijalva amongst many others. I surely hope Pam Bondi and Kash Patel have a slew of RICO investigations that target the multi headed Hydra snake heads of this evil Medusa. And then there's this:
A new letter released by the House Judiciary Committee reveals that under the Biden administration, an IRS contractor leaked the tax information of 405,427 taxpayers to news sources — including that of President Donald Trump. Yet Americans are supposed to be concerned about DOGE?To rejigger (racist?) the inanity of Jimmy Carter, who once declared we have an inordinate fear of communism (and then the Soviets invaded Afghanistan). My fear of Communism is not the kind that was based in Moscow but that took root in DC and became the Democrat/Leftist dominated Deep State. May Trump and Musk do all that they can to at least put us on an inexorable path to rip it out and destroy it root and branch.
. . . According to a letter that Department of the Treasury Acting Commissioner Douglas W. O’Donnell sent to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan on Feb. 14, Charles Littlejohn “inappropriately accessed or leaked” the information of 405,427 taxpayers, 89 percent of whom are “business entities.” Littlejohn had previously been charged in 2023 for allegedly disclosing tax return information to two news organizations that were not explicitly listed. This taxpayer information was leaked to ProPublica, which used the data “to report its ‘Secret IRS Files’ series,” according to ProPublica. “The vast dataset contained details on thousands of wealthy Americans, and ProPublica reported dozens of stories based on an analysis of it,” ProPublica said. ProPublica’s Editor-in-Chief Stephen Engelberg denied knowing the identity of the source when charges were made public.
No wonder the current normal seems abnormal to the status quo of the recent past.Well, the Revolution certainly wasn't televised but will, as Victor Davis Hanson describes as the Counter-Revolution? Certainly not in anything resembling an honest accounting, despite Jeff Bezos' sacking of the WAPo's editorial chief. He is not interested in honest reportage that promotes the free market and freedom of expression. He wants to bowdlerize those high ideals to be used as weapons against Trump and his agenda. They will fail, miserably. And must, please God. Stay tuned for Pam Bondi releasing some or the juicier bits of the Epstein files!!!! Oh boy. Have a great day. 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.
- ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
- According to a letter that Department of the Treasury Acting Commissioner Douglas W. O’Donnell sent to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan on Feb. 14, Charles Littlejohn “inappropriately accessed or leaked” the information of 405,427 taxpayers, 89 percent of whom are “business entities.”
IRS Contractor Leaked Information Of 405,000 Taxpayers — But We’re Supposed To Be Concerned About DOGE?
- Victor Davis Hanson: Trump’s first month is a shock treatment to decades of spending, open borders, and bureaucratic bloat—restoring what was lost while critics decry the cure more than the disease.
Who Caused the Counter-Revolution?
- 'It's pretty sick what the man did,' Bondi said.
Pam Bondi Says Some Epstein Files, Including Flight Logs, Will ‘Hopefully’ Be Released Thursday
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:33 AM | Comments (408) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Daily Tech News 27 February 2025
Top Story
- China is accusing Taiwan of not sitting still and letting China kill it and steal all its stuff. (Tom's Hardware)
Taiwan replied "Nuh-uh!" and continued right on doing what it was doing.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (169) | Trackbacks (Suck)
February 26, 2025
Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - February 26, 2025 [TRex]
[Photo: National Museum of the US Air Force, Dayton, Ohio]
Good evening Horde. The time has come for mid-week shenanigans of the overnight variety.
This is the Wednesday night ONT. You might sense a theme this week.Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (530) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Trumpday Cafe
London Bridge (subway) Station
Linda Wisdom Photography
@CreativeWisdom_
POV from eagle's shoulders. Morning glory. Otters may be cute, but some of them are jugglers. Aurora borealis light show. Giving your carrot to a beaver, if you get my drift.
A genius innovation in shelving. Think of the number of dead batteries and chop sticks you can store in there!!! Deer bounding down suburban street. Talking toy makes for a good babysitter for puppies. Big machines for building bridges. Eclipse at... sunrise? Now this is podracing! For your morning drive, expect some slowdowns caused by fast-moving lava. Inman: Super Ninja Recovery. Skynet's warming up. Skynet Phase 2. Bruce Wayne's early training videos. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the ocean again...
London Bridge (subway) Station
Linda Wisdom Photography
@CreativeWisdom_
POV from eagle's shoulders. Morning glory. Otters may be cute, but some of them are jugglers. Aurora borealis light show. Giving your carrot to a beaver, if you get my drift.
A genius innovation in shelving. Think of the number of dead batteries and chop sticks you can store in there!!! Deer bounding down suburban street. Talking toy makes for a good babysitter for puppies. Big machines for building bridges. Eclipse at... sunrise? Now this is podracing! For your morning drive, expect some slowdowns caused by fast-moving lava. Inman: Super Ninja Recovery. Skynet's warming up. Skynet Phase 2. Bruce Wayne's early training videos. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the ocean again...
Posted by: Ace at 07:40 PM | Comments (262) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Jeff Bezos Orders His Leftwing Rag to Run Columns on the Topics of "Free Markets" and "Personal Liberties;" Opinion Editor "Steps Away" Rather Than Implementing the Plan
I've said this a dozen times already, but it is pointless for these toxic Marxist propaganda mills to attempt to change their reputations. It's like a woman attempting to regain her lost virtue after blowing the entire town. She'll never shed that reputation. She may wind up landing a man, but she's got a much smaller pool of suitors to work with. Many men will just say "pass."
Jeff Bezos will just have to accept that the Post is an amateurish Anxiety Porn publication for leftwing weirdoes and pedophiles, and reduce staff accordingly. There is no way the Post can be "restored" to being acceptable to normies. His latest hare-brained idea is to force the leftwing op-ed page to once in a while speak up in favor of milquetoast libertarian ideas like "free markets" and "personal liberties." I guess he thought these subjects were so anodyne that not even his incompetent, insubordinate employees could object. Wrong! The left now considers talk about "personal liberties," and people having any rights whatsoever against the oppressive government, as "incipient fascism." It's pathetic, just pathetic. The opinion page editor left the paper rather than push fascist ideas like personal liberty.Jeff BezosHere was the Post's leftwing firebrand -- I mean, careful and honest reporter of facts -- Philip Bump's reaction:
@JeffBezos I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning: I'm writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages.
We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We'll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others. There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader's doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job. I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America's success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical -- it minimizes coercion -- and practical -- it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity. I offered David Shipley, whom I greatly admire, the opportunity to lead this new chapter. I suggested to him that if the answer wasn't "hell yes," then it had to be "no." After careful consideration, David decided to step away. This is a significant shift, it won't be easy, and it will require 100% commitment -- I respect his decision. We'll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction.
I'm confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I'm excited for us together to fill that void.
Jeff
Posted by: Ace at 06:44 PM | Comments (213) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Another Transgender Terrorist Plotted "Mass Casualty" Attack in Corpus Christi, Texas
The media have steadfastly avoided noticing this very serious trend.
In 2021, the government pressured social media companies to deplatform thousands of people, including former president Donald Trump, because of fears that their "rhetoric" was so "incendiary" it would kill people. Calls by the left to mass-censor toxic transgender social media accounts and actual calls to violence and assassination? Zero. El Cero.A Texas suspect's plan "similar to the deadly 2016 Dallas ambush" was thwarted by local and federal officials on Monday, authorities said. Seth "Andrea" Gregori, 21, was arrested on a terroristic threats warrant Monday at 9:25 a.m., the Corpus Christi Police Department said. "The Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified of Gregori making terroristic threats against Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD) Officers," the department said in a release. "The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the threats and secured an arrest warrant for Gregori." Gregori was born male, but identifies as female, CCPD Senior Officer Antonio Contreras told Fox News Digital. Authorities said that the tipster notified police after noting that Gregori had been friendly with several officers in the downtown area, and taking photos of them. The tipster also said Gregoria had recently purchased an AR-style gun. The 21-year-old suspect allegedly modeled the attack "similar to the 2016 Dallas ambush" conducted by Micah Xavier Johnson, the FBI's Houston office said. ... Gregori was arrested on Monday for terroristic threats impeding public service/causing public fear or serious bodily injury and criminal trespass and was being held at Nueces County Jail as of Tuesday morning on a bond of $50,500.And a transgender vandalized and planned to set off an "incendiary device" at a Colorado Tesla dealership.
Posted by: Ace at 06:00 PM | Comments (233) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Republican Congressmen Hang Together to Pass $4.5 Trillion Budget Resolution
Update: TheJamesMadison has an early report:
This was a big vote and a big win for Trump. At least two of the Freedom Caucus members, Chip Roy and Thomas Massie, have some kind of stupid scheme to always vote "no" on any budget. The trouble is, of course, that if Republicans cannot get all of their members to vote for a budget, then Republican leadership has to bargain with Democrats to get support for the budget. And that will result in even bigger budgets and bigger giveaways, of course. But Speaker Johnson and, one assumes, Donald Trump managed to bring Roy in line, and the House passed the budget on a straight-line vote, 217-215. I imagine that maybe Trump's demonstrated seriousness on cutting spending caused them to cast a vote for a budget they would otherwise have voted "no" on. Massie still voted against it. I guess he prides Muh Princibuhls over actual results.
Fake and gay, fake and gay, everything is now fake and gay:
I don't know what's in the budget, sorry to say.
Update: TheJamesMadison has an early report:
I've been glancing through the executive summary for most of the day. https://budget.house.gov/fy-2025-budget-resolution It slows the rate of growth. It does not cut overall spending. It has a lot of good language about things like ending baseline inclusion of one-time spending like TARP. It relies on accelerated economic growth. It includes making the Trump tax cuts permanent. And it's supposed to lead to a small surplus in 10 years. It's not good. It's better than what Paul Ryan tried to put forward 10 years ago. It's much better than the perpetual CRs. It's probably the best thing we could realistically get. Posted by: TheJamesMadison, watching B-movies with Roger Corman
This was a big vote and a big win for Trump. At least two of the Freedom Caucus members, Chip Roy and Thomas Massie, have some kind of stupid scheme to always vote "no" on any budget. The trouble is, of course, that if Republicans cannot get all of their members to vote for a budget, then Republican leadership has to bargain with Democrats to get support for the budget. And that will result in even bigger budgets and bigger giveaways, of course. But Speaker Johnson and, one assumes, Donald Trump managed to bring Roy in line, and the House passed the budget on a straight-line vote, 217-215. I imagine that maybe Trump's demonstrated seriousness on cutting spending caused them to cast a vote for a budget they would otherwise have voted "no" on. Massie still voted against it. I guess he prides Muh Princibuhls over actual results.
Trump has ordered agencies to prepare for mass layoffs and to submit plans to lay off large numers of their staffs. There's no number for the overall cut in federal workers, but Trump wants the EPA to submit plans to layoff 65% of its "workers." AP:
President Donald Trump's tax cuts, border, defense, and energy promises are one step closer to enactment after the U.S. House narrowly passed its $4.5 trillion budget resolution Tuesday night, officially kickstarting the budget reconciliation process. Following hours of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., convincing Republican holdouts to commit, a brief cancellation of the vote, and then an abrupt recalling of all House members, the resolution passed 217-215 and now heads to the Senate. Republicans have a majority in the upper chamber with 53 members to the Democrats' 45 and two independents caucusing with them. The passage of the House budget resolution was far from certain. Both the high price tag and the steep spending cuts worried some Republicans, with centrists opposed to possible slashes to Medicaid and fiscal hardliners revolting against the estimated tens of trillions of dollars the resolution could add to the federal deficit over the next 10 years. Besides extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts for at least 10 years at the cost of $4.5 trillion, the resolution authorizes a $300 billion increase in defense and border security spending, to be split among the Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Judiciary committees. To partially accommodate its price tag, the proposal also instructs the Ways and Means Committee to raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion and instructs other committees to find at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years, likely from changes to Medicaid. Just two Republican "no" votes could have tanked the resolution. Out of the four Republican holdouts who had either indicated or outright stated their intent to vote no, Reps. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, ultimately flipped after pressure from party leaders. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the lone Republican who voted against the resolution.
The U.S. government is facing a generational realignment as President Donald Trump directs federal agencies to develop plans for eliminating employee positions and consolidating programs. Senior officials set the downsizing in motion on Wednesday with a memo that dramatically expands Trump's efforts to scale back a workforce described as an impediment to his agenda. Thousands of probationary employees have already been fired, and now the Republican administration is turning its attention to career officials with civil service protection. "We're cutting down the size of government. We have to," Trump said during the first Cabinet meeting of his second term. "We're bloated. We're sloppy. We have a lot of people that aren't doing their job." The ripple effects will be felt around the country. Roughly 80% of federal workers live outside the Washington area, and government services -- patent approvals, food inspections, park maintenance and more -- could be hindered depending on how cuts are handled. Resistance is expected. Labor unions, Democratic state leaders and other organizations have tried, with some success, to slow Trump down with litigation, while Republicans are growing more concerned about how a slash-and-burn strategy could affect their constituents.LOL. More on that in a second.
Agencies are directed to submit by March 13 their plans for what is known as a reduction in force, which would not only lay off employees but eliminate the position altogether. The result could be extensive changes in how government functions. No specific targets for cutbacks were included in the memo. However, as an example, Trump said the Environmental Protection Agency could reduce its staff by 65%. ... "The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt. At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public," said the memo from Russell Vought, director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, and Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, which functions as a human resources agency. "Instead, tax dollars are being siphoned off to fund unproductive and unnecessary programs that benefit radical interest groups while hurting hard-working American citizens." Vought was an author of Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump's second term, and he has advocated for centralizing power under the presidency and dismantling federal bureaucracy. "We're not going to save our country without a little confrontation," Vought said last summer during a podcast hosted by Trump ally Stephen Bannon.Do you remember the media pushing fake stories claiming that "even red state voters are revolting against Musk's vicious cuts"? The AP just referenced "Republicans growing concerned about a slash-and-burn strategy." Well, I know this may shock you, but those protests were faked by leftwing pressure groups.
Media outlets such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CBS News pointed to town hall events, including one hosted by Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA), as signs of growing public opposition to DOGE. These reports highlighted heated exchanges and vocal protests as evidence of bipartisan dissatisfaction with the department's efforts to reduce government spending. However, the Washington Free Beacon's investigation suggests a different narrative. It revealed that the protests were organized by leftist activists, with Maggie Goldman playing a prominent role. Goldman, who resides in McCormick's district, has a long history of political activism within the Democratic Party. Her background includes coordinating volunteers for Pete Buttigieg's presidential campaign and running for local office with a platform advocating for a more inclusive policy agenda. Additionally, campaign finance records show she donated over $1,500 to Kamala Harris's campaign last year. The report further detailed that protests at other GOP town halls were also organized by liberal groups, notably Indivisible and MoveOn, both funded by George Soros. These groups reportedly helped drive media coverage that framed the protests as evidence of public discontent with the Trump administration's policies, despite the organized and partisan nature of the demonstrations.Probably paid for by USAID, we'll find out later.
Fake and gay, fake and gay, everything is now fake and gay:
Posted by: Ace at 04:53 PM | Comments (334) | Trackbacks (Suck)
MSNBC Fires "The Majority" of Rachel Maddow's Staffers
Note that she could easily pull a Jay Leno. When NBC wanted Leno's show to reduce costs, Leno famously took a $10 million per year pay cut so that he could pay his staff with no job losses or pay cuts.
The Pretend Socialist Rachel Maddow will not be taking even a $1 million pay cut to keep any of the people she knows and works with employed.
MSNBC has reportedly informed a majority of staffers who work on Rachel Maddow's primetime opinion show that they are being let go as part of the network's restructuring that resulted in the cancellation of Joy Reid's program as well as those of other hosts. The Comcast-owned, left-leaning channel told Maddow staffers, who also worked on the other canceled shows including "Alex Wagner Tonight," that they have the option of applying for new roles at the network or accepting a severance payout, according to the news site Guardian. Maddow, MSNBC's most prominent anchor and top-rated host, will retain her executive producer, Cory Gnazzo, along with several senior producers, the Guardian reported. However, the rest of her team, along with producers from other recently canceled shows -- including those hosted by Alex Wagner, Katie Phang, Jonathan Capehart, Ayman Mohyeldin and José Díaz-Balart -- will need to find new jobs either within the network or at a different company, according to the report. A network insider reached by The Post denied that the move constituted layoffs. The network insists that the shakeup was a reallocation of resources to support the network's evolving priorities, according to the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.LOL, Corporate Media. They're not layoffs, they're just a "reallocation of resources to support the network's evolving priorities." MSNBC claims that the non-laid-off employees will have the opportunity to apply for other jobs at MSNBC, but MSNBC lost half of its ratings and is being sold off because it's a dying brand. What "other" jobs will these non-laid-off employees be applying for, exactly?
.. The restructuring coincides with broader financial pressures at MSNBC, which is being spun off from parent company NBCUniversal. The network is searching for cost-saving measures, mirroring CNN's recent move to lay off 200 employees under its new chief executive, Mark Thompson, who has been aggressively pushing for a stronger digital strategy. Sources in Washington, DC, have privately voiced concerns that the new roles MSNBC is posting may predominantly be based in New York, where union-negotiated hourly pay rates are reportedly lower. Employees worry that accepting new positions may require relocation, further complicating their employment status. ...Magic 8-Ball Check: Doubtful. Rachel Maddow's head is so long the bitch's brain is vertical. Bitch's hat size is #2 Pencil.
She added that in six months' time, MSNBC would have more employees than it does currently, an assertion intended to project long-term stability despite the current upheaval.
Posted by: Ace at 03:45 PM | Comments (448) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Tulsi Gabbard To Fire 100 "Intelligence" Community Perverts Who Wasted All Day In Government-Permitted Groupchats Talking About Fake Vaginas and Anal Bleaching
Leftists ruined the workplace like they ruined everything else.
One of their ruinous ideas was "bring your whole self to work." This is an explicit rejection of the impersonal professionalism that had served us well as a workplace ethos for 300 years of modern history. We don't want your "whole self" at work -- we don't want your sexuality or your politics or your fetishes. We just want your work self at work -- amiable and impersonal, hard-working and, yes, somewhat anonymous. Your "whole self" can wait until you get home or to your transgender clinic. And of course the right was never permitted to bring our own "whole selves" to work -- talking about Jesus was forbidden. Mentioning any conservative political leaning was punishable by summary firing. The transgenders and fetishists who invaded the federal government have been using government resources to talk about the most disgusting personal kinks instead of working:Top officials Tuesday denounced a newly exposed transgender sex chat room where employees of federal intelligence agencies talked about "castration, artificial vaginas, [urine] fetishes, sex polycules, and gangbangs" on a government messaging system during work hours. The shocking forum involved workers at the National Security Agency, the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency. Manhattan Institute senior fellow Christopher Rufo and investigator Hannah Grossman exposed the messages. The employees also discussed male-to-female transgender surgeries, celebrated the death of televangelist Pat Robertson, and attacked Italians, Christians, conservatives, heterosexuals and Tulsi Gabbard, the new director of national intelligence. NSA officials established a first-of-its-kind transgender inclusion policy at the agency four years ago. On Tuesday, top intelligence officials condemned the chat room and said it no longer existed. The lurid exchanges, exposed on social media, garnered the attention of President Trump's government efficiency adviser Elon Musk, who posted on X: "MAJOR housecleaning is needed." The two investigators uncovered the extraordinary exchange in chat logs provided by the NSA's Intelink Messenger program, which hosted groups called "LBTQA" and "IC_Pride_TWG."And Tulsi Gabbard is set to fire them all.
More than 100 intelligence community employees will be terminated and have their security clearances revoked as the intelligence community investigates group chats that allegedly discussed explicit behavior, officials said. ... "This behavior is unacceptable and those involved WILL be held accountable," Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard posted on X.
She said the "disgusting chat groups" were immediately shut down when President Donald Trump issued his executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the federal government, which she called the "DEI insanity the Biden Admin was obsessed with." "Our IC must be focused on our core mission: ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people," Gabbard said. Deputy Chief of Staff Alexa Henning said in a post on X Tuesday evening, "The DNI sent a memo directing all intelligence agencies to identify the employees who participated in the NSA's 'obscene, pornographic, and sexually explicit' chatrooms and to terminate their employment and revoke their security clearances. Deadline: Friday."
Posted by: Ace at 02:36 PM | Comments (438) | Trackbacks (Suck)
One Media Hero Steps Forward to Blow the Lid Off the Biden Dementia Cover-Up.
That Hero? Biden Defender Fake Jake Tapper.
That Hero? Biden Defender Fake Jake Tapper.
Posted by: Ace at 01:22 PM | Comments (569) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Trump Holds First Meeting of Full Cabinet
Live, in progress.
Paul A. Szypula
@Bubblebathgirl Strong speech by @elonmusk at Trump's first Cabinet meeting. Musk talks about @DOGE: - "We can find a trillion dollars in savings."
- "DOGE is a support function for the president and for the agencies and departments."
- "Find 15% reduction in fraud and waste."
- "We bring the receipts!"
- "We won't be perfect, but when we make mistakes, we'll fix it quickly."
- "We need to move quickly if we're to achieve a trillion dollar deficit reduction."
- "We can do it and we will do it."
Posted by: Ace at 12:12 PM | Comments (493) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Wednesday Morning Rant
The Beginning of the End?
Nothing makes journalists happier than when the news is itself news. Well, that's usually true, but sometimes when the news is the news, it isn't because of "firefighter" journalists speaking "truth to power" or whatever, but because of major industrial shakeup.
Comcast made news this week for firing the execrable Joy Reid, but this is possibly - perhaps even likely - related to the slightly older piece of news that Comcast will be spinning off much of its cable TV portfolio into a new independent subsidiary that will immediately IPO and trade on its own. They haven't bothered to give it a name yet, calling it just "SpinCo." That may be an apt name, because the new corporation will contain NBC News' intellectual weak sister CNBC and that weak sister's inbred idiot cousin, MSNBC - though not NBC News itself.
Posted by: Joe Mannix at 11:00 AM | Comments (329) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Mid-Morning Art Thread [Kris]
Apollonius of Athens
Note: Being a three-dimensional medium, sculpture is difficult to appreciate properly in a two-dimensional format. This essay is my best effort with this limitation.
**** Boxer at Rest comes from an era of art history known as Hellenism which spans the centuries between the death of Alexander the Great and the Rome’s conquest of Greece. During these centuries, the Greek world expanded beyond its peninsular homeland into modern day Turkey, the Middle East, and north Africa. The innovations of Classical Greek art — idealism, naturalism, and heroic beauty — were mixed with realism and drama. Art, especially figurative art, became more grounded with more down-to-earth subject matter. Humanity was even added to images of the gods. Unearthed in Rome in the late 19th century, Boxer at Rest is a masterpiece of ancient bronzeworking. Bronze was a much sought-after medium for Greek artists because of its durability and moldability. Marble, the medium we now tend to associate with classical sculpture, is fragile and unforgiving. It can fracture easily and has weak spots that must be braced with struts and supports. Bronze is different. If a mistake is made, the figure can be melted down and the metal reused. Statues are hollow and free-standing, able to mimic the human body better than stone. Unfortunately, many bronzes have been lost to history and works like Boxer at Rest are rare. A large amount of the “ancient Greek art” seen today in museums are marble Roman copies of Greek bronze originals. The figure in this work is of a defeated boxer resting after a bout. He sits exhausted, with slouched shoulders. He hasn’t even taken off his leather hand-straps (himantes) yet. His arms lay weightlessly in his knees and his legs stretch out asymmetrically. He’s exhausted. His head turns to an extreme angle to his right as though listening to someone behind him — a manager or disappointed supporter. While his limbs relax, his thick, muscular torso and shoulders are still tense. For me, the charm of Boxer at Rest is in the details. The turned head is so real. I can envision him plopping down onto that rock after a disappointing fight when someone behind him calls out. He’s too tired to move so he only turns his head. If you zoom in on his face, the expression reflects his body language. His eyes stare and his brows are knitted. I can see him panting through his partially open mouth. His face and ears are deeply scarred. Some wounds are fresh. They are still bleeding. The nose is broken, the left cheek is swelling, and his ears are cauliflowered. To add to the realism, copper is added to the cuts to mimic blood. He also likely had eyes to complete the lifelikeness. Classical Greek art was about the ideal — the best and most beautiful, about the perfection of the human figure. This meant a work was a flawless, unemotional, godlike figure in the nude to display the full beauty of the male human form. With Hellenism, that beauty was seen and celebrated in the common human. This is not a god. Sure, this boxer is strong, muscular, and tough but he’s also highly expressive. He is gassed, sad, and disappointed. You don’t see this emotionalism in Classical art. I can feel this work.
Apollonius of Athens
Note: Being a three-dimensional medium, sculpture is difficult to appreciate properly in a two-dimensional format. This essay is my best effort with this limitation.
**** Boxer at Rest comes from an era of art history known as Hellenism which spans the centuries between the death of Alexander the Great and the Rome’s conquest of Greece. During these centuries, the Greek world expanded beyond its peninsular homeland into modern day Turkey, the Middle East, and north Africa. The innovations of Classical Greek art — idealism, naturalism, and heroic beauty — were mixed with realism and drama. Art, especially figurative art, became more grounded with more down-to-earth subject matter. Humanity was even added to images of the gods. Unearthed in Rome in the late 19th century, Boxer at Rest is a masterpiece of ancient bronzeworking. Bronze was a much sought-after medium for Greek artists because of its durability and moldability. Marble, the medium we now tend to associate with classical sculpture, is fragile and unforgiving. It can fracture easily and has weak spots that must be braced with struts and supports. Bronze is different. If a mistake is made, the figure can be melted down and the metal reused. Statues are hollow and free-standing, able to mimic the human body better than stone. Unfortunately, many bronzes have been lost to history and works like Boxer at Rest are rare. A large amount of the “ancient Greek art” seen today in museums are marble Roman copies of Greek bronze originals. The figure in this work is of a defeated boxer resting after a bout. He sits exhausted, with slouched shoulders. He hasn’t even taken off his leather hand-straps (himantes) yet. His arms lay weightlessly in his knees and his legs stretch out asymmetrically. He’s exhausted. His head turns to an extreme angle to his right as though listening to someone behind him — a manager or disappointed supporter. While his limbs relax, his thick, muscular torso and shoulders are still tense. For me, the charm of Boxer at Rest is in the details. The turned head is so real. I can envision him plopping down onto that rock after a disappointing fight when someone behind him calls out. He’s too tired to move so he only turns his head. If you zoom in on his face, the expression reflects his body language. His eyes stare and his brows are knitted. I can see him panting through his partially open mouth. His face and ears are deeply scarred. Some wounds are fresh. They are still bleeding. The nose is broken, the left cheek is swelling, and his ears are cauliflowered. To add to the realism, copper is added to the cuts to mimic blood. He also likely had eyes to complete the lifelikeness. Classical Greek art was about the ideal — the best and most beautiful, about the perfection of the human figure. This meant a work was a flawless, unemotional, godlike figure in the nude to display the full beauty of the male human form. With Hellenism, that beauty was seen and celebrated in the common human. This is not a god. Sure, this boxer is strong, muscular, and tough but he’s also highly expressive. He is gassed, sad, and disappointed. You don’t see this emotionalism in Classical art. I can feel this work.
Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:30 AM | Comments (355) | Trackbacks (Suck)
The Morning Report — 2/ 26 /25
It's one thing to demand federal bureaucrats justify their jobs. Better still would be Congressmen and Senators, especially Republicans, justify funding these leeches and the agencies in which they work. What does the EPA really do, Lisa Murkowski? Ditto the Dept. of Education. Etc., etc. etc. all the way throughout the radioactive wasteland known as the Federal Triangle (Bartertown aka Bipartisantown). It's also one thing to rail against welfare, high speed rail, Obamacare and all the rest of the pork that is bankrupting us and putting your children and grandchildren into hock up to their eyeballs. The crux of the biscuit as it were lies in the very word and notion of ENTITLEMENTS. Yes, I get it, we honest taxpaying law abiding citizens have been forced to pay into a system that came into being long before we were born, with no option to not participate in it. Whether we wanted to be a part of it or not, we are a part of the welfare state. Structurally changing it is one thing, and a very good and long overdue thing that both DOGE and taking a wrecking ball to as much of the bureaucracy that can be done. As CBD and I touched upon in the last podcast, the notion of entitlements and what that means in light of the Trump MAGA movement. But deprogramming the citizenry of this mentality that we are "entitled" to other peoples' money is quite something else. Look, I get it, we paid into it and when it's our turn, we are indeed "entitled" to get back what was ours in the first place. Hopefully, I want what Trump is doing to start a sea change in the mentality of the citizenry to empower themselves to go back to a time when individual liberty was undergirded by a foundational requirement of personal responsibility to prepare for our future needs of our own volition. That mentality runs antithetical to how the anti-American Democrat Left gains and maintains power. By becoming mother and father to as many people as possible from cradle to grave, in exchange for giving them the power to take and spend your money as they see fit. If we can break future generations of that habit, then we really will have made America great again. Two very good essays touch upon this brainwave. First this one:
Going further is this excellent essay.
No wonder the Left wants to destroy the Family, God and Judeo-Christian morality and ethics because it places the responsibility for our lives, happiness and flourishing on ourselves as individuals.
Speaking of societal dissolution, another crazed beast created by Leftist insanity has mercifully been thwarted:
It's one thing to demand federal bureaucrats justify their jobs. Better still would be Congressmen and Senators, especially Republicans, justify funding these leeches and the agencies in which they work. What does the EPA really do, Lisa Murkowski? Ditto the Dept. of Education. Etc., etc. etc. all the way throughout the radioactive wasteland known as the Federal Triangle (Bartertown aka Bipartisantown). It's also one thing to rail against welfare, high speed rail, Obamacare and all the rest of the pork that is bankrupting us and putting your children and grandchildren into hock up to their eyeballs. The crux of the biscuit as it were lies in the very word and notion of ENTITLEMENTS. Yes, I get it, we honest taxpaying law abiding citizens have been forced to pay into a system that came into being long before we were born, with no option to not participate in it. Whether we wanted to be a part of it or not, we are a part of the welfare state. Structurally changing it is one thing, and a very good and long overdue thing that both DOGE and taking a wrecking ball to as much of the bureaucracy that can be done. As CBD and I touched upon in the last podcast, the notion of entitlements and what that means in light of the Trump MAGA movement. But deprogramming the citizenry of this mentality that we are "entitled" to other peoples' money is quite something else. Look, I get it, we paid into it and when it's our turn, we are indeed "entitled" to get back what was ours in the first place. Hopefully, I want what Trump is doing to start a sea change in the mentality of the citizenry to empower themselves to go back to a time when individual liberty was undergirded by a foundational requirement of personal responsibility to prepare for our future needs of our own volition. That mentality runs antithetical to how the anti-American Democrat Left gains and maintains power. By becoming mother and father to as many people as possible from cradle to grave, in exchange for giving them the power to take and spend your money as they see fit. If we can break future generations of that habit, then we really will have made America great again. Two very good essays touch upon this brainwave. First this one:
All of this is actually quite normal. The Romans called this cultural cycle a saeculum, which refers to a period about as long as a human life (80–90 years). In modern times, we refer to these cycles as “turnings,” a term popularized by demographers William Strauss and Neil Howe. A turning is approximately 22 years, and the fourth turning is one in which there is radical social upheaval. We are plainly in a fourth turning right now. Fourth turnings often (but not necessarily) resolve in violent revolution. The last fourth turning resulted in World War II; the one before that resulted in the Civil War; the one before that resulted in the Revolutionary War and establishment of the Constitution; and the one before that resulted in the Glorious Revolution. The cycles repeat throughout history like clockwork—as predictable as human nature.
Going further is this excellent essay.
. . . a realignment that had been going on for decades suddenly picked up momentum. The Democrat strategy should be obvious by now, and it is not primarily oriented to identity politics. That’s just the ideological window dressing, with plenty of evidence to debunk its substance. Productive private sector workers and entrepreneurs, regardless of their ethnicity or gender, have overwhelmingly rejected the Democrats, along with their woke and green rhetoric. But the economic strategy the Democrats are pursuing may yet work. It appeals to three constituencies. The first of these constituencies is government workers, about 15 percent of households. This figure, while high, understates their influence because spouses of government workers are likely to share the economic priorities of their partner. Anyone working for a government contractor also benefits when the public sector expands. When government grows, these voters prosper. Add to that the next constituency of Democrats, the households in America that pay no taxes, conservatively estimated at 40 percent. These are people in lower income groups that are often receiving government subsidies, whether it’s welfare, the Earned Income Tax Credit, or other benefits. These voters benefit when government aid programs are increased. And when you add together the government workers and the households dependent on government assistance—or at the least indifferent to its expansion because they don’t pay taxes anyway—you already have over 50 percent of the electorate. It’s at this margin that the battle for the future of America is being fought. And every time another government regulation or tax is imposed on small businesses or households that still manage to maintain financial independence, the resentment they feel against expanding government begins to compete with the economic necessity of depending on government handouts to survive.
No wonder the Left wants to destroy the Family, God and Judeo-Christian morality and ethics because it places the responsibility for our lives, happiness and flourishing on ourselves as individuals.
Speaking of societal dissolution, another crazed beast created by Leftist insanity has mercifully been thwarted:
A Texas man arrested for allegedly planning a “mass casualty event” against law enforcement was “transitioning” genders, a police source confirmed to the Caller. The FBI’s Houston office announced Monday that it arrested Seth “Andrea” Gregori after he allegedly plotted an attack against police “similar to the 2016 Dallas ambush.” In that 2016 attack, Micah Xavier Johnson ambushed police officers in Dallas, Texas, killing five and wounding nine more in a mass shooting. Johnson was reportedly angry over white police officers shooting black suspects. . . . KENS5 News reported that Gregori allegedly intended to target “white cops” in the CCPD but would leave “Black and Mexican cops alone,” according to the arrest affidavit.I imagine this is in part because of the tremendous success of the de facto Trump enacted Operation Wetback 2.0 is shipping the illegals the hell out and discouraging others from entering in the first place. And of course Trump's campaign against DEI and Transgender psychosis being imposed on normal society. Near political terrorism straight up. The louder, shriller and cruder the calls for violence against Trump, Musk and all of us become, it merely reflects the desperation of those whose power and influence are being threatened. Stay strong, people because we shall overcome. It won't be easy, but while evil never rests, it will not reign supreme forever. Be on the lookout for a new podcast episode in the sidebar and over at Cutjibnewsletter.com later today. 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.
Gregori was arrested for allegedly making terroristic threats against Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD) officers, according to a CCPD press release.
- ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
- Attacks on water and electrical facilities around the nation are nothing new, going back to at least 2021. We were reminded last May that cyber attacks against our water systems were taking place. We knew that Russia and Iran were targeting smaller communities. But those attacks were taking place over the internet.
Did Someone Tamper With the Water in Prescott Valley, and Why Isn't This a Bigger Story?
- This old guard seeks to defend what the majority sees as indefensible, and we are finally exerting political will to address the obviously dysfunctional institutions at the root of the problem.
The Cultural Cycle Is Upon Us Again
- Democrats push regulations that crush small businesses while benefiting big corporations and government, realigning America’s political landscape toward economic dependency and corporate favoritism.
The Economics of Leftist Populism
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:30 AM | Comments (422) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Daily Tech News 26 February 2025
Top Story
- Framework has announced three new models: The low-end education-focused Laptop 12, a new Laptop 13 with AMD's Ryzen 300 series chips, and the all-new Desktop. (Tom's Hardware)
The new Framework 13 keeps the upgradeable memory, with up to 96GB to accompany an up to Ryzen 370 twelve-core CPU. Still no Four Essential Keys though.
The Framework Desktop is a mini-ITX system in a compact 4"x8"x9" case.
Using AMD's latest Strix Halo CPUs, up to the Ryzen 395, with its 16 CPU cores and 40 graphics cores.
Memory this time is soldered, though you can specify up to 128GB of it, and it's only a 100% markup over retail. The company said that it worked "for months" with AMD but couldn't make the memory user-upgradeable while maintaining the 8000MHz target frequency. (The new Laptop 13 uses 5600MHz memory.)
There are two M.2 slots for storage, so you're free to upgrade that at least.
Plus two USB 4 ports, two DisplayPort ports, HDMI, 5Gb Ethernet, two regular USB ports, a headphone jack, and two of Framework's flexible expansion ports at the front, though the video is already prewired to the rear of the case so you can't put the DisplayPort or HDMI options there.
Price for the 128GB model is $1999, which is not exactly cheap, but a Mac Studio configured with 128GB of RAM will set you back $4799, which is even less exactly cheap.
Laptop 13 ships in April; Desktop ships in Q3.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (138) | Trackbacks (Suck)
February 25, 2025
Tuesday Overnight Open Thread. February 25, 2025. [scampydog]
Photo from Tub Spring Meadow, up the hill from Wallowa, OR
Eva Green sighting in Mystery Click
ONT! Good evening and happy Tuesday. It is national chili day. We'll set the over/under at 64 chili comments.
ONT! Good evening and happy Tuesday. It is national chili day. We'll set the over/under at 64 chili comments.
Why does Irish chili only have 239 beans? Because anymore and it'd be too farty.
Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (316) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Awkward Friendships Cafe
The puppy grows up but does not outgrow his toy dragon.
Can you blame him? Hugs are better than drugs, Jack Straw.
The puppy grows up but does not outgrow his toy dragon.
Can you blame him? Hugs are better than drugs, Jack Straw.
Posted by: Ace at 07:30 PM | Comments (226) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Quick Hits
Supposedly, Doomcock is Finally Right. Puck says that Kathleen Kennedy, Destroyer of Billion-Dollar IPs, reckons she's done enough brand damage and can now retire.
Sonny Hostin wants to be the next Joy Reid. And there are rumors that she might be -- rumors are flying that ABC has ordered the ugly hens of The View to stop being so toxic and divisive, and may be looking to dump most of them. So here's Sonny Hostin make her appeal to Middle America.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is being accused of violating ethics rules after backing laws that financially benefited his wife's environmental organization. The Democratic senator and climate hawk voted for key laws that provided funding for grants to the environmental non-profit group that works with his wife, Sandra Whitehouse, and pays her through a consulting firm. The ethics watchdog, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), is asking the Senate Select Committee on Ethics Chairman James Lankford, R-Okla., and Vice Chairman Chris Coons, D-Del., to investigate Whitehouse "to determine whether he violated the Senate ethics rules on conflicts of interest." The group works primarily to draw attention to potential Democratic lawmaker ethics violations. Ocean Conservancy has received more than $14.2 million in federal grants since 2008, per USASpending.gov. During 2024 alone, it was given two sizable grants, one for $5.2 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for marine debris cleanup in September and another for $1.7 million from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), again to assist with marine debris cleanup. The former was funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) championed by the Biden administration and voted for by Sen. Whitehouse. The latter was funded through the EPA's annual appropriations bill, which Whitehouse also voted for.
Supposedly, Doomcock is Finally Right. Puck says that Kathleen Kennedy, Destroyer of Billion-Dollar IPs, reckons she's done enough brand damage and can now retire.
According to Puck, Kathleen reportedly turned in her resignation notice, ending her 13-year run as head of Lucasfilm at the end of the year:This is a "who cares" thing for me. These brands no longer have any value or appeal. They were destroyed. People had been emotionally invested and begged them to not destroy billion-dollar modern myths, but they did anyway. Now no one cares. Star Wars is a dead brand, even Indiana Jones is a dead brand. Their toys no longer sell. There are no new young fans being created. They sought the "modern audience." Well, they got it. Except the modern audience doesn't exist. There is groundswell of twenty million radical left BIPOC transgenders who have taken up the mantle of LucasFilm Fandom. Disney can't sell LucasFilm now, because Bob Iger can't take realizing (admitting publicly) that he's taken LucasFilm from a $4.05 billion evaluation to whatever it is now -- $1 billion? -- but eventually Iger will retire and Disney will unload it someone else. Maybe whoever buys MSNBC will be interested in making flop Star Wars prequels and side-quels.These rumors have been circulating for some time, and while it's still not wholly confirmed, as Puck notes, the reports are likely true.
After years of speculation, and polite urging from observers like me, Kathleen Kennedy has informed Disney, as well as friends and associates, that she will exit as Lucasfilm president by the end of the year, per three sources. Disney and Kennedy's personal publicist declined to comment. [...] Kennedy has been telegraphing her exit lately, selling her and husband Frank Marshall's Malibu house, offloading art, and talking to friends about working with Frank more. She's also been collecting career honors from everyone from the Austin Film Festival to the American Society of Cinematographers to this week's Oscar Wilde Awards in L.A. Departing this year will allow a successor to handle the 2026 release of The Mandalorian and Grogu, the first Star Wars movie since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. This year she's got only the second season of Andor, which will likely be an Emmy contender (the trailer looks good), and some kids' stuff on Disney+.
Sonny Hostin wants to be the next Joy Reid. And there are rumors that she might be -- rumors are flying that ABC has ordered the ugly hens of The View to stop being so toxic and divisive, and may be looking to dump most of them. So here's Sonny Hostin make her appeal to Middle America.
Big Ben has tolled thirteen o'clock in the former United Kingdom. The police are now intimidating grandmothers for the crime of... criticizing the Labour government.
The fun began when noted Christian theologian Hostin declared (shouted) about how opposition to the cancer of "woke" ideology is "ungodly" and "not Christian." ...
That's how I feel. My parents, you know, they grew up in the Civil Rights movement. I grew up in the late '60s/'70s. I was always a part of it, and so I've never been asleep. And so it angers me when people are, like, 'this woke stuff's got to go.' That's telling me that you don't care about my lived experience! You don't care about the oppression of the LGBTQ community! You don't care about the oppression of the disabled! You don't care about the oppression of immigrants! You don't care about your fellow neighbor, and that is ungodly! That is not Christian! So.
Furious Brits have slammed Manchester Police and Labour for 'shameful' behaviour targeting a grandmother exposed by The Mail on Sunday. Two police officers were caught on camera paying a visit to a grandmother simply for criticising Labour politicians on Facebook. Detectives have been accused of acting like East Germany's Stasi secret police for quizzing Helen Jones over her calls for the resignation of local councillors embroiled in the WhatsApp scandal exposed by The Mail on Sunday. Police conceded that the 54-year-old had committed no crime -- yet Mrs Jones said she has effectively been silenced by the officers, as she was intimidated by them calling at her door and is too terrified to post on social media again. Voters have rallied to her defence and blasted the 'shocking' incident as a waste of police time and accused the Government for alleged 'abuse of power'. Former Tory Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg called the behaviour 'extraordinary'. It is the latest in a string of incidents in which police have investigated people for social media posts, including newspaper columnist Allison Pearson, feminist writer Julie Bindel, and former policeman Harry Miller, whose name was added to a database for his 'non-crime hate incident'. Greater Manchester Police has one of the highest crime rates in Britain and fails to solve almost three out of four shoplifting incidents. Mr Rees-Mogg told MailOnline: 'It is extraordinary that the police even for a moment thought that expressing mild criticisms of an elected politician of the governing party could constitute harassment. 'It is not just that this is a poor use of resources but it has sinister undertones. 'Opinion is legal and confidence in the police is damaged by this type of interference in free speech.' Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'This is a total waste of Police time. 'People's free speech is being infringed. 'So-called Non Crime Hate Incidents are not working. The Police should only investigate actual crime, or where there is a real and imminent risk of it. 'The Police must get back to their actual job.' Tory MP Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, told MailOnline: 'It's absurd that the police are spending their time investigating critical tweets. 'Thefts and burglaries are going unsolved and yet the police are wasting their time with nonsense like this. We desperately need to go back to common sense policing.'Fascism is forever descending upon America, but landing in Europe.
Posted by: Ace at 06:30 PM | Comments (281) | Trackbacks (Suck)
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