Memopalooza – The Continuing

Due to the earlier content blast, the regular Friday Afternoon Links are off today. Go wallow in the earlier posts instead. Or here. Whichever trips your trigger.

I heard some noise down in the Writer’s Lounge that sounded like screaming…so I am going to take that as a sign that STEVE SMITH will be doing Evening Links duty, so tune in before 7pm Central. Or whenever he finishes what he is doing. And by doing, I think you all know what we mean.

 

FRIEND!

Comments

399 responses to “Memopalooza – The Continuing”

  1. Creosote Achilles

    That brother looks either scared or excited. Like he knows what’s coming, and knows he can’t stop it.

  2. Just Say’n

    We should fill this thread with hot pictures of Hope Hicks. Just saying

    1. Ed Wuncler

      I second that.

      1. Lackadaisical

        My. God.

      2. Breet Pharara

        Ya’ll can have all the Thicc chicks you want, I want more of these.

        1. Just Say’n

          Support the effort then

          1. Just Say’n

            Nice

          2. C. Anacreon

            I’m with Breet. She’s right up my alley.

            Thicc, not for me, but to each his own, and I’m happy for those of you who enjoy them.

            I guess I just grew up in the “no fat chicks” era, so thicc is lost on me.

          3. F. Stupidity Jr.

            I guess I just grew up in the “no fat chicks” era, so thicc is lost on me.

            I’m 43, and that rule was still very much in effect during my time. But I reject it. I mean, I don’t mean “I reject the fit ones”, but a gorgeous woman is a gorgeous woman. I’ll take gorgeous and fat* over a fit butterface.

            * – There are limits, just as there are limits to skinny

          4. Hyperion

            THICC and fat are not the same thing. I think they used to call it curvy.

          5. F. Stupidity Jr.

            THICC and fat are not the same thing.

            No, and THICC is hot. But some fat girls make it work. I’ve even known a couple that looked less appealing after the weight loss.

          6. Creosote Achilles

            Good lord that 4th on in particular is outstanding.

          7. Count Potato

            SEMEN EVERYWHERE!

        2. Lackadaisical

          Why not both?

          1. DesigNate

            This guy gets it!

          2. DEG

            YES!

        3. Tonio

          Cool handle, bro.

        4. Mad Scientist

          +1

        5. Hyperion

          Ok, I’ll take that.

      1. Just Say’n

        Well done, Swiss

    2. Just Say’n

      Let’s make this a “Hope Hicks Girly Pics Open Thread”

      1. Breet Pharara

        Q might be out of a job today.

        1. Michael

          Q deserves a break from time to time. The labor he contributes to the cause is invaluable.

    3. R C Dean

      O M G

      I had no idea. I mean, I knew she was a babe, but that bod rocks.

      Expectations exceeded.

    4. gbob

      Good god. I normally never want communications from the White House, but from her? Fucking call me in person.

  3. TK

    RIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!

    PREPARE YOUR KEYBOARDS, GENTS!

    1. ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA!

  4. So this isn’t an open thread?

    1. SugarFree

      It’s as open as you make it.

      1. commodious spittoon

        Go on…

        1. Don’t you mean goatse on?

    2. Breet Pharara

      No, OT comments will be strictly moderated and offending posters purged.

      1. Lackadaisical

        …by chippering?

  5. kinnath

    I trust that Jeff Sessions will go in and clean house now that the memo is out.

    1. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

      As long as he uses a street sweeper for his cleaning I’m for it.

      1. ChipsnSalsa

        What? Did he just do a “J” before reading the memo? seems like he should be getting all sorts of butt hurt about such a thing.

        Instead we get “ehh, whada you gonna do?”

        1. Stinky Wizzleteats

          Maybe he’ll get fired and replaced with someone who will be serious about cleaning house at the DOJ.

          1. antisthenes

            Heh, maybe that’s where Trey Gowdy is headed.

          2. Stinky Wizzleteats

            How about Napolitano?

          3. mexican sharpshooter

            He’s cool, but Gowdy is a crusader. But it would be funny for a while with the DOJ’s constant confusion from rhetorical questions.

          4. Endless Mike

            Holy shit that would be awesome

    2. Drake

      Who? I image he’s sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch of his house somewhere in Alabama.

      1. C. Anacreon

        sippin on a lemmynade.

        1. The Last American Hero

          I hope not. The last time people were sitting on their front porch sippin lemmynade, the Yankees told them the can’t do that, the southern states seceded, and a lot of people died. There were other causes too, like debutante balls, but it was that front porch thing that was the most peculiar of the “peculiar institutions”.

          1. KibbledKristen

            Also saying “bless your heart” when you mean the opposite.

    3. Pan Zagloba

      Only if you tell him there’s dem drugz in the house.

    4. wdalasio

      I trust that Jeff Sessions will go in and clean house now that the memo is out.

      When news of the memo broke, Sessions was deeply concerned. He began assembling a plan to do just that. There most certainly would be hell to pay! Then Sessions read the memo. What?!?! What a damn waste of trees and computer pixels. This was a non-story. It didn’t have a damn thing in it about those damned pot-head kids! The FBI hiring Democrats was bad and all. But hardly a news story! What the hell was everybody in the cabinet making a big deal out of this for when there were damned dopers running around out there tempting people with their reefer ways? Didn’t anyone understand that THAT was the problem? Government corruption comes and goes. There’s always time to deal with it. But if we don’t put them stoners in the hoosgow, it isn’t going to matter WHAT anyone tells any FISA court!

      1. C. Anacreon

        Dave’s not here, man.

    5. SugarFree

      Jeffy is out on the streets, try to make a bust for a dime bag sale between two Mexican-looking kids.

    6. Hyperion

      Sessions needs to be part of the house cleaning. And by part, I mean the part that needs cleaning.

      1. thepasswordispassword

        So what you’re saying is that you want to clean his parts?

        1. Mad Scientist

          All over the house?

  6. LJW

    The Nunes memo is out. It’s a joke and a sham.

    “The whole point of the Nunes memo was always to create a pretext for President Trump to try to take control of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe, and it remains to be seen whether Trump will convince himself that it does give him this pretext.”

    Rule number one: Start your article off with a narrative you created, and state it as fact.

    1. kbolino

      Ah, WaPo.

      Just because there’s (far) more evidence that the DNC and FBI colluded to spy on their political opponents than there is that the Russian government and Trump campaign colluded to interfere with the U.S. election doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t keep focusing on the latter!

      1. Mad Scientist

        But they did it for the right reasons!

    2. Chipwooder

      Greg Sargent is a fucking moron.

    3. Gilmore

      I find it… surprising, or unsurprising? …

      …that Greg Sargent’s argument is nearly identical to takes published in Reason by Sullum and Shakes

      it has 2 components

      1) the Orrin Kerr argument: that bias isn’t enough to disqualify evidence.

      true in general… if you take the sum total of court rulings on all sorts of investigation in normal criminal courts.

      but what’s true for “most” isn’t necessarily true for evidence submitted to a court who has a single mandate: to permit surveillance of US persons with national-security resources.

      if the evidence being submitted is actually “stuff provided by the russians, for pay” to prove that certain figures had shady dealings WITH RUSSIANS… it amounts to some circular reasoning.

      e.g. Someone was paid to go dig up connections. he paid russians to say, “sure yeah, i peed on him.” etc. that was put in report. said report was then used to try to generate dirty press. no one bit on it. then, same report was handed to DOJ as evidence justifying more-surveillance to find more dirt.

      it amounts to ‘someone did some searching to find evidence for more searching’. Why did they search in the first place? “oh, that. to destroy them, actually”

      claiming that bias is irrelevant in ‘most cases’ isn’t an argument its irrelevant in this case.

      2) “Well, sure even if the Steele dossier was shit, it doesn’t mean it was the ONLY evidence used”.

      Possibly. but they DID use it in every single one of the FISA applications. What “may” have been true in its absence is just speculation.

      3) an investigation pre-dated the Trump campaign

      yes, but it was expanded to cover the trump campaign. which should have raised red-flags that it was an investigation with a mandate spiraling out of control.

      The thing about all of these criticisms is that they all end up being, “WELL YEAH BUT YOU DONT KNOW 4 SURE BECAUSE FISA APPLICATIONS ARE STILL CONFIDENTIAL”

      Yes. but the conclusion there isn’t “THEREFORE YOU SUCK”: its “THEREFORE, DECLASSIFY THE APPLICATIONS”

      1. Gilmore

        “it has 2 components”

        i mean, it has as many components as i decide to make numbers. in this case, “3”

      2. Playa Manhattan

        The fact that they had to rely on the memo indicates that they had nothing else.

        Which means they shouldn’t have gotten a warrant, even in that kangaroo court.

        1. Gilmore

          The fact that they had to rely on the memo indicates that they had nothing else.

          you mean the dossier (yes, the Steele docs were also called ‘memos’ i know. but the terms will get confusing)

          i don’t know if that’s all that certain a conclusion. some have argued that claims in the dossier could have been used to confirm other sources. then again, steele may have known about these pre-existing suspicions, and gone out and contrived exactly that ‘confirmation’. Intel hacks are shitty sources for exactly this reason – they’re experts at creating fake-chains of information, which appear to reinforce one another.

          1. Count Potato

            Everyone involved here is a professional liar.

          2. Gilmore

            “”Intel hacks are shitty sources for exactly this reason “”

            which, btw, is one of the odd claims Sargent makes: that Steele is *uniquely credible* because he’s a former spook.

            as tho he was going to take $100grand, and go out and generate a report that said, “gee, you know i poked around and all i learned is that Trump is a standup guy”

          3. Number.6

            Steele left MI6 when his boss John Scarlett was ‘let go’, following HIS grilling by the Butler Commission over the whole Iraq Enquiry. Scarlett was one of the personnel within MI that was in a position to directly influence the direction of UK policy. While Steele himself was primarily on the Russia desk , and was case officer for Litvenenko, he had been given an active posting at Bagram and had been something of a mentor to MI6 inductees. My take would be that when Scarlett left, a chunk of his trusties were flushed too.

            One of the interesting things is the amount of information out there about Steele. Some leakage was inevitable, after he was outed by CryptoMe in 2009, but compared with contemporary personnel, a lot of information has been made public, seemingly with very little effort to suppress details.

            Historically, MI6 has been very good at developing legends (cover identities) for their desk and field personnel that are quite impervious to subsequent exposure. but it looks like Steele has been quite open about his CV, which really must be flying quite close to contravening the OSA. Vauxhall Cross is usually pretty diligent at reining in personnel who start getting a penchant for publicity, but little has been done about Steele. Maybe they’re slipping.

        2. Count Potato

          Which is pretty sad since it’s close to a rubber stamp. I forgot the percentage of requests that get rejected, but it was a very small number.

          1. Gilmore

            under 1%.

          2. whahappan

            IIRC, as of 2014 or something out of 33,000 fisa requests only 12 were initially rejected, and all but 3 were approved after re-applying.

      3. invisible finger

        “yes, but it was expanded to cover the trump campaign. which should have raised red-flags that it was an investigation with a mandate spiraling out of control.”

        Essentially the same thing as Obama siccing the IRS on conservative groups.

        The Dems want to shift the narrative because the more you know, the more He becomes “Black Stalin”.

      4. Count Potato

        From what I gathered so far, Trump can declassify whatever he wants as long as it doesn’t have anything to do with nuclear energy.

      5. R C Dean

        bias isn’t enough to disqualify evidence.

        Its how the bias is expressed that matters. And in this case, I think it is clear that their bias drove them to do things which should disqualify a lot of evidence, enough (perhaps) to make almost anything they have found, or do find, unprosecutable. There were crimes committed (just not by the target of the investigation), and crimes covered up (by FBI and DOJ).

        I believe DOJ would be terrified to take anything coming out of this investigation to court, because then the investigation comes under subpoena and judicial scrutiny. Its one thing to tell Congress to go piss in a lake. Its another to tell a federal judge overseeing a grand jury investigation or a trial. They can’t afford that.

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          I believe DOJ would be terrified to take anything coming out of this investigation to court

          This. The Russia investigation is effectively over. Barring some massive smoking gun with Trump’s and Putin’s signatures, the only thing they can possible pursue is obstruction charges.

          1. invisible finger

            Doesn’t there have to be a crime in order for there to be obstruction?

            Hilary committed crimes, and Obama obstructed. Somehow that’s not what I think you meant.

          2. Scruffy Nerfherder

            Doesn’t there have to be a crime in order for there to be obstruction?

            Nope. That’s the beauty of the US justice system.

    4. Hyperion

      So tell us why it’s a joke and a sham? Can’t? Well, ok then.

      1. invisible finger

        Truuuump!

        Buuuuuush!

        The Dems have less vocal range than Miley Cyrus.

  7. Tonio

    Richmond, VA: Mayor’s shitweasel appointee fired after calling for boycott of restaurants opposed to yet another meals tax increase “for the schools.” Had promised free signs to restaurants supporting mayor.

    And, surprisingly, few liberals defend her in the comments.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      “I should not have implied a boycott of any restaurants,” Menz-Erb said. “That was not my intent, and I apologize for the wording of my statement.

      *insert Joe Wilson outburst here*

    2. Chipwooder

      that’s because they’re all at r/rva

    3. Viking1865

      From the article

      J.D. Young of Cary100 Restaurant and Lounge; Cynthia Matthews of Jackson’s Beer Garden & Smokehouse; Malcolm Mitchell of Lower 48; Alicia Hawkins of Inner City Blues; Lester Johnson of Mama J’s and Vagabond; Amy Wentz, an organizer of Black Restaurant Week; and Helen Holmes of Ms. Girlee’s Restaurant, where the event was held.

      Never eaten at any of those places.

      BTW, Henrico County Schools has, last I checked, about a 1500 dollars less in funding per student. Yet somehow, Henrico County Schools aren’t falling to pieces. Crazy how that works.

  8. Just Say’n

    I’ve never seen the media so adamant about not gathering more information and trying to stop the government from releasing classified documents. Strange. Almost, like this memo was an indictment of them, too, since it showed that they were being fed partisan opposition research and reported on it as if it wasn’t partisan opposition research.

    1. kbolino

      It is hilarious that the same people who gladly published raw classified intelligence less than 18 months ago are now so concerned with the protection of classified intelligence.

      Why, it’s almost like they have no principles!

    2. Breet Pharara

      Weren’t all the Comey notes considered classified. Strange that they didn’t seem to have a problem publishing stuff in there.

      1. Chipwooder

        That’s different, because Drumpf.

  9. The Late P Brooks

    Hope Hicks makes my tongue hard.

    1. All White House staffers should be required to look like her.

      1. Count Potato

        Bill Clinton would have repealed the 22nd Amendment.

        1. R C Dean

          That euphemism is positively Presidential.

  10. Exceptionally good group for your Friday afternoon.

    http://archive.is/xxOEm

    2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 15, 17, 22, 24, 35, 36.

      1. Michael

        And you are loved and appreciated right back!

      2. Galt1138

        I like that shade of green.

    1. Playa Manhattan

      “This is the office. We don’t need you to come in today.”

    2. Number.6

      4,5 and holy shit, 15.

    3. Chipwooder

      15, wowza. 36 looks like a really fun party

    4. Tundra

      37 because we never grow up!

    5. DEG

      Orgy

    6. Not an Economist

      The background of the girl in 23 would interest most people here.

  11. The Late P Brooks

    Nope, downplaying it already.

    Let me guess. FBI agents are on the front lines of America’s war on terror and drugs. Bless those boys. they’re doing God’s work.

    *Washington Times no likee my ad blocker

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      He just gave a boilerplate we’ll get to the bottom of this by referring our agency’s problems to our agency response. I suspect he might be a closet stoner, the guy doesn’t seem to get worked up about anything, which isn’t always good.

      “Accordingly, I will forward to appropriate DOJ components all information I receive from Congress regarding this. I am determined that we will fully and fairly ascertain the truth,” he said.

      1. Hyperion

        He’s probably on SRIs, you know, because he’s a batshit crazy socon drug warrior?

  12. Ed Wuncler

    Open Thread rambling:

    I was out with a friend of mine last week and after a couple of drinks, he was telling me about his dating life. Apparently, (and I’ve heard this from other single friends) dating these days is difficult. Granted I live in a big Leftist enclave (Chicago) but it seems like young women are somehow infected with some strain of the SJW strain and have gone full retard on the whole #timesup or #metoo movement bullshit. My friend voted for Trump and is overall a really nice and successful guy but yet when he asked to reveal his political beliefs on a date, he tries to steer away from answering that but usually his dates persist until he admits that he voted for Trump because he’s what’s best for businesses and felt that Hillary was corrupt as fuck. They usually go ballistic and leave the date angry which is hilarious because while they are feminist enough to hate Trump, they are somehow not feminist enough to pay for their “fair share” for dinner.

    After listening to his dating stories, I thank the good Lord that I am married and don’t have to deal with this shit anymore.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Politics as religion

    2. Gustave Lytton

      Location, location, location.

    3. Making politics personal is a recipe for misery no matter what.

      1. Ed Wuncler

        It is indeed. My wife is a liberal and I’m obviously libertarian but we get along because we actually listen to each other and have tried to make sure that our politics aren’t personal. I’ve noticed that people who are politically obsessed and make it their whole life are miserable as fuck.

        1. tarran

          I will say though, watching my wife’s progressivism steadily eroding has been quite cheering to me.

          1. Ed Wuncler

            My wife despite referring to herself as a feminist has a huge disdain for the third wavers. She went on this small rant about how they are doing all they can to destroy the progress that women have achieved because they are entitled and egotistical little shits. It was awesome.

          2. Ed Wuncler

            And she has a yuuuuuge hatred for teacher unions. When the Chicago teachers went on strike years ago, she agreed with them at first until reading about their salaries and benefits. She’s a public librarian in the Northwest Surburbs (not unionized) and was like, “Fuck those assholes. They only work 8-9 months out of the year along with having tons of time off and not having to pay much for their health care and pension, but yet are losing their shit over not getting a raise?” It was great witnessing the darkness of libertarianism seeping into her as she learned about their salaries and benefits.

          3. Viking1865

            I would argue a liberal who hates 3rd wave feminism and teachers unions is getting damn close to being a libertarian.

          4. Chipwooder

            I’m sort of with you – my wife was a Democrat when we met (albeit a Rust Belt-style union Dem, not like today’s SJW harpies, because her dad was a factory worker who was a big union guy). So it’s nice that she hates them as much as me though.

            She’s awfully close to being a Trump true believer now, though, which is a bit unsettling.

          5. Gadfly

            my wife was a Democrat…Rust Belt-style union Dem…She’s awfully close to being a Trump true believer now

            This seems to be the general arc of a large number of Trump supporters, including the essential ones who put him over the top in the elections in the Midwest.

          6. Lackadaisical

            Ah yes, those racist two-time Obama voters.

          7. Waterfall Insurance

            My wife is the opposite her dad was a ancap and because of that she was mostly apolitical with some libertarian attitudes which is where I was before becoming more libertarian, my wife recently has gone further left. If I try talking about politics it’s mostly crickets. So we don’t talk politics much, last time I talked to her about healthcare she said we were guaranteed life, liberty… and life should include health care. It seemed like she was becoming more libertarian until Trump came on the scene, then she started going the other way quickly.

          8. Number.6

            Well, let’s not forget the phenomenon of “Reagan Democrats”, and over the subsequent years, the conversations people have about the changes in the democrats, that would be totally alien to “Scoop Jackson Democrats”.

            Political parties change center of mass. Often faster than individuals can keep up. Trump has moved the Overton Window, and the change in the center of political gravity is pulling whole chunks of the electorate into new gravity wells.

        2. Mad Scientist

          They’re always going to be miserable as fuck because politics is about control. If you already buy into their politics, they already control you. If you don’t, you’re a constant source of frustration.

          1. Raven Nation

            Good point. One of the people I work with is a control freak. And, although almost everyone there was pissed off about the election, she pretty much lost her mind and has been unhappy ever since (although I suspect control freaks are always unhappy).

      2. Galt1138

        Indeed. My wife was essentially apolitical when she met me. But, hearing my talk about politics and economics, especially when I’m answering questions from my stepson, has made an impact. She works in civil engineering for a city in southern CA. Seeing the ridiculousness of bureaucracy, some of the permitting BS, how some city workers sit on their ass most of the time, has definitely opened her eyes.

        Plus, she grew up dirt poor in the Philippines (she said their house had a dirt floor until she was a teenager). She worked her tail off to make a life for herself and my stepson here in the states, and has no patience for people who complain about “inequality” or the 1%.

    4. Ed Wuncler

      To continue, he finally did meet a woman who was cool but was anti-Trump as fuck. They hit it off and got into a few heated debates but overall everything was cool. Until he one night had her over his place and they were laying on the couch together watching television, and he was rubbing her arm or something like that. Without any prompting, she said to him, “Stop that, are you trying to rape me?,” and he was super confused because they have had sex plenty of times. They argued and she left but the next day she called him back to see if everything was cool. He didn’t respond to her but asked me and others that night whether he should call the woman back and we were all like, “Run motherfucker!”

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Run, run like the wind

      2. Chipwooder

        Jesus. I’ll join your gratitude at already being married and not having to deal with this nonsense.

        I remember back when the wife and I were first dating. The first time we were kissing and I tried to cop a feel, she simply stopped kissing me, pulled my hand away, and told me that she’d let me know when she’d let me do that. Message received. Why is that apparently so difficult for young women these days?

        1. Ed Wuncler

          That’s what I don’t get either. Whenever I used to go on dates with girls and we got hot and heavy, if I went too far, they would tell me to stop and I did. For some reason, women are incapable of doing that today.

          1. Chipwooder

            So many of these stories, Aziz Ansari being the most prominent recent example, consist of a man doing what men have done since the dawn of time – try to get as far with a woman as she’ll allow you – and a woman going along with it, then later saying that she didn’t actually want to do it but she felt like she couldn’t say no because…..I have no idea. Why is this? Using my wife as an example again, had I persisted back on that early date, she would have smacked me in the face and told me to get the fuck out of her house, and that would have been the last time she ever would have answered the phone when I called.

            It’s just bizarre to me.

          2. Ed Wuncler

            That whole Ansari story was the nail in the coffin for the #metoo Movement. It made people realize that it wasn’t really a movement and that was an orgy of victim hood and witch hunts.

          3. F. Stupidity Jr.

            So many of these stories, Aziz Ansari being the most prominent recent example, consist of a man doing what men have done since the dawn of time

            As we all know, everything that occurred before socialism and feminism was racist, sexist, patriarchal, and cisnormative. So we can’t go about sex using those old discredited techinques, it was all rape back then. Now, we have consent apps, which I’m sure human evolution is going to integrate seamlessly.

            I was about to joke that “consent apps will soon be a chapter in sex-ed classes”, but that’s probably true.

          4. Creosote Achilles

            It is the elevation of victimhood as status and the subsequent removal of agency chasing that victimhood creates. I also don’t think they realize how much the narrative they are creating is going to feed a real patriarchal attitude. If it is true that women aren’t able to say ‘no’ in such situations, then maybe they should be forced to wear bedsheets and always be supervised by a man. And the poor dears shouldn’t be able to have careers or vote or heaven forbid drive. Just too much stress.

          5. Gadfly

            Why is this?

            Empowered persons are difficult to victimize. One is far less likely to attain the honored class of “victim” if one stands up for oneself.

          6. wdalasio

            For some reason, women are incapable of doing that today.

            I don’t think incapable. Just unwilling. The kind of girls we’re talking about have been told pretty much their whole life that their shit doesn’t stink and that they’re entitled to Prince Charming No Matter What Contradictions That Entails.

            In their mind, they’re entitled to some guy with the ability to magically intuit what it is they want at any given moment and who will instantaneously make her wish the largest object of his life.

          7. Mad Scientist

            In their mind, they’re entitled to some guy with the ability to magically intuit what it is they want at any given moment and who will instantaneously make her wish the largest object of his life.

            When she loses all respect for him, she can take half his stuff, move on the the next pushover, and do it all over again.

          8. The Last American Hero

            They grew up reading Twilight. This is the price.

      3. wdalasio

        He didn’t respond to her but asked me and others that night whether he should call the woman back and we were all like, “Run motherfucker!”

        Just tell him to be careful. Someone that crazy could go the false accusation route. I’d tell him to get some evidence of consent before exiting completely.

        1. Playa Manhattan

          Not “could”. Will.

        2. C. Anacreon

          Tell your friend to look up “Borderline Personality Disorder”. He will be amazed to find he’s dating one.

          1. C. Anacreon

            P.S. Borderline PD women make GREAT first dates. To them on the first date, you are the most handsome, sexy, interesting, funny guy ever. At some later date, however, you become the devil on the drop of a pin. Borderlines are known for being all in one direction or another, with no shades of gray.

          2. tarran

            Yep. And consequently you think you’ve stumbled on your soulmate… and then when it all goes horribly wrong you don’t say “hey, I should run away”, you think “if I try hard enough, I will return to my hero status”

      4. Playa Manhattan

        Do not EVER talk to her again. EVER.

        1. Mad Scientist

          ^^THIS^^ She WILL make a false accusation. She may already be planning one.

          1. Playa Manhattan

            EVER

          2. Lackadaisical

            He should probably move and change his name.

        2. DEG

          Yes. Run away. Do not talk to her again.

      5. thepasswordispassword

        It may already be too late. 10 years from now don’t be surprised if a restraining order suddenly arrives in your friends mailbox.

    5. tarran

      He should filter out the batshit crazy ones. “Who you voted for is not a deal breaker for me. If that sort of thing is a deal breaker for you, I suggest that you not waste either your or my time and move on.”

      Save his time for the ones who are worth dating.

      1. Tonio

        ^This.

    6. Rufus the Monocled

      An unintended fallout of Trump’s election, eh? Saving men from batshit.

    7. Just Say’n

      You should tell him to only date girls who live in the City’s far northwest side or far southwest side. Those areas tend to be more conservative or at least don’t treat politics as life. Avoid women who live in gentrified areas, as the bulk of those women are about two abortions away from dying alone (and rightfully so).

      1. invisible finger

        Gentrified areas have a weird undercurrent of depression. People competing to be hip but denying that it’s actually a stupid thing to aspire to even though they know trying to keep up is driving them nuts.

      2. Lackadaisical

        two abortions away from dying alone

        I’m stealing this.

    8. Michael

      Chicago is a cesspit of progressive stupidity, but your friend is wise to get it out in the open early on. A million shitty dates with screaming harpies is far preferable to spending your life with just one of them.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Yup

      2. Rufus the Monocled

        He should come to Montreal. Quebec women aren’t all that SJW….yet.

        1. But they are Quebeci.

          1. Pan Zagloba

            With women, there’s no “don’t date crazy.” It’s simply “pick your crazy.” I believe John Titor has stories…

          2. Quebeci have the dual issues of being Canadian and Frog.

            I could forgive the Canadian part…

          3. Gustave Lytton

            They’ll make him say everything twice and the first time in Frogspeak?

        2. thepasswordispassword

          God bless King Louis XIV for the filles du roi.

    9. Drake

      He should listen to every episode of Black Phillip.

      I’ve been out of the dating pool for a long time and still thing of feminism as nothing more than a giant shit-test. I never did get along with city girls – stupid, stuck-up, and opinionated seemed a bad combination.

    10. Pan Zagloba

      God damn it.

      I dunno, is he religious? Maybe he needs to find a Jesusy, “we are here for religion” church (if such even exist nearby). Unless that ends up being “Left Behind” crazy…

      Which might become preferable crazy anyway!

      1. Gadfly

        Crazy ideas about the past and future are preferable to crazy ideas about the present.

      2. invisible finger

        I had one date with a girl from the southwest side of Chicago and for the first hour or so I thought “Refreshingly not full of left-wing, closed-minded crazy.”

        The she asked me if I believed in God and I said “I’m not sure” and she grabbed her coat and purse and left.

        People with these fucking checklists don’t realize how hateful they are. They aren’t interested in relationships, they’re only interested in accessorizing their lives.

    11. wdalasio

      My advice is that he remember that a good offense can be the best defense. The moment one of these women even broach politics, lay into them as social justice warriors and signal very loudly and very clearly that they’re very much failing on this date. And since this is a first date and he really doesn’t have any intention of pursuing a relationship with her he does expect that she’ll be paying for her share of the cost of dinner. These sorts of women think they hold all the cards and most guys reinforce that presumption. Taking their cards away throws them into a panic.

      He still probably doesn’t want to go out with them. But, there’s a better than even chance he’ll get laid a lot more than if he tries to be reasonable with them. Just tell him to make sure that, if they go back to someone’s place, it’s hers.

    12. Hyperion

      Date milfs only and especially steer clear of women who are now attending college. Thank gawd for women my age. That’s the advice I can give young men today. That and NEVER have kids.

      1. NEVER have kids

        Nikki, is that you?

        1. Hyperion

          Yeah, I’m like the anti-Nikki, I’ve never seen what any libertarian saw in that cunt. Don’t her and Episiarch write for Jezebel now? Cunts.

      2. Mad Scientist

        Never have them, but rest assured you’re paying for them anyway.

    13. invisible finger

      Disregarding the politics, people are looking for commonalities but they stupidly focus on the least significant ones. Politics? Why bother? The zeitgeist changes often enough and your life situation changes often enough that politics are a horrible gauge of commonalities. Same goes for music and other forms of entertainment. Better off finding someone not exactly like you in those areas so that you learn about how much tolerance you have, and maybe learn what makes the other person tick.

      The most important commonalities are how one handles money and stress (often one and the same), and children a close third. Those are the things that cause the most animosity among couples and they have zero to do with pop culture and don’t show up on daily television, newspaper/blogs, and facebook.

    14. Old Man With Candy

      I hear ya. If my wife ever found out about this site…

    15. Sean

      I recently caught my girlfriend explaining to someone on the phone on how progressives are really communists. I have not been coaching her, she does this all on her own.
      ?

      1. Galt1138

        Sounds like a keeper.

  13. Rufus the Monocled

    I see today was DAY OFF DAY in America?

    1. Work is for suckers.

      1. Sean

        Work is for suckers.

        Agreed.

    2. thepasswordispassword

      That would traditionally be this coming monday.

    3. Mr Lizard

      Off, I’m commenting from inside a coal pulverizer. CUZ IM EQUALLY COMMITTED

    4. Hyperion

      It was? Then why did I have to use a sick day because of this flu coming back?

    5. one true athena

      It’s #MemoDay. Duh. it’s a national day of mourning, observing government malfeasance and the trampling of liberties.

  14. Chipwooder

    Here’s a question – I’ve read over that memo a few times now. Where exactly are the distressing breaches of national security, exactly? The supposed intelligence sources being discussed are Steele and FusionGPS, and a Michael Isikoff story published by Yahoo. Those need to be confidential?

    1. There is no breach. It’s all distraction by the Dems. The real story is that a FISA warrant was issued on the basis of a bogus dossier that was bought and paid for by the DNC. Said FISA warrant was used to spy on a political opponent during a campaign. This is utterly devastating to the Dems if people realize what a BFD it is. Obama, Hillary, Susan Rice, Valerie Jarret, the whole fucking corrupt group of thugs should be in a Federal prison right now for using NKVD tactics.

      1. Chipwooder

        And, worst of all, the FBI knew exactly where the dossier came from but did not bother to inform the court who paid for it when they used it as evidence to get a warrant to spy on Page.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Embarrassing=classified

      DC Rule #1

    3. kbolino

      Now everybody knows the FBI uses third-rate hacks to drum up bullshit justifications to abuse its power.

      Our national security will never recover from this revelation.

      1. invisible finger

        Not everybody. Just a few more that weren’t libertarians before.

    4. Michael

      It is simultaneously an abdication of executive responsibility that imperils the safety of the nation as well as a big, squeaky, wet fart. Democrats apparently spent no time getting their talking points in order.

      1. Gadfly

        Democrats apparently spent no time getting their talking points in order.

        It seems to be SOP for certain groups to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Sometimes, it works.

      2. Hyperion

        It’s an apocalyptic crisis that they released this classified intelligence. It’s also totally NOT intelligence, but just some made up bullshit. We don’t know what that means, but your betters will be back later, to explain it once we’re figured it out.

      3. invisible finger

        Abdication? Sound like it was practically directed by Chocolate Nixon, as he did with the IRS.

  15. Rufus the Monocled

    FYI: Picked up Dostoevsky’s ‘Devils’ (The Possessed).

    1. IntraveneousWoodChipper

      Crime and Punishment is in my top five favorite books ever. I’ve only read part of The Devils. Aren’t all the characters foils for political movements?

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        Apparently but instructive of how pathetic the left are.

  16. The Late P Brooks

    The supposed intelligence sources being discussed are Steele and FusionGPS, and a Michael Isikoff story published by Yahoo. Those need to be confidential?

    Unflattering stories about Democrats will destroy Americans’ childlike faith and trust in the government.

    1. kbolino

      Remember, we have to trust our officials and leaders. Sure, they’re corrupt, double-dealing, lying, and abusive. But we have to trust them. So they don’t get caught or reprimanded.

  17. I can feel a sinus infection coming on and I sure as shit ain’t getting antibiotics after the way it turned out last time. So I bought one of those saline sinus irrigation deals and wowza, have I ever been missing out. Those things are incredible.

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      One of the refillable squeeze bottle ones? Those things will clean you out even though it does kind of feel like you’re drowning.

      1. That’s the one. The stuff that came out was… unsavory.

    2. mexican sharpshooter

      Be careful to make sure that water is clean. As in boil it and let it cool. Those things are a lovely ways to get an Amoeba infection.

      1. You don’t want him to get brain-eating amoebae?

      2. F. Stupidity Jr.

        Those things are a lovely ways to get an Amoeba infection.

        Oh, nonsense. I’ve never boiled the water before irrigation and I feel never boiled the water I feel water boil

        1. Playa Manhattan

          Everything turned out TV

      3. Tundra

        Distilled water is your friend.

        1. ^^^This is what I did.

          1. Tundra

            That’s an amazing product. I try to use it every day – haven’t had a sinus infection in years.

        2. Playa Manhattan

          Distilled water is not bacteriostatic, FYI

          1. mexican sharpshooter

            Thank you.

          2. Oh well. I guess if I get PAME and die it was nice knowing you all.

          3. Count Potato

            I’m not a doctor, but based on numerous Coor’s commercials, you should be fine.

    3. Gilmore

      I bought one of those saline sinus irrigation deals and wowza, have I ever been missing out. Those things are incredible.

      i can’t believe you’re saying this. i find those things to be one of the most unpleasant experiences in the world. its like waterboarding, only more embarrassing.

      i always end up choking/sneezing and having water get everywhere, including inside my ears.

      1. Tundra

        Huh? It sounds like you are talking about a Neti pot. Those suck.

        This works great and doesn’t waterboard you.

        https://www.amazon.com/Sinus-Rinse-100-Complete-Kit/dp/B000RDZFZ0?th=1

        1. Gilmore

          oh, shit = yes that’s exactly what i was talking about. Neti pots are suicide.

          i’m actually temped to try that, but im still suffering PTSD from my last Neti-potting

          1. Count Potato

            If you think jala neti is tough, don’t try sutra neti. I’ve done it. But I was trained by a swami. Like much of advanced yoga, except for the discipline required, being able to pull string through your face is more of a “stupid human trick” than anything practical.

        2. Count Potato

          I’ve been using a neti pot for years. It’s important to have the right temperature and salinity.

    4. Hyperion

      I woke up this morning about 2am with severe congestion and the hint of a sore throat coming back. Had to miss work. Shit, I don’t want this thing to go back into the full on shitflu I had before. But now it seems like it’s not getting worse. More bourbon is probably appropriate.

  18. tarran

    OK! Which of you magnificent bastards is behind this?!?!?

    Gentleman’s Single-use Unlubricated Monocles

    Gentlemen (and Ladies!); Have you ever found yourself in Need of that Certain Protection one wants for a Night On The Town?

    What is it, you ask? It is a monocle (with a 2.5″ chain!) inside a sealed, tearable wrapper. If you require an instantaneous boost to classiness, this product is for you.

    Just to be absolutely clear: It is not a condom. It is made of hard plastic and metal. If you attempt to use it as a condom, you will definitely hurt yourself, and you may experience the miracle of life.

    Available in three sizes:

    * One single-use unlubricated monocle.
    * 3 monocles in a lovingly designed paperboard box.
    * 25 monocles in a larger display-style container. We see you are a very “active” individual. Congratulations on your success.

    1. A Leap at the Wheel

      I kickstarted that, still have one in the wrapper. Just in case.

    2. Rufus the Monocled

      I almost bought that brand a few months ago.

      But then I bought a slide whistle instead.

  19. Dammit, I griped in the wrong thread.

    UnCivilServant on February 2, 2018 at 3:35 pm

    I’m unhappy.

    I filed my taxes. I’m getting some of my money back, but they’ve still taken in agregate a third of my money.

  20. Rufus the Monocled

    FYI: Wearing a Philadelphia Eagles caps at work today.

    1. Chipwooder

      Go Patriots.

    2. That doesn’t violate Bill 101?

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        What language do Eagles speak?

        1. Chipwooder

          Judging by Eagles fans, profanity interspersed with vomiting.

          1. So, Quebecois?

    3. Hyperion

      I’ve always pretty much hated the Pats, but I want them to win because Brady is a Trump supporter and that’s the only reason they’re getting all the hate. OK, I admit they’re getting some of the hate because they win too often and people believe the refs are on the dole for them. Still, I hope they win.

      1. Galt1138

        Didn’t Brady avoid the White House visit after they won last year? I thought Belichick was the Trump supporter.

  21. Since we’re just filling this thread with cheesecake pics anyway.

    http://archive.is/BbXpR

      1. Pan Zagloba

        Archive dicked that one up for me 🙁

          1. Pan Zagloba

            Daym, there really is a difference between enthusiastic amateurs and pros and semi-pros…

    1. Chipwooder

      No point in listing numbers on this one

    2. Pan Zagloba

      I get it!

      They look tons better than usual because they can’t take a selfie. So when they smile, even if it’s a pretend smile, it’s directed at someone. So it looks tons better than the usual creepy thing they have (fuck, ducklips are an improvement).

      We must prevent Playa from getting you laid. Fate of the nation rests on it!

      1. Got a date tonight, but no matter, the tits will go on!

        1. Pan Zagloba

          Got a date tonight

          1. Pan Zagloba

            HOLY FUCK EDIT FAIRY DID IT!

            HAIL TO THE EDIT FAIRY!

    3. Tundra

      *goes to get towel for 14*

      Very nice.

    4. Galt1138

      48. OMG.

  22. Might just be me…or this week I’ve had….but I’m finding it somewhat mentally draining to set up a brand new computer from scratch. Before I go aimlessly digging around, can anyone recommend/remind me of the best firefox plugins for ad-blocking, etc? Monocle link?

    Probably just gonna focus on getting some files transferred, etc – set up my music, etc before I fly out on Sunday.

    And the anxiety is still leaning on me – because even after getting a replacement machine and working out my travel plans for two classes, etc – now I gotta stress about whether the governments gonna shut down again and whether that means my second set of orders are canceled or not – since my flight home is after the second school….just a first class PITA. (two different sets of orders – flight, hotel, rental car on the first set, second hotel, second flight, is on the second set.

    1. For the record, I do already have malwarebytes and avast set up – although any tips on adjusting settings so that they don’t mess with each other – ie. which one is best for rootkits, etc for passive/active scanning – is also appreciated.

      1. Gilmore

        any tips on adjusting settings so that they don’t mess with each other

        uninstall avast and reinstall it using only the core-application components (and disable all its ‘peripheral’ doo-dads)

        you can do this by going to ‘programs and settings’ and choosing ‘uninstall’ and choosing the ‘modify/repair installation’ option.

        untick the following boxes:
        – Browser protection
        – Avast SecureLine
        – Cleanup
        – Passwords
        – Secure Virtual Machines (if present)
        – Secure DNS

        basically, it should only be “file shield”, “web shield” “mail shield”, and everything else should be off.

        second, once avast is running, do the following

        go to > Settings (gear icon) > Active Protection > Web shield – Customize > Main settings.

        There please uncheck/deselect following settings:
        – Use intelligent stream scanning
        – Enable HTTPS scanning
        – Script scanning

        Restart your computer again.

        This makes sure that Avast doesn’t stop on the toes of any other security apps, and takes huge load off your CPU by minimizing background applications.

      2. Gracias for all the suggestions. I remembered a few of those names, but couldn’t recall details. The only other one I normally use IIRC – is a youtube file downloader for my music video fixes – i’ll dig around for that one.

        Was monocle a local download here?

        Appreciate the suggestions Gilmore, I will work on that once I’ve got my itunes set up. I’m not good with mucking around with that sort of stuff on my own.

        1. Gilmore

          The only other one I normally use IIRC – is a youtube file downloader for my music video fixes – i’ll dig around for that one.

          YouTube Video and Audio Downloader (Dev Edt) 0.7.2

          https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube_downloader_webx/

    2. Gilmore

      best firefox plugins for ad-blocking, etc? Monocle link?

      in my use (i jump between browsers for various purposes)

      https://adblockplus.org/
      https://tampermonkey.net/
      and (noscript) dot (net)

      fwiw, I like Opera browser better for regular use because it defaults to its own blockers . firefox i only use for things requiring flash and for some other streaming services.

    3. Hyperion

      I use Ghostery.

      1. ^^^So much this.

        1. Hense your avatar?

          1. Coincidence, but I’ll take it.

  23. Florida Man

    So what’s going on with the market? Down 666.

    1. Drake

      May be worry that employment is getting too tight and wages going up quickly – which can cause inflation.

      1. Florida Man

        Interesting. I wasn’t really expecting a drop since the tax law was passed and unemployment is down.

    2. IntraveneousWoodChipper

      The America People are terrified that Trump had the gall to released the Nunes memo that reveals what dirtbags the Dems are. We’ll probably nosedive into another recession from it, dontcha know.

    3. Playa Manhattan

      Wheee

    4. C. Anacreon

      Wow, we’ve essentially lost the gains from the past few days. Terrifying!
      I’m guessing “correction” and “profit-taking”

    5. THE MARKET OF THE BEAST

    6. Hyperion

      Look, DOW down 666 right after Trump declared himself dictator by releasing the memo. His JOO SIL owns a proprety in NYC with the number 666? It should be obvious by now what’s going on.

    7. antisthenes

      No one’s fucking working, they’re just talking about the memo.

  24. B.P.

    All the front-of-the-house biddies in my office, who spend their days complaining about Trump nonstop, are excited because the markets took a nosedive this week, because it will reflect poorly on Trump. Seems a bit nihilistic to me.

    Also, did anyone see Frontline last night? I caught the last 15-20 minutes. They seem all-in on the Russia-stole-the-election thing.

    1. tarran

      I’ve given up on MSM. Seriously. Once you catch people lying, the sensible thing is to not listen to them anymore. It’s quite liberating!

      1. Pan Zagloba

        I mentioned this before, but years growing up under Slobodan have given me a good toolset to read today’s media.

        1. That is unbelievably depressing.

          1. Pan Zagloba

            To be fair, he was more Putin than he was Stalin…

  25. mexican sharpshooter

    Trump gives cryptic reply when asked about Rosenstein’s fate

    …when asked if he planned to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after reading a highly-controversial memo compiled by Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes.

    “You figure that one out,” Trump replied during a press availability at the White House.

    And just so we’re clear:

    Rosenstein oversees Mueller and his investigation — and has the power to fire him as well.

    1. Gadfly

      “You figure that one out”. I’d bet he’s fired.

      1. Number.6

        Fired and prosecuted.

  26. Lachowsky

    So, I have long believed that in order to secure high political office in this country, one has to do all kinds of nefarious things to achieve that end. That said, I think the entire top of our government is full of double dealing, beholden to outside interest, lying, stealing, no principles having shit weasels.

    Because of this, I have long known that the people at the top can’t hold each other responsible for their actions, because to point the finger at another risks the finger being pointed back at you. They can’t afford to take down their opposition, because their opposition would take them down with them. This is how you get a career criminal like hillary nominated to be the DNC’s candidate for president.

    Enter Donald “drain the swamp” Trump. The only person in Washington who hasn’t spent his life as a corrupt politician. He can attack the media and call his opponents liars and crooks amd nobody can do anything about it because there’s no dirt on him. No political dirt at least.

    I have always thought that if the people at the top started prosecuting each other for their scumbaggery, then many many of them would end up gone. Nobody has had a clear enough record in politics to start the process though. Maybe, Trump does. I hope he presses sessions to draw up charges. I want to see all the dirty fuckers up there start squealing on each other. I wanna see the while thing collapse under the weight of its own corruption.

    The End.

    1. Hyperion

      It’s quite amusing to watch the daily bipolar of the DU commenters. This morning they were all doom and gloom because it’s all over. Trump going to fire Mueller and nothing can be one. By noon, they were searching for a new hero who can save them. By this afternoon, the dancing banana gifs came out because Nancy declared the memo fake and said there’s a Constitutional crisis and that Trump will be immediately arrested if he tries to fire Rosenstein. These people are fucking deranged. How can anyone live like that?

      1. invisible finger

        Anti-depressants paid for by Obamacare?

  27. Pan Zagloba

    #metoo steps outside media

    Tariq Ramadan charged in France over rape allegations

    A French judge has placed prominent Islamic studies scholar Tariq Ramadan under criminal investigation on two charges of rape.

    The 55-year-old was questioned by police in Paris earlier this week and has now been remanded into custody.

    He denies wrongdoing and is suing one of his accusers, a former radical Islamist, for slander.

    Mr Ramadan teaches at Oxford University, but took leave of absence after the claims surfaced in October.

    An examining magistrate will now compile a case, and determine whether Mr Ramadan will stand trial for rape and assault.

    1. antisthenes

      If #metoo starts publicizing the rape of Europe, things might get a little interesting.

      1. IntraveneousWoodChipper

        +1 Rotherham

        1. Pan Zagloba

          A guy just got life in UK for running over some Muslims and killing one.

          From the article:

          Osborne, the trial heard, had became “obsessed” with Muslims in the weeks leading up to the attack, having watched the BBC drama Three Girls, about the Rochdale grooming scandal.

          He then rented a van and had intended to target an Al Qud’s Day march, on 18 June.

          Unable to access the march, he drove around London until arriving in north London at about midnight.

          Note: note a typo. Rochdale was a different swinery from Rotherham. Not sure why the latter is the only one that stuck across the Atlantic…

  28. The Late P Brooks

    So what’s going on with the market? Down 666.

    Don’t know, but I did see something about interest rates “shooting up” which is somewhat odd because Yellin said they were standing pat at the last meeting. I guess the employment report was pretty good.

    1. kbolino

      The Fed Funds rate is up 1 percentage point since the same time last year. It has been climbing. I don’t know if Yellen means it won’t change again, but it has been rising at a rate of 0.25 pp per quarter for a little over a year now.

    1. Pan Zagloba

      Democrats need to hire you for PR. If they had, everyone would be all “What memo?”

    1. Chipwooder

      This world is growing exponentially stupider by the day

      1. Michael

        Someone should develop a new crypto-currency that is mined by calculating factors of derp.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      She’s had so much surgery she can’t move her face.

      1. Count Potato

        She smashed her face in a car wreck.

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          That would do it.

  29. wchipperdove

    I hate to be *that guy,* but I know the mods want the user experience of this site to be the best it can be. Well, when I read Glibs on my tablet I get this with those comments-on-comments-on-comments:

    http://www.toddfrye.org/images/tablet-screenshot.jpg

    Otherwise, things seem to run perfectly.

    1. Try holding your tablet in landscape orientation.

      1. AlmightyJB

        What is this Russia?

        1. Почему бы и нет?

      2. Waterfall Insurance

        It works.

      3. wchipperdove

        Mehh! [throws tablet across the room like a spoiled child]

    2. Waterfall Insurance

      #MeToo

  30. I post this not because the girl is especially gorgeous, but because this is the most ridiculous “bathing suit” I’ve ever seen.

    https://imgur.com/a/TCQhv

    1. AlmightyJB

      I like it

    2. Hyperion

      Well, she’s basically nekked if that’s what you’re saying. Would pass during Carnival, which is coming up, Gawd save me eyes, except for with super hot wiminz.

    3. thepasswordispassword

      Did Japan invent those or is it just something they like?

    4. Mad Scientist

      You know what would look good on her? A burlap sack and dark room.

      1. Trials and Trippelations

        Agree

      1. Why bother? Just skinny dip.

    1. Hyperion

      He was practically diddling the kid and you deplorables have issue with Lena Dunham! I mean except for Lena being nekked, that’s just gross everyone agrees.

    1. thepasswordispassword

      The narrative goes: oh course the corrupt, anti-$groupToCareAbout DNC is out of money, the people have been giving directly to candidates.

    2. Donors: “You have failed me for the last time DNC.”

      DNC: “But, how will you advance the progsocialist agenda now?”

      Donors: “We will directly finance the candidates, via PACs and issue-advocacy. You are no longer necessary.”

    3. Hyperion

      They’re dead fucking broke and not only that, but in millions of dollars of debt. Did they forget that deficits matter now? What did they expect? They replaced the ugly girl who won’t wash her hair with two avowed communists.

    4. kbolino

      It sounds like Democrats are not having trouble raising money, but the DNC is. The loss of the Clinton graft machine may be related.

      1. invisible finger

        To be replaced by the Obama graft machine.

        1. Viking1865

          Meh I think Obama doesn’t want more just to keep score. He’s gonna have enough sinecures and honoraria the rest of his life to live in comfort, to go on nice vacations, pay for his daughters big time weddings.

          You’re not gonna see him set up a giant graft machine hustling for every dollar, he’s just gonna take nice envelopes a dozen times a year or so from various leftist groups and hit ’em with old “there are those who say” bullshit. Fly out somewhere twice a month and give a 500,000 dollar speech in some place with a golf course he’s not played yet, that’s all he wants.

          1. invisible finger

            Bill didn’t either. The wife on the other hand…

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Merkel came from behind the wall fer chrissakes. So in that sense, yes, the fall of the wall enabled Merkel to hold office and create the conditions for a populist uprising.

      But I don’t think that’s what they meant.

    2. Pan Zagloba

      Alternate title: Stalin Was Right

      (yeah, he was dead eight years when Wall came up, it’s NBC)

      Also, it’s interesting that in an article about populism in East Germany, Die Linke gets no mention (fine, it’s mentioned in passing describing a lady “who switched to the AfD from the far-left Die Linke party”)

      1. I’m surprised they called it “far-left”.

        1. Pan Zagloba

          It draws votes away from SDP and the Greens. As such it has been deemed “not the best” by the right-thinking people.

    1. Lackadaisical

      Those poor oppressed ladies using their bodies to earn easy money from gullible men.

  31. I didn’t realize that Volokh Conspiracy was at TOS. It’s a step in the right direction for them.

    http://reason.com/volokh/2018/01/31/inserting-people-into-porn-movies-the-fi

    Who would you insert in a porn (other than yourself)?

    1. Mad Scientist

      SugarFree

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Some people just want to watch the world burn

        1. commodious spittoon

          Some people just want to watch the world porn

    2. Pan Zagloba

      Warty.

      (Tech won’t be ready for virtual Doomcock for a long time, sadly)

    3. Lackadaisical

      Hope Hicks.

    4. ENB. It would be sandwich-making porn.

    5. Mr Lizard

      Your mother…

  32. Lackadaisical

    So my Lacky Jr. was born the other day, been waiting on mom and baby hand and foot for the past week.

    Recognizing everyone is different, what is an appropriate time to get back to work?

    1. Hyperion

      As soon as you can?

    2. Trials and Trippelations

      We moved a month before TaT #1 was born. Obviously, i was not eligible for pto or paternity leave. I had to 2 shifts of unpaid off and 2 or so days i wasnt scheduled to work. Luckily, my MIL is retired and stayed with us a month bc the kid had undiagnosed silent reflux for a month so he barely slept and cried all the time
      #2 is due in June and my wife only wants me to take 6 weeks off. Per policy I can take up to 12

      1. Mad Scientist

        Per policy I can take up to 12

        Jesus.

    3. The Last American Hero

      I took a week off, and then went with no OT for a couple more. I suppose it depends on how stern of a taskmaster you’ve hired to oversee the orphans during your absence.

  33. straffinrun

    Steele is a genius. Leak your own bullshit to the media, have them write up articles attributing the info to an anonymous source, use those same articles to buttress your case in a dossier which you hand off to the DNC. What’s the opposite of a snake eating it’s own tail?

    1. Pan Zagloba

      Guy sucking his own dick?

      1. straffinrun

        Sounds about right. I just got up and am working through the memo. Big question is: Would they have gotten the FISA warrant without the dossier? Sure doesn’t look like it.

        1. straffinrun

          Nevermind. McCabe admits they wouldn’t have. Oh, this is fun.

    2. westernsloper

      That was my favorite part too. They used the fact it was reported on as proof of legitimacy when the mutherfucker who made the shit up was the one who got it into the news. Awesome.

    3. JaimeRoberto

      I think that’s how a lot of news gets published. The source for that story that Trump wanted to fire Mueller was “four people told of the matter”. Not four people with first hand knowledge. Not four people in the room. Four people who were probably told by one guy, who may or may not have had first hand knowledge.

    4. Not an Economist

      You want to know how we know Trump colluded with the Russians? The Russians paid by Hillary said so.

  34. Waterfall Insurance

    Bernie’s got his Friday night plans, Young Karl Marx coming soon to a theater near you. https://youtu.be/1_z-jx_6beM

    1. Trials and Trippelations

      It’s gonna be difficult for Bernie to watch that with only one pair of underwear

  35. Tres Cool

    Attempted vehicle break-in, with voice-over by professional sports guy:

    https://twitter.com/KIRORadio/status/959178992661221378

  36. Derpetologist

    mental sandbox time

    Could you build a short range radio transmitter charged by a hand crank and/or solar cells? There are hand crank radio receivers, but I expect broadcasting would require more power. Batteries are heavy and soldiers on patrol have to carry a lot of them.

    My cursory research hints that such devices exist, although they are heavier than battery-powered radios.

    http://www.imagineinstruments.com/solar_powered_radio_transmitter.html

    I wonder if you could make a radio out of modified cell phone. A typical cellphone can transmit a signal 20 – 40 miles and older flip phones can hold a charge for 2 or 3 days.
    A flip phone weighs a few ounces whereas the most common tactical radio used today (SINCGARS) weighs about 18 pounds.

  37. Derpetologist

    The title of this on CNN was: The only thing we’re doing in Afghanistan is not losing

    https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/01/opinions/the-tragic-truth-about-americas-longest-war-daalder/index.html

    ***
    At least 46 people were killed in Kandahar in late 2015 on a Wednesday, and at least 89 people died in eastern Afghanistan in 2014 on a Tuesday. In fact, an average of some 60 security incidents — armed clashes, roadside bombs, targeted killings, abductions, suicide attacks, and the like — are reported each day in Afghanistan.
    What this grim and unrelenting bloodshed makes clear is that, after 16 years of war, the United States is not winning in Afghanistan. Insurgent strength may grow and shrink over time, but the Taliban are no nearer to defeat today than they were a day or a decade ago. Meanwhile, America’s longest war grinds on.
    Then again, despite what successive US presidents may have said publicly, our Afghanistan strategy has not been about winning. Instead, for a long time now, our goal has been not losing. Not that any administration would admit as much, of course. But the tell of this no-lose strategy has been to tinker with US war fighting at levels well short of decisive.
    Take troop levels. A thousand additional US troops will arrive as early as this month, bringing the total to near 15,000 this year. But this number is a fraction of the 100,000 US troops who were in Afghanistan in 2011, not to mention the additional 50,000 deployed by allies from around the world. No one has explained how a few thousand more troops now will be decisive when more than a hundred thousand a few years ago were not.
    The same is true of the use of force. US aircraft dropped more than three times as many munitions on Afghanistan last year than in 2016. But even the uptick last year was only around four-fifths of the peak in 2011. Nor did the increased bombardment in 2017 turn the tide in the war. The Pentagon reported on Tuesday that just 56% of Afghanistan is currently under Afghan government control, down from more than 70% just over two years ago. And a new study by the BBC released on Wednesday reported that the Taliban are openly active in a full 70% of Afghanistan’s districts.
    ***

    “The Essence of War is Violence. Moderation in War is Imbecility.”
    -John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher

  38. Derpetologist

    larf

    Students hate Trump SOTU quotes, but they’re Obama’s
    https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10468

    ***
    President Trump delivered his State of the Union address earlier this week, which was favorably received by 75 percent of those who watched it.
    Campus Reform went to John Jay College in New York City to find out what students thought of some choice Trump quotes…which were actually from Barack Obama’s State of the Union addresses.

    Campus Reform headed to John Jay College in NYC to talk to students who disapproved of the speech by asking them to react to a few select quotations. Almost unanimously, the students found each of the quotes to be “warmongering”, “aggressive,” and “immature.”
    ***

  39. Derpetologist

    In white privilege discussion group, white students can’t ask black students questions
    https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/41556/

    ***
    “Some ground rules at the Snowden Multicultural Center’s Whiteness Group: If you have an unpopular opinion, speak up. No white person can ask a person of color questions; white people must try to answer their questions for themselves. And no spreading rumors about what people say during the meetings,” reports the Kenyon Collegian.

    Cruz, the group’s facilitator, is a self-described transgender Queer Afro-Latinx Muslim. The group has had a couple of meetings so far and Cruz reports it’s going well.
    ***

    1. Mad Scientist

      Cruz, the group’s facilitator, is a self-described transgender Queer Afro-Latinx Muslim

      And all this time I thought the Dead Milkmen were joking.

    2. Waterfall Insurance

      The first rule of white club, is you don’t talk about white club.

      1. Derpetologist

        A few more quips like that, and you will join Swiss as a Knight of the Derp Table.

    3. JaimeRoberto

      “Queer Afro-Latinx Muslim”

      Bingo!

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        I was thinking ‘Bozo!’, but yours works too.

      2. Waterfall Insurance

        You beat me unless pan-sexual counts as a free space.

  40. westernsloper

    After perusing today’s site content I am overcome with a desire to drive to McDonalds and order me some Buttermilk Mexican piss hookers and write a dossier.

    1. straffinrun

      And get a new rubber stamp?

      1. westernsloper

        All dossiers come with a rubber stamp. Get with the times.

      2. Tres Cool

        Dont forget the buttermilk chicken strips!

  41. Derpetologist

    https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/41530/

    Feminist academia should ‘infect, unsettle, and disrupt,’ instructors argue in journal

    ***
    Two academics at the Arizona State University authored an academic article arguing that students of women’s studies should “serve as symbolic ‘viruses’” in order to “infect, unsettle, and disrupt traditional and entrenched fields.”

    The article, published in Géneros: Multidisciplinary Journal on Gender Studies and titled “Women’s Studies as Virus: Institutional Feminism and the Projection of Danger,” was authored by Arizona State University women’s studies professor Breanne Fahs and Arizona State graduate student Michael Karger.

    The paper “theorizes that one future pedagogical priority of women’s studies is to train students not only to master a body of knowledge but also to serve as symbolic ‘viruses’ that infect, unsettle, and disrupt traditional and entrenched fields.”

    “While this metaphor works imperfectly—we do not advocate the killing of the host, for example,” the authors write, “it situates women’s studies as an insurrectionary field and extends its already ‘dangerous’ status in compelling ways.”
    ***

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      we do not advocate the killing of the host

      Of course not, their analogy is closer to truth than even they imagine. They need the host to survive as they certainly cannot do so on their own.

      1. Mad Scientist

        We merely wish to infect it, make it sick, and use it as a resource for our own benefit.

  42. Creosote Achilles

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5483178/sex-robots-doll-china-factory-smart-exdoll/

    Combine this with the #metoo nonsense, how do you say Stepford Wives in Mandarin?

    Alternate take: This is how the robots take over. Stop us from breeding and they can wipe us out without shedding a drop of blood.

  43. KibbledKristen

    And fuck every single Congress vermin that voted to re-auth FISA with a rusty chainsaw operated by STEVE SMITH, especially the Republicans.

    1. westernsloper

      + 1 swift kick in the nuts prior to the rusty chainsaw

    2. straffinrun

      That’s what should be learned from all of this, but there is no way that abomination of a program will ever end. A secret court that rubber stamps everything goes and does bad things? Who could’ve seen it coming?

  44. Derpetologist

    Reed College to revise Western Civ class after protests call it too ‘Caucasoid’ and ‘Eurocentric’
    https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/41543/

    ***
    The course had traditionally focused on scholars underpinning Western Civilization, and assigned books written by Greco-Roman thinkers such as Aristotle, Plato and Ovid, as well as from Mesopotamia and Egypt.

    But for more than a year “Humanities 110” has been the target of protests by a student group called “Reedies Against Racism,” who demanded it be “reformed to represent the voices of people of color.” In statements to The College Fix over the last year, student protesters have called the class too “Caucasoid” and “Eurocentric.”

    “I am a student of color who has trouble focusing because the curriculum at Reed is Eurocentric and is unrelated to my lived experience. Being told that the West is the most important topic of study damages my mental health and makes me less able to learn. I think this is true for many, many students of color, and that is part of why we do what we do,” Alex Boyd, a main Reedies Against Racism organizer, told The College Fix last September.
    ***

    I’m pretty sure my lived experience does not have a lot in common with ancient Greeks or Egyptians either. However, that is irrelevant.

    1. KibbledKristen

      A Western Civ class is too focused on Western Civ. Got it.

      1. Yusef drives a Kia

        Have you left yet?

        1. KibbledKristen

          Tomorrow afternoon. Just dropped the doge off at his sitter 🙁

          1. Yusef drives a Kia

            Well have a fun and be safe
            /Sonny Bono

          2. KibbledKristen

            /Natasha Richardson

            (I have worn a helmet ever since her death. And I ski like an arthritic 80-year-old)

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      They obviously aren’t going to be satisfied with a separate but equal course of study.

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder

      And Reed College is off the list.

  45. Derpetologist

    Why I am not worried about a war with Russia, exhibit 42A

    Russia Isn’t Training Enough Doctors for a Major War
    Large-scale conflict would shock a broken-down healthcare system
    http://warisboring.com/russia-isnt-training-enough-doctors-for-a-major-war/

    ***
    While Russia retains a public health care system, it is underfunded and has encountered two blows — the first being the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, followed by a recovery and then the 2014 Russian financial crisis following the fall in oil prices and imposition of Western sanctions. There is simply not enough funding, which means shortages of doctors, hospitals and equipment — adding up to long wait times.

    This is pronounced in rural areas where medical care is akin to a developing country, if medical providers exist at all — some 17,500 towns and villages have zero, according to Newsweek.
    ***

    For similar reasons, I am not worried about their missiles or bombers either.

    1. Yusef drives a Kia

      They were Frightening in the 70s when I grew up, but once the Wall came down, we saw they were a Paper tiger with nukes, nothing more

      1. Derpetologist

        I have a hard time believing that a country that can’t make a decent car could make a decent missile. If they launched everything they had at us, I’d expect half of them to fall apart in the sky on their way here. Unfortunately, half an apocalypse is still the apocalypse.

        I forget where I read it, but when Eisenhower got a brief on Soviet nuclear capabilities in the late 50s, his response was basically “that’s it?! that’s all they have?”

        1. Yusef drives a Kia

          We Peons didn’t have the info that our Gov had at the time, and knew nothing of the actual day today life in the USSR. Shit cars? we didn’t know, but hey did land on the moon, so We knew the could lob Nukes… Good enough for a Smart little kid to be nervous

          1. Yusef drives a Kia

            And I should preview

    2. Gilmore

      i think 2 years ago, they had a guy interview with the “War College” podcast who was a career russian-military analyst

      this is it. in my memory, he basically said.

      “Russia’s military capacity is being taxed by its involvement in Ukraine and Syria. They have huge headline numbers of ‘total manpower’, but thats because its basically conscription and free-jobs for young men who would otherwise be domestic criminals; their actual “readiness” is maybe 1/10th their total #s, and of that, it has nearly zero real combined-arms capability to fight anywhere abroad for more than ‘a few weeks’ before everything breaks and people need to be recycled out. They are better off just using ‘advisors’ and offering arms to other people to do the on the ground fighting.”

      he compared their total warfare capability on par with “one of the southern european nations”: by which he meant “italy or greece or spain”. as tho any of those ‘armies’ could do anything on their own w/o NATO backing them up.

      its also worth noting that the US spent lots of money trying to help ensure that russia de-activated and secured lots of their legacy nuclear stockpile. they literally couldn’t afford to even store shit properly for over 15 years. i doubt their remaining nuclear capabilities are anything other than defensive.

  46. Urthona

    The big problem for Republicans is that the memo proves the investigation existed before the dossier.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      But the warrants did not. And the warrants provided them the public cover they wanted. They needed to be able to point to them and say “See, even the FISA court thinks this investigation is justified!”

    2. westernsloper

      What investigation? The one used as cover for the Obama administration to use the intelligence agencies to spy on the oppositions political campaign? This is third world shit with first world tech and a giant apparatus.

    3. Urthona

      Well it basically states that the FBI was already looking at Papnotgonnaworkhereanymore before they sought to obtain this warrant. We don’t know the circumstances of this, but it backs up The NY Times claim that this Page inquiry did not start the Russia investigation.

      However, McCarty has some reasonable thoughts on this that I hadn’t considered. He doubts whether it was really in full force beforehand.

      1. straffinrun

        Someone should tell McCabe, because his testimony before congress throws cold water all over the The Times assertion.

        1. Urthona

          Does it? Explain.

          1. Urthona

            Did he say the investigstion started with Carter Page?

          2. straffinrun

            McCabe said that they wouldn’t have gotten the warrant to spy on Carter Page without the dossier. The question is on the legitmacy of that warrant and not the Papadopoulus case.

          3. straffinrun

            My point is that the NYT story is correct, but irrelevant to the problem the memo is alluding to.

          4. Urthona

            It’s not irrelevant to me. If it turns out they were not investigating Trump connections to Russia seriously until this event, then I definitely want blood after this revelation.

            It’s not clear whether they were seriously interested in Papadoofus ahead of time. All they had was his drunken ramblings to an Australian diplomat about how the Russians had dirt on Hillary. And they didn’t interview him until 4 months after this.

            As much as I want this circus to go away, we may need another independent investigation.

          5. straffinrun

            Attacking the FBI on the Carter page warrant rather than the Papa warrant seems a better way to go. If they attack on multiple fronts, the media, DOJ and FBI will have more opportunities to muddy the waters with technically correct, but meaningless arguments. Secret courts going off the rails is an easy sell to anyone with a brain. You only have to hit that court once if the punch is big enough. I’m hoping that Trump wins this because I want the current set up destroyed. I could give a shit about Trump himself.

      2. westernsloper

        Why was the FBI looking at him? Who tipped them off over a fucking bar conversation? The aussies. The whole world didn’t want Trump to win. It’s foreign collusion all the way down.

        And what did Papawhatshisface say? The Russians had dirt on Hillary? I think that is probably a very true statement. So him saying the Russians have dirt on Hillary warrants an investigation but Hillary paying for made up dirt on Trump doesn’t? The whole investigation is fucked sideways to sunday and is the biggest scam ever pulled out of the whitehouse and it was done by the Obama administration.

    4. grrizzly

      The big problem, really? We already know that the first warrant application was rejected by FISA. Of course, the Obama administration started spying on Trump & co. even before the events described in the memo.

    5. Gilmore

      the investigation existed before the dossie

      “an” investigation existed. it didn’t involve trump.

      you’ve been reading too much progtard twitter.

  47. Yusef drives a Kia

    I love my Mechanic, I dropped the Van off at 8:30 and they replaced the coils and changed the oil by 1:30, Sal is Badass.
    I’m working all Weekend, new Customers and Inspections, and I won’t even get dirty, but make some Filthy Lucre!

    1. KibbledKristen

      Make dat paper!

  48. Derpetologist

    banging your head on a tree over and over is bad for your brain; film at 11

    All that pecking may give woodpeckers brain damage

    hahahaHAha! hahahaHAha! hahahahaha!

  49. KibbledKristen

    The humiliating 38-7 defeat 2 weeks ago is gonna make me root for the Pats. OK. Probably would have rooted for them anyway (except against the Vikes), given my New England upbringing.

    1. straffinrun

      New thread up. No glibs left behind.

  50. Left Hand of Radar

    Any Minnesota Glibs going downtown tomorrow at 4:45 PM to see Bob Mould? At first I thought it was solo, but it turns out it’s “the band”– with Wurster and Narducci. Think I’ll brave the cold.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ0ZEpJRpAE

  51. straffinrun

    “I can’t release the sources that would vindicate why I ran the red light, Judge. National security.”

    Is that a viable defense?

    1. Number.6

      Only if you’re Jack Ryan.