Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Fear and negativity are contagious, but so is courage!

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Bark louder, little dog.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Keep the Immigrants and deport the fascists!

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Saturday Odds & Ends (Open Thread)

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Since Alex Pretti’s murder, there have been two anti-ICE protests in my deep-red town. Anecdotally, I’ve seen bipartisan disgust with this administration’s authoritarian overreach.

One of the protesters in my town carried a large Gadsden flag. At first I thought he was a counter-protester, but he had anti-ICE signage too.

This Jersey man gets emotional about what’s happening in his neighborhood at a protest this week:

Yesterday morning kids were sent running from their bus stop in panic because ICE showed up. This guy at today’s ICE Out of Lindenwold protest is a must watch 😭. @maddow.bsky.social

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— Cooper River Indivisible (@crindivisible.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 9:37 PM

Sounds like he’s fed up with Trump’s child-snatching squads, so he’s carrying a sign for the first time in his life. Republicans cannot afford to alienate white guys in Callaway golf hats, so you love to see it!

***

Speaking of love…

Give her what she really wants for Valentine’s Day: A bookshelf with a rolling ladder, a vintage bottle of Château Margaux, a basket of fresh pastries, and a candlelight meal where she can dine on the hearts of all who’ve wronged her.

— The Whimsical Muse (@whimsicalmuse.bsky.social) February 14, 2026 at 6:23 AM

Yes! That’s not what I’m getting, but Bill is making his famous cinnamon roast chicken, a recipe handed down from his Polish American grandma. It has far more olive oil, butter and garlic than cinnamon — all the good things!

***

Speaking further of love, our Painted Bunting continues to visit. If you listen with the sound on, you’ll hear the cries of Limpkins looking for love in the background.

#PaintedBunting is back! Didn’t see him yesterday, so I thought he’d moved on. 🪶

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— Betty Cracker of Florida (@bettycrackerfl.bsky.social) February 14, 2026 at 7:19 AM

I’m quite fond of the Limpkins, but they scream incessantly from late January until March or so — day and night. I’ve been up since 4 AM thanks to those horny feathered screamers, and it will get worse when it warms up enough to leave the windows open overnight.

Limpkin screeching so annoyed The Yearling and Cross Creek author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings that she developed recipes featuring the birds and was said (by herself) to make an excellent roast Limpkin. I wonder if she used cinnamon?

Open thread!

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‘Epstein Class’ – It’s No Accident That We Are Seeing That So Widely

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'Epstein Class' – It's No Accident That We Are Seeing That Everywhere

I’m not sure if it started last week or the week before that, but that was when I first heard “Epstein class”.

Then suddenly “Epstein class” started appearing nearly  every time a Democrat was talking about anything related to the millionaires / billionaires / money people / the rich tech boys.   And so on.  It’s brilliant.

Someone came up with that and someone realized that it’s the perfect description that even normies could recognize, not to mention a way to keep Epstein in the news.  And the Dems decided to adopt it.  I think there’s no other explanation for its sudden appearance and widespread usage, all at the same time.

I am WaterGirl and I approve that message. :-)

To me, Epstein class brings to mind money + women as things + girls as things to be used and abused + privilege + entitlement + arrogance + heartlessness.

What does it bring to mind for you?

Again, the sheer beauty of it is that the curtain is being pulled aback on the Epstein class, and it’s not a pretty picture.

Somewhat related, I think the Trump women anger me more than the men.  Maybe I expect more of women?  I don’t know.  When are they all going to be dressing in Cruella Deville outfits?  Their faces are halfway there already.  By choice!

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Saturday Morning Open Thread

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lol the state of the union is going to be a fucking tire fire this year

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— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) February 13, 2026 at 6:48 PM

To repeat myself: The Repubs don’t want a State of the Union speech this year, because a prime-time Airing of His Senile Majesty’s Many Grievances is liable to perturb even their beloved low-info voters. I personally suspect that some of the GOP defections on the shutdown vote were aimed at keeping Trump off the air on February 24th. Debate me!

The Cabinet this week
*RFK Jr. bragged about snorting cocaine off of a toilet seat
*Lutnick acknowledged taking his family to Epstein island
*Bondi “The Dow” / refuses to look at victims
*Noem blanket
*Hegseth loses to Kelly, tries to tweet through it
*Bessent “tariffs don’t cause inflation”

— Steven T. Dennis (@steventdennis.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 8:55 PM

Thank Murphy the Trickster God for Democrats who know who the enemy is.

Republicans are about to shut down FEMA, the Coast Guard and TSA in a few hours.
Instead of getting ICE under control this guy is having another meltdown online.
We will never let you steal the midterm election.

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— Hakeem Jeffries (@hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 8:08 PM

Kristi Noem must resign or be fired immediately.

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— Rep. Lauren Underwood (@underwood.house.gov) February 13, 2026 at 2:00 PM

The economy couldn’t be better for the wealthy & well-connected—and Epstein-class billionaire donors are making more than ever.
But most of us are struggling to pay for groceries, rent, and healthcare. Thanks to this rigged economy, we’re getting screwed.

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— Rep. Jim McGovern (@repmcgovern.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 12:23 PM

Your eyes don’t lie. We’ve all seen the horrific videos of ICE in Minnesota. No matter what Republican lawmakers try to tell us or who they try to blame, Americans know the truth about what’s happening here. And it can’t be allowed to happen here — or anywhere else — ever again.

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— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar.com) February 12, 2026 at 7:57 PM

I think strategically there’s nothing Dems could do more powerful than banning masks. If ICE/CBP have to show their faces they will lose current agents & their recruitment will collapse.

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 10:23 PM

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Saturday Morning Open ThreadPost + Comments (204)

Cold Grey Dawn Open Thread: To the Moon!… With *Catapults!*

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NUDE ELON MUSK: The invisible clothes I'm wearing are a product of xAthleisure, which will roll out self-dressing outfits within two years at the latest
THE CREDULOUS PRESS: Fully Clothed Tesla Innovator Does It Again

— alexis simpson (@amutepiggy.bsky.social) February 12, 2026 at 2:10 PM

Can we have Elon test it out personally?

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— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) February 12, 2026 at 2:41 PM

Cold Grey Dawn Open Thread: <em>To the Moon!</em>... With *Catapults!*

… According to new reporting from the New York Times, Musk told employees at xAI — his AI company recently acquired by SpaceX — that it needs to construct a factory on the Moon to churn out AI satellites. And to launch the satellites into space, he says, it needs to build an enormous electromagnetic catapult.

Sci-fi readers already know where this is going: Musk is thinking about building a mass driver, which is essentially a coilgun for launching payloads instead of deadly projectiles. Paired with the lunar facility, Musk views it as a necessary step in building out computing power for his AI empire, which must not be bound by the finitude of terrestrial real estate…

The Moon may sound like a logical destination for a space company, but it actually represents an incredible about-face for Musk and SpaceX. Musk has spent years denigrating lunar missions, viewing them as a waste of time and a “distraction” from his ultimate goal of sending humans to Mars. His mantra has always been to “make life multiplanetary,” and “extend consciousness to the stars.” He has frequently provided optimistic timelines for achieving this, including promising in 2017 that the company’s first Mars mission would launch in 2022, and its first astronauts would arrive by 2025. He has consistently reiterated this mission, and presented SpaceX employees with a roadmap to reaching the Red Planet…

Gizmodo isn’t Serious Media, so they can afford more honest headlines — “‘We’ll Find the Remnants of Ancient Alien Civilizations’: Read Musk’s Gibberish Rant from His xAI All-Hands Meeting”:

At the risk of stating the obvious, Elon Musk doesn’t always make sense when he talks. But at a recent all-hands meeting at xAI that was posted in full online, he made less sense than usual. This isn’t investment advice, but anyone considering buying stock in the SpaceX/xAI conglomerate expected to make an initial public offering later this year might want to give some real thought to how the founder and CEO is sounding lately.

xAI has seen a rash of high-level resignations recently. Many of the company’s 11 original cofounders have left, and one of these resignations, Tony Wu’s, happened just yesterday…

A tech founder sent me an explanation of a meeting with Elon and asked for advice on what to do next. Here's how I replied, so everyone can benefit.

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— Dustin Moskovitz (@moskov.goodventures.org) February 13, 2026 at 10:58 AM

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War for Ukraine Day 1,450: Looks Like Trump Had Another Phone Call with Putin

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It’s been a long week, everyone is fried, so I’m just going to run through the basics.

It seems that Trump has been talking to Putin again:

Trump: “Zelenskyy is gonna have to get moving. Russia wants to make a deal. Zelenskyy is gonna have to get moving.”

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 13, 2026 at 12:26 PM

Russia does not want to “make a deal,” russia wants Ukraine to surrender territory that russia cannot conquer by force. To achieve this, they use Trump to pressure Ukraine.

Ukraine is expected to surrender in a war it has not lost!

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 12:34 PM

🇺🇦👀 Zelensky on Putin: I am younger than Putin, this is important. He does not have too much time.

🇺🇸 Zelensky: Trump wants compromises.

We made a lot of compromises, Putin and his friends, they are not in prison. We accepted a ceasefire, Putin refused.

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— MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 4:58 PM

Trump:

“I ended 8 wars in just 10 months. 8 wars are ended, and we have a couple of more to go, but one in particular, Russia-Ukraine, it’s a mess, it’s a horrible thing. And I think we’ll get there. It takes two to tango, you have to remember that.”

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 3:51 PM

You aren’t getting anywhere because you’re pressuring the victim instead of the aggressor—Russia. What you’re doing only emboldens Putin and increases civilian casualties in Ukraine.

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 3:51 PM

Rubio skipped a meeting with European leaders on Ukraine in Munich due to scheduling conflicts, according to the Financial Times.

One European official called it madness, while another politician remarked that without Rubio, the meeting was pointless.

🤔

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 2:06 PM

Trump, Rubio, Hegseth are very quickly making the US irrelevant. Trump is not leading, he is incapable of following, and he refuses to get out of his own and anyone else’s way.

Can someone tell me what this “beautiful” window of opportunity even looks like? What “deals” are we talking about here?
Seems like there’s no “deal”, only a demand for the Ukrainian people to surrender their territory and give up.

To me, this post looks like an example of information manipulation.

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— Maria Drutska (@mariadrutska.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 9:57 AM

This is the key question, but I’d change the framing a bit. The window of opportunity is not actually for Ukraine, it’s for Trump. And he keeps closing it on himself and then blaming it on President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians.

There is no address or press conference today from President Zelenskyy because he was traveling to Munich for this year’s Security Conference. He did meet with Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, who the IOC disqualified yesterday, and presented him with the Ukrainian Order of Freedom.

The President Met with Ukrainian Skeleton Racer Vladyslav Heraskevych and Awarded Him the Order of Freedom

14 February 2026 – 00:20

In Munich, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Ukrainian skeleton racer and member of Ukraine’s National Olympic Team, Vladyslav Heraskevych, and with his father, the coach of Ukraine’s skeleton team, Mykhailo Heraskevych.

The Head of State thanked Vladyslav Heraskevych for his dignified stance and presented him with the Order of Freedom.

“With great respect to you, and certainly to all our Olympians who have stood by you and your position. Medals are important for Ukraine and for you, but what matters most, to my mind, is who you are. I consider you a remarkable person. And I am confident that all other achievements, which are so important to you, will surely come. And Ukraine will have both champions and Olympians. But above all, Ukraine’s greatest asset is Ukrainians. You embody that kind of person,” said the President.

Vladyslav Heraskevych expressed gratitude for the tremendous support and emphasized that the Ukrainian people have united in the face of injustice.

“Most importantly, the whole world is now truly talking about the athletes depicted on this helmet. And despite their deaths, they are now drawing attention to Ukraine. They are rallying support for Ukraine. And that is truly something very special,” said the Ukrainian athlete.

On Vladyslav Heraskevych’s helmet are portraits of 22 Ukrainian athletes who were killed by Russia. He intended to start the skeleton race wearing it as a tribute and in memory of all Ukrainian athletes who will never compete again because of Russia’s aggression. However, a few hours before his first race, the International Olympic Committee disqualified Vladyslav Heraskevych.

“The most important thing is that we are not trying to break any rules or act as barbarians. We will continue to fight for our rights, despite everything,” the athlete added.

Mykhailo Heraskevych also noted the support the gesture received, not only from Ukrainians but also from friends of Ukraine around the world.

“Everything you did was right. What matters is how people reacted. We thank you for this,” emphasized the President.

🇺🇦 Zelensky: Remembrance is not a violation.

I met with Ukrainian skeleton racer and member of Ukraine’s National Olympic Team, Vladyslav Heraskevych, and his father, coach of Ukraine’s skeleton team, Mykhailo Heraskevych. I presented Vladyslav with the Order of Freedom.

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— MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 5:26 PM

Ukraine will always have champions and Olympians. But above all, Ukraine’s greatest asset is Ukrainians – those who cherish the truth and the memory of the athletes killed by Russia, athletes who will never compete again because of the Russian aggression.

— MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 5:26 PM

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Open Thread: Shutting Down ‘Homeland Security’

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DHS is shutting down because it refuses to obey the law. They are tear-gassing schools, killing American citizens, and disappearing legal immigrants. Democrats shouldn’t fund an out of control ICE.

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— Chris Murphy (@chrismurphyct.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 11:53 AM

Probably should’ve saved this for tomorrow, but… I wanted to boost Sen. Murphy’s extremely correct stance.

BREAKING: No deal on ICE reforms, DHS shutdown is set to occur at midnight

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— MS NOW (@ms.now) February 13, 2026 at 10:13 AM

Another shutdown for parts of the federal government is expected this weekend as lawmakers debate new restrictions on President Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.
Unlike last fall's record shutdown, the closures will be confined, as only agencies under DHS will be affected.

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— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) February 13, 2026 at 12:00 PM

… Unlike the record 43-day shutdown last fall, the closures will be narrowly confined, as only agencies under the DHS umbrella — like Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — will be affected. Still, depending on how long the shutdown lasts, some federal workers could begin to miss paychecks.

Services like airport screening could also suffer if the shutdown drags on for weeks.

At the Transportation Security Administration, about 95% of employees are deemed essential. They will continue to scan passengers and their bags at the nation’s commercial airports. But they will work without pay until the funding lapse is resolved, raising the possibility that workers will being calling out or taking unscheduled leave. Many TSA workers already faced financial stress last year…

Why is a Homeland Security shutdown happening?
Essentially, it’s because Trump acquiesced to Democrats’ request that Homeland Security funding be stripped from a broader spending package to allow more time for negotiation over demands for changes to immigration enforcement, like a code of conduct for federal agents and a requirement that officers show identification. Homeland Security was temporarily funded only through Feb. 13.

The rest of the federal government is funded through Sept. 30. That means most federal programs are unaffected by the latest shutdown, including food assistance, and pay for most federal workers and for service members will continue uninterrupted.

The funding lapse affects the Department of Homeland Security and its constellation of agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The vast majority of employees at the Secret Service and U.S. Coast Guard will continue their work, though they could also miss a paycheck depending upon the shutdown’s length.

At the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the shutdown will disrupt the agency’s ability to reimburse states for disaster relief costs. Some workers will be furloughed, limiting the agency’s ability to coordinate with state and local partners, and training for first responders at the National Disaster and Emergency Management University in Maryland will be disrupted…

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Friday Night Open Thread

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Auto Draft 160

I was listening to JFA this morning and that made me think of the picture above. I have been listening to a lot of old punk lately- Clash, Dead Kennedies, aformentioned JFA, Black Flag, Bad Brains, etc. Not sure if that is the right thing for me to be listening to in my current frame of mind or exactly what I need to be fucking listening to right now. Regardless, let’s start in on today’s offense to decency and other bullshit:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to spend $38.3 billion on new detention facilities to meet the agency’s growing demand for bedspace and to streamline the removal process for people living in the country illegally.

All I know is they better spend every penny and make those detention centers cozy as hell because if I have any say in things in 2029 a lot of motherfuckers working for ice are going to be living there for an extended amount of time and some of them FOREVER. I know I have said this before, but the winning candidate for me an many other people is going to be the Democrat who will jumped over the table and bite the ear off the Republican candidate.

I have heard my sister and my mother say things I never in a million years thought I would hear them say, and they keep getting angrier and angrier. And while I feel bad for them and also a little “welcome to my hellhole,” I am also so fucking happy and proud and relieved I am because I know a lot of you have lost people to the dark lord.

In other news, this is at least happening:

Federal authorities have opened a criminal probe into whether two immigration officers lied under oath about a shooting in Minneapolis last month, as all charges were dropped against two Venezuelan men.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons said Friday that his agency opened a joint probe with the Justice Department after video evidence revealed “sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements” about the shooting of one of the Venezuelan men during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown across the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

The officers, whose names were not disclosed, are on administrative leave while the investigation is carried out, he said. Lyons said the two ICE officers could be fired and face criminal prosecution.

Once again, I must remind everyone of this quote from Gore Vidal: “It is no secret that American police rarely observe the laws of the land when out wilding with each other, and as any candid criminal judge will tell you, perjury is often their native tongue in court.”

Seriously, hoocoodanode?

***

A lot of this country has lost their fucking minds, and you need to understand that it is not just the olds, but we are really starting to get the results of our 20 year experiment of cooking kid’s brains in social media’s fetid brew, and let me tell you, it ain’t good:

Clavicular is 6-foot-2, weighs 180 pounds and has a 31-inch waist. His biacromial width — basically the span of the clavicle, from which the 20-year-old streamer gets his name — is 19.5 inches. He has a midface ratio, which is derived by dividing the distance from the pupil to the mouth by the distance between the pupils, of 1.07. His chin to philtrum ratio is 2.6.

According to Clavicular, these calculations make him handsome. Just not as handsome as the actor Matt Bomer.

Clavicular is a Looksmaxxer, the first star from an online community that holds male attractiveness as the key to worldly achievement. He considers Mr. Bomer to possess the most harmonious man’s face in existence, beyond even his own. That’s where the bimaxillary osteotomy, also known as double jaw surgery, comes in. The streamer wants one.

Because, like all Looksmaxxers, he believes any step toward increasing his beauty to be virtuous. But it’s a certain kind of beauty. The Looksmaxxing community prefers people who look like Mr. Bomer: lantern-jawed, symmetrical, white. (A Black man who attempted to make looksmaxxing content was racially harassed, Wired reported last year.)

Clavicular dismisses concerns that the subculture is racist as “dumb.” Since the age of 14, Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, has injected and ingested dozens of controlled substances to “ascend” — Looksmaxxer lingo for becoming more handsome. He has a single goal in mind, and his philosophy requires him to get there as fast as possible. If most people regard self-improvement as a pleasant hike to a more attractive destination, Clavicular’s version of it resembles a grim speed test on a salt flat.

Read the whole thing-it is insane, and yes it is a deeply racist subculture. These guys are all interwoven with the insane kids involved in the shooting of Charlie Kirk.

Again, maybe this is more indicative of my frame of mind, but it sure feels like the American paradox right now is that we have astronomical levels of gun violence, yet there appear to be millions of people high school age and above who need to be punched in the neck. Have these clowns never gone to a bar and tried this shit and no one has punched them? What is going on? Are people doing this shit on the streets of Chicago, NY, and Philly and leaving unscathed?

***

One real downsides of living in Tempe with a variety of ethnicities is that if the weather is nice the smell from all the different types of meats grilling around the neighborhood will drive you insane with hunger. I am typed out. Time for some Olympics.

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