Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We still have time to mess this up!

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

John Fetterman: Too Manly for Pennsylvania.  Paid for by the Oz for Senator campaign.

The willow is too close to the house.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

T R E 4 5 O N

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

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

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

You are here: Home / Humorous / A Moment’s (Grim But Funny) Respite

A Moment’s (Grim But Funny) Respite

by | 129 Comments

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I’m still crazed, so posting remains a challenge, but my even-more-magpie-like-than-me older brother tossed these over the transom just now, and it struck me as jackal bait.

Did you hear that Leo Tolstoy’s novel, ‘War and Peace,’ has been renamed? It’s now called ‘Special Operation and High Treason.’

A Moment's (Grim But Funny) Respite

Putin is dead and after burning in hell for a time, they decide to release him and he comes back to Earth. He finds himself on a street in Moscow and walks into a bar. He orders a vodka and asks the bartender a question: “Does Crimea still belong to us?” “Yes,” the bartender answers. “How about Donbas, Kyiv and the rest of Ukraine?” “All still part of Russia,” the bartender answers. Satisfied, Putin finishes his drink and he asks the bartender, “How much do I owe you?” The bartender says, “Five euros.”

I’ve heard that one thing bullies and autocrats really hate is ridicule. So enjoy–share more such jibes if you’ve got ’em–and have some open thread.

Image: Joos van Craesbeeck, Portrait of a man clasping a drink, between 1635 and 1661.

Reader Interactions

129Comments

  2. 2.

    Doc Sardonic

    The facial expression of the artist’s subject makes me think we are about one frame from a 17th century spit take.

  3. 3.

    Ishiyama

    Here’s something from Ukrinform:

    Ukraine’s SBU State Security Service has discovered a secret warehouse with ammunition and components for military equipment worth $200 million in the Kharkiv region.

    The SBU reported this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

    “According to preliminary data, the components available there were intended for damaged Russian equipment, which the enemy was going to repair during the offensive. However, thanks to the resistance of Ukrainian defenders, the occupiers failed to take Kharkiv. Through the efforts of the SBU, the entire seized consignment of weapons will be used to protect our state,” the statement said.

    Some 60 full tank engines and a large number of spare parts and components for armored vehicles were found during the search and transferred to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. In addition, 26 guided air-to-air missiles were also found.

    The SBU established that the equipment in this warehouse had previously been stolen from arms depots. In the run-up to the invasion, the owners of the warehouse intended to cooperate with the occupiers and provide equipment for the needs of the enemy.

    Earlier reports said that the SBU had identified more than 2,500 collaborators since the entry into force of Law No. 2108-IX “On the Introduction of Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts (on the Establishment of Criminal Liability for Collaborative Activities).

  5. 5.

    Roger Moore

    @zhena gogolia:

    At least the idiot is starting to wrap his head around the idea that reporting might need to be more than just repeating both sides.  Now if only he could think about applying the same idea to American politics…

  7. 7.

    trollhattan

    Think this is good news, but how it changes the Mariupol siege I can’t possibly guess.

    Ukrainian Marines and Azov, supported by armored vehicles, conducted a successful breakthrough operation towards the harbor in #Mariupol to help fellow servicemen defending the area.

    About 500 fighters of Ukrainian Border Guards and National Police reportedly requested assistance after the latter one was running low on ammo. They have been all successfully evacuated to Azovstal Plant.

    https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1516808014711476230

  11. 11.

    Mike in NC

    Per USA Today, Governor DeathSentence is escalating his war with Disney! He wants the legislature to repeal some law passed in 1967 that allows the company to operate “self-government” on its properties.

    Maybe Disney can decide to charge Florida residents twice what other park attendees pay.

  12. 12.

    Ishiyama

    @Emma from Miami: Well, trickster gods notoriously don’t get pissed, they get even (and then some). How the Camel got his Hump was my early introduction to the breed.

  15. 15.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mike in NC: he vowed the other day that the state of Florida was going to involve itself in the internal conduct of Twitter, Inc, for some reason

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press conference Tuesday that the state will attempt to hold Twitter’s board of directors “accountable” for their poison pill defense against Elon Musk’s potential hostile takeover.

    apparently he thinks there’s great electoral appeal in abusing state power on behalf of a billionaire weirdo, and in a GOP primary, he may be right. I’ve been waiting for Normies everywhere to see this as not just abusive overreach, but fucking nuts, for years.

  17. 17.

    Betty

    @Ishiyama: I was just wondering about collaborators, especially ones that might target Zelensky or his family. I was hoping they were very few, but.. humans.

  18. 18.

    JoyceH

    On a previous open thread, I posted about my cat with the inappropriate peeing problem. Someone here suggested Zylkene, and I got some of that and have been sprinkling it on the cat food. Would like to hear from whoever suggested it or anyone else with experience with it, how long does it take to work, etc? I’ve been sprinkling the contents of one capsule on the canned cat food, and that might not be enough because both cats eat from the same bowl. I figured that would be fine, since Liam probably could use some calming as well.

    Last night we had another pee on the bed incident, and I blame Liam (though Abby was the pee-er), since he instigated a fight with her earlier. Not a rear up and flash paws fight, but a old fashioned roll on the floor squalling donnybrook. I think the basic issue is that my now-combined pet household includes two cats with very dominant personalities. And Liam is a lot bigger, so Abby loses their confrontations – and then goes and pees where she shouldn’t. I already have a Feliway diffuser. Any other thoughts/suggestions?

  20. 20.

    trollhattan

    Republican Prion Disease™ flourishing in Colorado.

    April 20, 2022 at 2:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

    Colorado state Rep. Dave Williams (R) is suing to be known as Dave “Let’s Go Brandon” Williams on the Republican primary ballot for the 5th congressional district, the Denver Post reports.

  23. 23.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    since it’s a thread about poking fun at fascists:

    Angry retiree sends soup back to kitchen screams obscenities at airline employee about delay

    Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski

    On Sunday, former Fox host Bill O’Reilly threatened a JetBlue employee at JFK Airport after his flight to Turks & Caicos was delayed: “You f*cking scumbag! You’re gonna lose your job!”

    Jet Blue? Has he had to pay off assault victims we don’t know about? Did his ex-wife have pictures of something?

  24. 24.

    Cameron

    @Mike in NC: Florida Senate did his bidding today; now on to House, where it will also probably be rubber-stamped.  Gonna be a thrilla and a chilla – Big Rat in Tallahassee vs. Big Mouse in Orlando.

  27. 27.

    NotMax

    @Mike in NC

    Next step, suing Hanna-Barbera for the theme song of The Flintstones. And also any Florida TV station that doesn’t bleep out the ‘offending’ word.

    //

  29. 29.

    Elizabelle

    @zhena gogolia:   I am watching it a third time, because it was so good.

    At one point, Stelter does not respond to her point and she asks “do you not have sound?”

    Love the no deference to idiotic questions (in fairness to Stelter, perhaps from the producers).  I was wishing the camera was on him more often.  Early on, you can see the wariness in his eyes:  “This one is a tiger.  Be careful.”

  31. 31.

    Dangerman

    You want grim and funny? I just invested in a ball tanner salon. I thought it was Bull Tannen and it was some weird Back to the Future tribute, but, no.

  32. 32.

    Roger Moore

    @Mike in NC:

    The really wild thing about the drive to repeal Disney’s special district is that it would probably hurt the other residents of the area, not Disney.  Right now, there’s a special government district that covers Disney’s properties that pays for all kinds of extra amenities and upgrades, but it’s paid for by taxes on Disney (and I assume park goers).  If the district is eliminated, that doesn’t eliminate its debts, which would be assumed by the county.  So eliminating the special district would wind up saddling county residents with debt service for a bunch of stuff that was done for (and previously paid by) Disney.

  35. 35.

    MazeDancer

    Liked the five euros joke, a lot.

    Here is a visual joke that is hard to fathom. It is a NewsMax screenshot with the chyron:  “Left Considers Black Conservatives to be Traitors”.

    https://twitter.com/jasonscampbell/status/1516751349337268227?s=21

    The line-up of noted Black people:

    Sheriff David Clark, Herman Cain, Ben Shapiro, and Ben Carson.

    Of the still breathing bros in that line-up, not sure Ben will be happy to be called Black, though, no doubt, he will say he is.  Does he even claim to have ever been Jewish?

  36. 36.

    Brachiator

    @dmsilev:

    The Confederacy had a general named, and I’m not making this up, States’ Rights Gist.

    When he died in battle the person who shot him said, “I wasn’t sure at first, but I think I got the Gist of it.”

  37. 37.

    Barbara

    @Mike in NC: I am assuming the original act was intended to segregate Disney property from surrounding community because the property is used for such a disparate and unique purpose.  Considering that these people operate at a normal level of functioning close to brain death it’s not surprising that they failed to consider that the special district status had at least as much benefit for the surrounding community as it did for Disney.

  39. 39.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Roger Moore: There will be pushback from both Orange and Osceola counties, because their budgets will not handle the extra expenditures that this is going to open up. Not to mention that the Mouse will probably be more than happy to continue to provide the manpower, facilities and services and in turn bill both counties at the going rate.

  40. 40.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I’ve been waiting for Normies everywhere to see this as not just abusive overreach, but fucking nuts, for years.

    You and me both, Jim. Good Christ, what else does he have to do? Nuke the fucking manatees?

  42. 42.

    Central Planning

    @zhena gogolia: I would like to watch that clip, but the video just spins and never starts. Thanks, Elon.

    It’s not me (famous last words) – other clips play fine.

  44. 44.

    Martin

    @zhena gogolia: That wasn’t humiliating enough to stick with Stelter. Masha needs to dig deeper next time she runs up against that astonishing level of incompetence from someone with a national platform.

  46. 46.

    Taken4Granite

    @trollhattan: Back in the 1990s some dude who thought that the office of lieutenant governor should be abolished had his name legally changed to Absolutely Nobody and ran for the office on that platform.

    But I have to give Mr. Nobody more respect than this Colorado guy. Having your name legally changed takes a fair amount of effort and has a substantial lasting effect on your life.

  50. 50.

    Bupalos

    If anyone tells those jokes though Jon Mearsheimer will work up a detailed analysis on how that will force Putin to nuke Greece.

  53. 53.

    scav

    DeSantis telling off the Mouse and dictating terms to Twitter.  Flobalob and Rees-Mogg issuing ukases to the CofE and God over the morality and lies.  Traditional Conservative reverence for business and religion strides ever onward.

  54. 54.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ishiyama:

    The sexual lust of the camel
    Runs deeper than anyone thinks.
    One night in a fit of mad passion
    He tried to bugger the Sphinx.
    However, the Sphinx’s channels
    Are clogged by the silt of the Nile –
    Which accounts for the Hump on the Camel,
    And the Sphinx’s inscrutable smile.

    I ran across that in a copy of the GIs United Against The War newsletter we civilians used to hand out at the gates to Fort Holabird in Baltimore during the early 70s. Why? Try reading this. (I can’t, Bozos’ friggin’ paywall…)

  55. 55.

    guachi

    @Cameron: The thing about FL vs. Disney is that Disney won’t do anything to push back. FL Republicans know this. Disney knows this. Disney is weak and De Santis knows this.

  56. 56.

    Betty Cracker

    @Martin: I keep hearing how this is going to get bad for DeSantis — and I so want to see it blow up in his stupid face. But so far, WDW seems to be in a defensive crouch.

  59. 59.

    Ksmiami

    @guachi: they have to. But it’ll be Disney’s ever famous legal team that puts the screws to DeSantis. He’s dead- he just doesn’t know it yet

  60. 60.

    MazeDancer

    Found a stream of Le Debat en Francais. Not that I can understand it. But wanted to feel the energy.

    Macron has one of those perfect French voices where “I’m going to empty the garbage” would sound romantic. He seems eager and focussed.

    Le Pen is so botoxed, can barely open her lips. Really, botoxed Nazi. She does not seem the least bit charismatic.

    But I gave up long ago trying to understand the French.

    youtu.be/w7pZ5n9gV0o

  62. 62.

    Martin

    @Betty Cracker: It’s worse than that. Disney said they’d stop donating to FL politicians. If you stop and think about that for even half a second, that threat only works if you only donate to Republicans. So presumably Disney paid for this abuse, and they’re not smart enough to figure out that the best way to protect a few billion dollars invested in FL parks is to carve out a few hundred million dollars from their profits and hand it out to every Democratic challenger in the state.

    Even Tesla doesn’t have a CEO this stupid.

  65. 65.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @MazeDancer: Liked the five euros joke, a lot.

    Woulda been funnier if the punch line had been “That’ll be 160 hryvnia” (equivalent to 5 euros). But I’m not complaining…

  66. 66.

    Betty Cracker

    @Martin: I don’t know that anything will change until the Disney talent — the animators, actors, etc. — force action by threatening to walk unless the company has their backs in a meaningful way. That’s what finally got Chapek to pipe up about the Don’t Say Gay law, albeit too late.

  67. 67.

    Martin

    @Ksmiami: Apart from copyright, Disney’s legal team doesn’t really seem to do a lot around politics. They certainly haven’t here in CA. Even at the county level they have surprisingly little pull. It’s not zero, but it’s not what you’d expect.

  68. 68.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Ksmiami: Yep, and all of that was going to directly benefit those to counties and quite possibly have some spill over benefit to Polk and Seminole counties. Interesting also, is the amount of jobs not related to the theme parks, that Disney provides in the construction and building trades area. There are a lot of businesses that exist strictly on their work for WDW, those projects get put on hold or cancelled, a good many people will lose really good jobs.

  69. 69.

    opiejeanne

    @Ksmiami: The two parks are run independently of each other, and the one in Anaheim pays their employees better than the one in Florida.

  71. 71.

    Ben Cisco

    @MazeDancer:

    The line-up of noted Black people:

    Sheriff David Clark, Herman Cain, Ben Shapiro, and Ben Carson.

    Clark’s irrelevant, Cain’s dead, Carson might as well be, and…Shapiro? was this a visual Freudian joke?

  72. 72.

    trollhattan

    Hey, we might have our very own Los Pollos Hermanos!

    The owner of a small grocery store in Sacramento is among two local men charged last month in federal court, accused in a cocaine trafficking ring with ties to one of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels. Jose Manuel Chavez Zepeda, 54, was charged in a criminal complaint filed March 14 and recently unsealed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

    Chavez and Denis Zacarias Ponce Castillo, 37, of Sacramento were each charged with one count of distribution of at least 500 grams of cocaine and one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, according to court documents. Chavez resides in Carmichael and owns La Victoria Supermercado, a Mexican grocery store on Del Paso Boulevard in Old North Sacramento, according to the court filing, which came following an FBI investigation launched in April 2016.

    The complaint alleges that Chavez used his store to launder money and managed a network of local “sub-dealers” that included Ponce. It also says Chavez and others would engage in “narcotics related meetings” at the store.

    The FBI used a confidential informant, and later physical surveillance, to gather information on the activities of Chavez, Ponce and several other alleged co-conspirators including a Ceres man named Mario Naranjo Gonzalez, court documents say. Chavez used La Victoria Supermercado as a base for cocaine trafficking operations and “to launder proceeds from his narcotic sales,” the complaint says, though he has not been charged with money laundering. The complaint says Chavez laundered this money to “affiliates in Mexico.” Chavez also ran a “stash house” at a nearby residence in the Old North Sacramento neighborhood, according to court documents, and managed “sub-dealers” in the Sacramento area.

    The complaint says one of Chavez’s largest sub-dealers was a man nicknamed “El Ciego” – Spanish for “the blind man” – who works as a mechanic in the Sacramento area. The informant identified El Ciego as Ponce, according to court documents.

    https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article260588322.html#storylink=cpy

    Definitely want to learn more about the blind mechanic.

  76. 76.

    Kent

    @dmsilev:

    @trollhattan:  The Confederacy had a general named, and I’m not making this up, States’ Rights Gist.

    History repeats as farce, I guess.

    It was farce the first time around too.  States rights my ass.

  77. 77.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Doc Sardonic:

    Now Florida will get to send some real yahoo state and county cops to Disney for pride events.  Kick the crap out of some people fer bein’ homersechul or colored. Mebbe even BOTH!  Yeehah……

  79. 79.

    Eolirin

    @Doc Sardonic: The economic effects of this kind of continued mismanagement, despite being staggering, won’t be fully felt until well after DeSantis is no longer governor.

    And it probably won’t benefit Democrats either, it’ll just result in more brain drain and less economic opportunities in the state. You end up with a typical failing red state/rural community death spiral. Instead of trying to fix anything they just double down, driving out anyone interested in trying to make things better which only makes it easier for them to go further off the rails.

    They can ruin the ability for Disney to run those parks and they probably won’t pay a price for it even as it wreaks havoc on numerous parts of their economy.

  80. 80.

    Kent

    My wife is a Disney park fan.  I can’t stand the thought of theme parks.  But I did tell her that if all the MAGA filth promised to boycott I might actually go with her next time as that sounds like a more pleasant experience.

  82. 82.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio

    @dmsilev:

     
    Perhaps you’ve never heard of would-be Tennessee state senator and convicted murderer, the late Byron Low-tax Looper

    I include the link because otherwise people accuse me of making him up.

  85. 85.

    Ksmiami

    @opiejeanne: Disney was in the process of relocating the imagineers and other accounting and operations departments to Florida but all this DeSantis crap will put a kibosh on it.

  86. 86.

    Ksmiami

    @Martin: not on the political front, but if Death Santis mucks around with their ability to operate the parks, well let’s just say that’s an entirely different can of worms.

  87. 87.

    Dan B

    @Roger Moore: The counties whose family’s taxes would rise by $2,200 each voted for Biden by 64% and against Death Santa by the same number.  For Death Satan it’s a twofer.

  88. 88.

    JoyceH

    @Ohio Mom: 

    A cat consultant! I’ll have to give that a try. I must admit that I’m skeptical that I can reach a solution, because to be honest, Abby has been a Problem Pee-er all her life.

  89. 89.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Eolirin: Sad but true. Florida has been headed that way for a long time. The spiral started with the end of the Apollo missions and the mothballing of NASA prior to the shuttle program start up. Also, around the same time the agricultural sector started having issues, then when the citrus industry got two devastating freezes in ‘86 and ‘88, the shift to a tourism and service based economy really picked up a head of steam. This is just my section of the state.

  92. 92.

    gvg

    @Mike in NC: The ironic thing to me is IMO that law should never have been passed and I have wanted it repealed for years.

    Some 30 years ago The state made certain monies available to counties that wanted to use them for downpayments for mortgages for low income housing, but Disney used this law to grab most of the money for itself and built dormatories for it’s low income workers which were mostly foreign immigrants being underpaid by Disney. Disney could have built them themselves but figured out how to abuse the state laws to snatch low interest money and increase it’s profits. They did that kind of thing frequently.

    That law is really wrong. Disney standing up to the so called don’t say gay law is right, but…..it’s never been politically possible to repeal that law. A private corporation just should not have governmental powers.

  93. 93.

    gvg

    @zhena gogolia: I’d rather see deSantis pull up stakes.

    For all the issues I have with Disney, they aren’t as evil as the republicans and they don’t have any power over my reproductive rights.

  94. 94.

    misterpuff

    @Barbara:  The reason that Disney got the self governing district in place was that Walt wanted to build his initial concept of EPCOT but didn’t want to deal with actual people living in this City of Tomorrow especially voting against Disney’s wishes. Then Walt croaked and the corporation moved forward on the theme park and a “Theme-parkified” EPCOT. This worked out amazingly well for the Company as functioning as a self-governing district gave the Company governmental powers with no real oversight. The worst outcome for the surrounding counties was that they had a growth in low income labor but had to build all sorts of infrastructure to support The Mouse but hardly grew their tax base. It did make Orlando into a major city but at a great cost.

  95. 95.

    debbie

    @Mike in NC:

    Doofus doesn’t realize the state would start having to pay for fire departments and other public services for the area which Disney has taken care of.

    I’d love to see this raised in his next “news” conference.

  96. 96.

    Barbara

    @misterpuff: Interesting, thanks.  As a rule, I think these self-contained districts are a bad idea, but Florida probably accepted the concept because they have a lot of special districts that have governmental powers even though they really operate like private entities (e.g., public hospital districts that operate an awful lot like any other hospital corporation).  IIRC, there are some other “Disney Like” districts in Florida.  I think the point remains that you create or eliminate them according to whether they serve a public purpose, not because you don’t agree with the political views of the entity.

  97. 97.

    Betty Cracker

    @gvg: I agree it’s a shitty law. It’s just outrageous that DeSantis is using it in such a blatantly authoritarian way. I’m kind of worried more people will fixate on the sweetheart deal WDW had than the authoritarianism.

  101. 101.

    Dan B

    @Betty Cracker: Authoritarianism is a concept. Having “those people” locked up is protecting “us”.  Having groomers locked up makes “our kids” safer.  If this applied equally to youth ministers and straight men there would be endless gnashing of teeth and rending of garments.

  102. 102.

    Dan B

    @debbie: From what I’ve read Orange County Fla went 64% for Biden.

    I’ve got chores so I’ll leave it to others to fact check.

  104. 104.

    catclub

    @Eolirin: They can ruin the ability for Disney to run those parks and they probably won’t pay a price for it even as it wreaks havoc on numerous parts of their economy.

     

    I am not as sure.  It would be really easy to make “I lost my good job at Disney because DeSantis fucked it up” political ads. with a clear message.

  107. 107.

    Betty Cracker

    Biden won Orange and Osceola Counties pretty handily, IIRC. Jerry Demings, husband of Rep. Val Demings, is mayor of Orlando.

  110. 110.

    Old School

    @Dan B: Looking at the results from 2018, there were 475,719 votes for governor in just Orange County.  Shifting from 62.3/36.6 to 75/23 would increase DeSantis’ deficit by 120K votes.

  112. 112.

    Old School

    @Peale:

    what’s he trying to accomplish here? Disney does what? Starts to make different movies? Fire it’s gay workers?

    I would guess he trying to make Disney stop criticizing him/his policies.  And other corporations know to not think about doing so either.

  113. 113.

    Jeffro

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:I’ve been waiting for Normies everywhere to see this as not just abusive overreach, but fucking nuts, for years.

    Yup.

    “The Utter INSANITY of the Modern GOP” is a theme we can run on all year long, with fresh examples popping up every hour on the hour.

  114. 114.

    Kay

    Workers at an Apple Inc.store in Atlanta plan to become the first in the U.S. to file for a union election Wednesday, setting up a battle between organized labor and a Silicon Valley titan.
    The proposed union would include 107 workers at an Apple store in Cumberland Mall in northwest Atlanta. Seventy percent of workers have signed cards of support and plan to file an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board Wednesday afternoon, said Derrick Bowles, a Cumberland Apple store worker and member of the organizing committee.
    The effort is backed by the Communications Workers of America under a broader campaign to organize tech employees and would be called Apple Workers Union, according to internal materials reviewed by Bloomberg Law.

  116. 116.

    Betty Cracker

    @Old School: Bingo. I’ve been reading up on how Viktor Orbán smothered democracy in Hungary and consolidated one-party rule, and DeSantis is following that exact playbook.

  119. 119.

    Roger Moore

    @Peale:

    what’s he trying to accomplish here? Disney does what? Starts to make different movies? Fire it’s gay workers?

    I think the real offense is that Disney stopped donating money to Republicans, and that’s what DeSantis is punishing.  If you want the government to treat you decently, you need to pay them off.  It’s the worst kind of corruption.

  121. 121.

    Roger Moore

    @Kay: ​
     
    I’m sure it’s a complete coincidence that this surge in unionization is happening when we have a labor-friendly president appointing members to the NLRB. There couldn’t possibly be a cause and effect relationship.

  122. 122.

    Gvg

    @Betty Cracker: I thought Disney avoided a bunch of taxes through this law too. Having them them pay more taxes could help.

    i don’t see why them shedding fire departments would mean the counties got stuck with their bond bill

  123. 123.

    Kay

    @Roger Moore:

    Absolutely love it. Couldn’t be happier with Biden about it.

    This is “card check” which Democrats tried but could never pass:

    The federal labor board’s top attorney has made a formal move to revive unions’ ability to win recognition from employers without an election—a monumental change that would move a barrier for unions to organize new workplaces.

    Jennifer Abruzzo is general counsel of the NLRB under Biden. She says card check doesn’t require legislation because it’s “reviving a former standard” (true) and has filed a brief. She’s just as bold as could be.

  124. 124.

    dr. luba

    @Uncle Cosmo: That was the version I’d heard several years ago:

    Putin is dead and after burning in hell for a time, they decide to release him and he comes back to Earth. He finds himself on a street in Moscow and walks into a bar. He orders a vodka and asks the bartender a question: “Is Crimea still ours?”

    “Yes,” the bartender answers.

    “How about Donbas, Lviv and Kyiv?”

    “Yes, of course,” the bartender answers.

    Satisfied, Putin finishes his drink and he asks the bartender, “How much do I owe you?”

    The bartender says, “That’ll be 20 hryvni.”

  126. 126.

    karen marie

    @JoyceH:  Separating the cats so they cannot go in the other’s space?  Cats are very territorial, and it seems these two have not been able to work it out.

  127. 127.

    karen marie

    @Elizabelle:  Given Stelter’s clueless response, it’s clearly not “the producers.”

    Given where he’s sitting, shouldn’t he beyond what he thinks he learned in “journalism 101”?

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