Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

So fucking stupid, and still doing a tremendous amount of damage.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

I would gladly pay you tuesday for a hamburger today.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

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Reader Interactions

219Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    I’ll start with the news that Trump’s lawyers have asked for a trial date in fucking 2026!

    edit: I thought that attorneys were supposed to control their clients, not the other way around.

    edit: April of 2026. We will surely find out that the choice of date has some significance that we will all find offensive in nature.

  2. 2.

    cain

    Where is my DJT perp walk???!

    ETA: I AM #2!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ETA2: Never mind, the turd doesn’t get to come in till next friday.

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    There’s a hurricane headed for Baja California and California per se. That’s …unusual.

    Local forecast is for around four inches of rain Sunday into Monday.

  4. 4.

    cain

    @WaterGirl: All the GOP/Trump have done is throw shit on the walls and see what sticks. I think we’re just going to see more nutty behavior.

    Their entire thing now is to delay as long as possible.

  9. 9.

    Hildebrand

    The remaining balance of my student loans, that I’ve been paying on for 15 years, was forgiven today.  I can’t even begin to tell you what a relief this is for my family.

    This is a big Biden deal.

  10. 10.

    cain

    @dmsilev: There’s a thought, he should get one of those Egyptian carry thing and have him come in on the shoulders of his lawyers.

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    @frosty: Today I learned that Musk is eliminating the ability to block people on twitter.

    He must seriously want to kill off Twitter as it exists now.  Maybe he wants it to be the next Truth Social.

  14. 14.

    Ten Bears

    The nutballs are hedging their bets on angels and aliens, claiming the later may be the former

    And they don’t even look anything like lizards …

  15. 15.

    MattF

    @WaterGirl: And Musk thinks that Xitter will eventually become a trusted financial and e-commerce platform. I continue to be boggled by that.

  16. 16.

    WaterGirl

    I learned this from (fake) Jack Smith:

    I feel certain that it’s true, so I’m going to call it news. :-)

  17. 17.

    Scout211

    Here’s a few:

    A Jan. 6 defendant scheduled to be sentenced on Friday is now missing

    WASHINGTON — Christopher Worrell, a Florida Proud Boy convicted on seven counts stemming from his actions during the Jan. 6 riot, was scheduled to be sentenced today in Washington, D.C, federal court but is now missing, according to a spokeswoman from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

     

    Federal judge denies Trump’s attempt to delay a second trial with E. Jean Carroll

    A federal judge in Manhattan on Friday denied Donald Trump’s latest attempt to delay a defamation trial with writer E. Jean Carroll set for January.

    Kenneth Chesebro, alleged architect of fake electors’ plot, followed Alex Jones around Capitol grounds on January 6th

    When asked by the House select committee where he was the first week of January 2021 and on January 6, Chesebro invoked his Fifth Amendment rights. But a CNN investigation has placed him outside of the Capitol at the same time as his alleged plot to keep Trump in office unraveled inside it.

  18. 18.

    WaterGirl

    I learned that the DOJ is seeking 33 years in prison for Proud Boys leaders Enrique Tarrio and Joe Biggs.  Not certain whether this is part of the “DOJ is challenging low sentences that were given to some of the J6 offenders” thing.

  19. 19.

    Old School

    Tommy Tuberville thinks military promotions aren’t needed:

    “I don’t care if they promote anybody to be honest with you,” Tuberville said. “We’ve got 44 four-star generals right now. We only had seven during World War II. So I think we were a little overloaded to begin with.”

  20. 20.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @WaterGirl:

    Musk’s decision to eliminate the block feature is in direct violation of App Store guidelines & will lead to X’s removal from the App Store, if implemented I predict Elon isn’t aware of this & will backtrack — saying he was “trolling” or “joking” — and his followers will buy it

  22. 22.

    cmorenc

    I cannot fathom what California legislators were thinking in passing a bill prohibiting storekeepers from confronting shoplifters – i am a staunch progressive / dem, but this proposal is gobsmackingly stupid and is nearly as taylor-made for publicly resonant criticism by the GOP/foc as “defund the police” was (yes i know, more sensible folks advocated instead reforms in police approach, not defunding, but holy crap is this cali proposal about severely limiting shopkeepers’ response to shoplifters is going to prove a huge own goal by cal dems)

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    I learned that Roger Stone was caught on camera incriminating himself and directly tying himself to the coup.  Seems to me that he’s the link between the Proud Boys, et al and the White House, re: the insurrection.

  26. 26.

    smith

    I saw a wicked idea from a commenter over at the GOS: the next time TFG threatens somebody involved in the trial, Judge Chutkan calls him in and tells him will be detained until trial. Then she accepts his suggested trial date of April 2026.

  27. 27.

    Ken

    @Ten Bears: Angels have six limbs, which isn’t the case for any terrestrial vertebrate. So sure, aliens. Maybe from the same planet as centaurs and harpies?

    And if you look at some of the depictions of the other members of the angelic hierarchy, hoo boy, definitely aliens. Wheels covered entirely with eyes, humanoids with scorpion tails, hooved creatures with four faces.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @cmorenc: It blows my mind, too.  That as being discussed by people on my trip, and it was really hard to believe that it’s already in place.

    It surely seemed like a right-wing talking point, but I wasn’t going to get into it with family.   Not on that subject, anyway.

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    @smith: I was thinking along those lines earlier – if his trial date is set quite a long way out, and he had to be detained before trial, how much would he squeal demanding a speedy trial.

  34. 34.

    cain

    @Scout211: Prosecutors are seeking a 14-year prison sentence for Worrell, citing his refusal to take responsibility, his lack of remorse and lies that he told while under oath. Worrell’s co-defendant Daniel Scott, another Florida Proud Boy, was sentenced to five years in prison last month.

    Yet this man was released on bail and not considered a flight risk??

  35. 35.

    Roger Moore

    @dmsilev:

    I was going to bring up our impending tropical storm as well.  This one storm will bring far more rain than we usually see in a whole summer.  My understanding is that cold water from the California Current usually keeps tropical storms from moving north along the coast.  I wonder if rising temperatures from AGW are weakening that effect.

  36. 36.

    Scout211

    Some good news today:

    DOJ finds police officer’s suicide after Jan. 6 attack was a death in the line of duty

    WASHINGTON — The widow of a police officer who died by suicide after he was assaulted during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has been found eligible for a federal benefits program for the families of fallen officers.

    Erin Smith, the widow of Jeffrey Smith, was instrumental in the passage of a renewed version of the Public Safety Officer Support Act that President Joe Biden signed into law last August.

    The legislation made the families of officers who died by suicide eligible for the federal benefits that go to first responders, so long as their death is found to have been linked to their official duties and exposure to a traumatic event.

  37. 37.

    MattF

    @Jackie: Except that Tucker is still under contract to Fox. The R debate will be a Fox production, so an interview that airs in the same time slot would, one imagines, violate Tucker’s contract. Wouldn’t surprise me if TFG just shows up at the debate without making any promises and dares Fox to throw him out.

  38. 38.

    cain

    @artem1s: his feed is going to full of shite – I can see a lot of intimidating of everyone. He’s gonna go for gold.

    ETA – he’s going to be a contender!

  40. 40.

    trollhattan

    @dmsilev: ​
    Nothing to see here, move along, move along.

    If Hilary makes landfall in California, it would be the first tropical storm to do so in 84 years, according to the weather service.

  43. 43.

    Patricia Kayden

    This week in the news, Trump issued threats against prosecutors, judges and witnesses and nothing happened to him.

    Matt Goetz openly advocated the use of political violence during a publicized conversation with Trump and nothing happened to him.

    This country has normalized political violence by Rightwingers.

  44. 44.

    bbleh

    @WaterGirl: yeah beat me to it.  And I was SO looking forward to the Big News Conference where the Irrefutable Report would be presented that would expose the Big Insurrection Hoax and the Big Document Hoax and the Big Georgia Hoax and … (am I forgetting anything?)  But noooo, his lawyers won’t let him.  And since he always does what his lawyers say, we have them to blame.

  45. 45.

    surfk9

    @cain:  Congratulations! Have a proper celebration. I know that when my wife’s Law School loans got forgiven it was a big fucking Biden Deal

  48. 48.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    England d. Australia
    Spain d. Sweden

    Yankees post worst record in 31 years

  49. 49.

    JWR

    @WaterGirl:

    From the end of a Politico story on the J6, Proud Boys higher ups:

    Norm Pattis, a defense attorney for Biggs and Rehl, made a different sort of plea in his call for “time-served” sentences for his clients. He cast the trial as part of a larger political battle with the Proud Boys getting caught in the crossfire.

    “[T]he Government claimed the republic was in jeopardy and seeks to treat these misguided patriots as terrorists,” Pattis wrote. “This is grievously wrong … The challenge in divided times is not to divide and conquer, but to build bridges between people who love this country, sometimes in shockingly different ways.”

    Shockingly different ways indeed. :(

  50. 50.

    mrmoshpotato

    @dmsilev:

    There’s a hurricane headed for Baja California and California per se. That’s …unusual. 

    Local forecast is for around four inches of rain Sunday into Monday.

    Very unusual.

  52. 52.

    Jeffro

    In um “local” news: I dropped off my youngest at college this morning, and I am surprised at how liberating it feels.

    (and we actually LIKE being around each other  =)

    Maybe it will ‘hit’ later this weekend.  Then again…maybe not!

  58. 58.

    Roger Moore

    @cmorenc:

    I cannot fathom what California legislators were thinking in passing a bill prohibiting storekeepers from confronting shoplifters

    Probably because that’s not what it actually does.  It forbids employers from requiring non-security employees from confronting shoplifters, which is a lot more sensible.  It also requires employer to provide training on how to deal with shoplifting.  Of course Republicans have lied about what the bill actually does because they think it will work better for them politically, and the media has apparently gone along with the lies.

    Note that the bill has a whole bunch of other stuff related to workplace violence.  Workplace violence now must be included in employers’ workplace health and safety plans.  Employers are required to log and investigate incidents of workplace violence, and they’re required to consider how staffing levels contributed.  It also allows employee representatives to apply for restraining orders related to workplace violence, something that only the employer can do now.

  60. 60.

    trollhattan

    @BR: Goodie, he’s gone to Mastadon. Swain is a must-read for west coasters. Given he’s not known for drama, I take this in the spirit in which it was written.

    Well, there it is: @NHC_Pacific has officially issued a Tropical Storm Watch for SoCal. This is the first such watch ever issued for West Coast of United States.

    Wind will be a concern, but severe flood risk from very heavy rain will be the much greater threat.

  61. 61.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I learned that among more consequential things, New College in Florida now has a biblical quote on cups in its cafeteria. It’s from “Phillipians,” ie, it’s misspelled.

    I’m just agog.

  63. 63.

    Baud

    @Roger Moore: Ah, thanks.  You know who should be pushing back on the media lies — labor.  This sounds like a pro-labor, pro-employee bill, and it would be good for Dems who enact such legislation to have some people in their corner.

  70. 70.

    Scout211

    More Hilary (the hurricane) news:

    Hurricane Hilary poses flooding risks to Zion, Joshua Tree, Death Valley national parks

    Torrential rains as a result of Hurricane Hilary have put national parks in the western United States at risk of flooding this weekend, including Zion in Utah and Joshua Tree and Death Valley in California.
     
    Utah’s prominent nature preserve distinguished by the steep, red cliffs of Zion Canyon is practically guaranteed to be flooded on both Friday and Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
     
    The weather service has assigned Zion National Park its highest potential flood rating of “expected” for at least the next two days, while flooding is considered probable at other national parks in the state.

    The National Park Service has issued a flood warning of its own for Zion, advising visitors to avoid slot canyons — long, narrow passageways with rock walls on either side — through at least 6 a.m. MDT (8 a.m. EDT) on Saturday.

    I know if I was camping at Zion, I’d be packing up and heading for higher ground right now.

  72. 72.

    trollhattan

    @Scout211: ​
    You have to be able to recognize and stay clear of dry washes–it’s possible in the desert to be caught in a flash flood when the rain is happening dozens of miles away and you’re under a cloudless sky. Freaky, honestly.

  74. 74.

    Shana

    @Jeffro: as a friend of ours said in the same situation “the advantage is that now you can go to bed as early as you want without worrying/waiting up”

  77. 77.

    Baud

    @WaterGirl:

    Nature videos and photos made ubiquitous by digital photography and the Internet have really given me an appreciation of how prehistoric human tribes developed mystical beliefs to try to make sense of the world around them.

  78. 78.

    trollhattan

    @WaterGirl: ​
    Learned yesterday they’re dropping all neurobiology courses, which happens to be my kid’s minor. If she went there and not 3000 miles away, she’d be hosed.

    Those poor students and faculty.

  80. 80.

    Betty

    @frosty: Sorry to contradict you, but big news today is Musk announcing that blocking accounts will no longer be permitted. The exodus continues.

  81. 81.

    lowtechcyclist

    @WaterGirl: ​
     

    Today I learned that Musk is eliminating the ability to block people on twitter.

    He must seriously want to kill off Twitter as it exists now. Maybe he wants it to be the next Truth Social.

    I still want to follow Josh Marshall’s Ukraine list, which AFAICT only exists on Twitter/X. But if I can’t block people, damned if I’m going to tweet anything and make myself a target for all the Nazi blue-checks.

  87. 87.

    Jay

    @cmorenc:

    Store keepers don’t confront or deal with shoplifters, minimum wage staff and LPO’s if they have them, do. It can go bad for the Staff really quickly.

    There is a fake “Retail” panic about shoplifting. Corps are blaming “shoplifters” for closing stores and inflation, when it’s just gouging.

    Retail is cutting staff, self checkouts, part time, not willing to pay a living wage.

    The easiest way to prevent shop lifting, is staff up, customer service the hell out of the suspects, and get rid of self check outs.

    Did you know, you can snap a cell phone picture of a barcode, print it off as a label at home, then apply it to the package in store?

    Yup you can swipe that filet through the self checkout as ground beef. Or a 50 inch Toshiba as a Cuisinart toaster.

    In grocery stores, you don’t even have to do that, for the non barcoded stuff, cash out cashews as bulk peanuts just by clicking on the menu.

    “Shrinkage” is built into the pricing, at a fixed quarterly rate, so the Corp is making customers pay the cost of “shrinkage”, no matter if the “shrinkage” is happening or not. What is even worse, is the Big Box Stores that are complaining the loudest, (while shutting down locations for other reasons), have lousy inventory controls. How many times has the clerk checked their inventory, which says there are 9 there, and there are none.

    With nobody to do an audit trail, they write it off to “shrinkage”.

    Really, a shoplifter walked out unnoticed with 3 full pallets of full sized 12″ DeWalt cabinet saws, 12 in total? Or did Receiving screw up?

    When I was at Orange, we “lost” 3 cordless Hilti Coring rigs. Nobody noticed except me. That’s because they staffed to the minimum in an area that was inside,  the isles, outside, side cage and far lot. 1 person. So it was easy as pie to just wait until the Associate had to go to another area, then grab the $4500 case and exit stage left.

    We reduced the thefts quite simply. We shifted the two batteries and chargers, ($1500) to the hood, (repair room) and in a locked cabinet.

    When I worked at the Orange, I had shoplifters pull knives, pepper spray, pipes, etc. Even “Security” and LPO’s wern’t allowed to tackle shoplifters. You get a photo, you get a plate photo of the vehicle at best, let the Cops deal with it, if MGMT bothers to report it.

    Here, you have to pay for gas, before you pump it. It was a law brought in because:

    a) too many scammy Gas station owners were illegally taking the “gas and go” costs out of their minimum wage employee’s pay,

    b) and too many minimum wage employees were getting killed or crippled trying to stop “gas and go’s”, because it would come out of their pay.

  88. 88.

    Brachiator

    I live in Southern California and checked out one of the local stations for news about Hurricane Hillary. I had received a notification on my phone.

    The weather person talked about how strong the storm was and how rare it was and other details. And then said “In the next segment later we will talk about the path of the storm and what areas might expect rain.”

    I hate stuff like this. I would really like to know if I might get rained on. It should have been easy to give this information.

    Later I learned that the path of the storm was narrow and variation from the path was not expected, and there is a chance of rain near me.

    OT trivia. I didn’t know until a short time ago that Canada prime minister Trudeau and his wife had separated. Not a big story, but I guess I don’t have a lot of algorithms feeding me political celebrity news. And I don’t watch much TV.

    ETA. I see that Trump is backing down from his I Am Exonerated press conference. Ha ha ha ha ha!

  89. 89.

    Jeffro

    @Shana: great quote!

    I think on the plus side, I won’t be so aggravated on a daily basis that folks aren’t picking up after themselves around here.

    On the minus side, well, there is no minus side!  (Unless Mrs. Fro decides to ramp up leaving stuff lying all around the house – can’t rule that out)

  91. 91.

    cmorenc

    @Roger Moore:

    many shopkeepers don’t have special “security” personnel the way big-box retailers might.  For example, convenience stores or even liquor stores.   The bill as written couldn’t have been better designed to sew misunderstanding and facilitate misrepresentation of what it effectively dies.

  93. 93.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @trollhattan: How can you not have neurobiology? It’s been pretty much a standard course offering at most decent colleges since the late 80s.

    Oh, wait…

  94. 94.

    JWR

    @Roger Moore:

    Probably because that’s not what it actually does.

    This L.A. County resident says thank you! Meanwhile, we’ve got feral Orange County D.A. Todd Spitzer flinging “soft on crime” poo at both Karen Bass and George Gascón. And he does it all without referencing any evidence whatsoever.

  96. 96.

    mrmoshpotato

    Stop saying Cheesebro!  It’s not safe to drink this many shots!

    Sorry.  Watching MSNBC here.

  102. 102.

    Brachiator

    @cmorenc:

    I cannot fathom what California legislators were thinking in passing a bill prohibiting storekeepers from confronting shoplifters.

    The bill would prohibit employers from forcing employees from confronting shoplifters.

    This is reasonable.

  103. 103.

    PDXBob

    I found out today that a lawsuit was filed against the Coca Cola company in January of this year regarding large amounts of “forever chemicals” being found in their Simply Orange, and other “Simply” beverages.

  108. 108.

    WaterGirl

    Oh my god, Republicans are a parody of themselves.  They are banning books and then show photos of Beau Biden’s penis.  And now a billboard

    News Roundup

  109. 109.

    PDXBob

    @WaterGirl:  Exactly, they are chemicals that cannot be broken down by the body and stay with you for a while.

    Per- and Polyfluoralkyl chemicals
    What Are PFAS?
    Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals that resist grease, oil, water, and heat. They were first used in the 1940’s and are now in hundreds of products including stain- and water-resistant fabrics and carpeting, cleaning products, paints, and fire-fighting foams. Certain PFAS are also authorized by the FDA for limited use in cookware, food packaging, and food processing equipment.

    Chemically, individual PFAS can be very different. However, all have a carbon-fluorine bond, which is very strong and therefore, they do not degrade easily.

    The widespread use of PFAS and their persistence in the environment means that PFAS from past and current uses have resulted in increasing levels of contamination of the air, water, and soil.

    Accumulation of certain PFAS has also been shown through blood tests to occur in humans and animals. While the science surrounding potential health effects of bioaccumulation is developing, exposure to some types of PFAS have been associated with serious health effects.

  115. 115.

    Gvg

    @Chief Oshkosh: um, I went to new college in the early 80’s. The student body was around 500 total. I think it’s a little bigger now, but it would not be offering every major and minor bigger colleges do. It’s small! Now I ended up at UF which is around 50,000 and had about 120 undergrad degrees when I was in school. No idea how many minors.

  116. 116.

    frosty

    @Betty: ​@WaterGirl: ​Bummer! Well, I made it six days of the week without having to read about that asshole Musk. Hey, at least it wasn’t front-paged here!​​

  120. 120.

    cain

    @Betty:

    @frosty: Sorry to contradict you, but big news today is Musk announcing that blocking accounts will no longer be permitted. The exodus continues.

    Wait… what? That’s got to be a joke.

  121. 121.

    Roger Moore

    @Jay:

    From the news articles I saw, the people complaining about this own small gas station/convenience store type places.  I think they have some legitimate worries about shoplifting, and they’re working with tight enough margins as is that staffing up isn’t a plausible solution.  That said, it’s wrong to throw the baby out with the bath water.  Forcing employees to confront shoplifters, who as you say may be armed, is only going to get some of those employees injured or killed.

  123. 123.

    Brachiator

    @Jay:

    There is a fake “Retail” panic about shoplifting. Corps are blaming “shoplifters” for closing stores and inflation, when it’s just gouging.

    I disagree on this. Increased shoplifting is killing stores, in both affluent and low income areas. You aren’t price gouging anyone if you close your store and go out of business.

    Increased prices are not consistently happening everywhere and I have not seen much good analysis of this. Restaurants and supermarkets here in California have raised prices significantly and much of this seems to be related to recovering pandemic related costs. I also notice that supermarkets have cut back significantly on the variety of products that they stock.

    Also here in California utility costs and commercial leases have increased big time. Stores that cannot absorb the costs are going out of business. Building owners are willing to keep properties vacant until they can get someone willing to pay the higher leases.

  124. 124.

    BeautifulPlumage

    The Little League organization needs to get into this. Maybe ban the idiots from that park.

    ETA this was meant as a reply to WG at #108

  126. 126.

    Brachiator

    @PDXBob:

    I found out today that a lawsuit was filed against the Coca Cola company in January of this year regarding large amounts of “forever chemicals” being found in their Simply Orange, and other “Simply” beverages.

    How do you think they keep it orange?

    //

  127. 127.

    Jay

    @cain:

    it hasn’t been enacted yet.

    At this time, nobody is sure if it is another Muskmelon brain fart tweeted out, or an actual plan

    If it is an actual plan, and they go ahead with it, all the app stores will have to drop The Dead Bird site as an app, because user’s ability to block abusive content, ads or respondents is a requirement in the US, Canada, the EU, Australia, etc.

  129. 129.

    cain

    I saw this on reddit and I thought it was a pretty insightful look at the federal indictment case:

     

    It will almost certainly be Chutkan who finally does it. Her temperament and experience leads me to believe that she is not playing.
    Edit: somebody asked, then deleted, a question about why she hasn’t already done it. The answer is likely that she has to make sure all of the boxes are checked and she has to consult with the Secret Service and her own higher-ups or advisory panels to get the bare bones of how such a thing would even work with the defendant’s mandated USSS detail, as well as his booking and arraignment in his other case(s). It would take a couple of weeks to suss out, and she would want to be as prepared as possible. For example, would there be a memorandum of understanding involving the transfer of custody? If so, who would be the signatories and the enforcer? Those types of questions will take time to iron out practically and maybe constitutionally. Remember that we don’t know about these things going on behind the scenes.
    The same thing is true for the threats made against her, she was reported to have security when she walked the cafeteria to get coffee, and nobody knew exactly why until a couple days ago. That was more than a two-week lag of information because of the way these things have to be handled behind the scenes first. She has to prepare and be exact in any kind of sanction that she issues, while also dealing with and adjusting to all the ongoing personal and workplace security concerns that are now happening behind the scenes as well. There is probably A LOT going on that the public won’t see in real time.

  130. 130.

    Roger Moore

    @cmorenc:

    The bill as written couldn’t have been better designed to sew misunderstanding and facilitate misrepresentation of what it effectively dies.

    Have you read the bill?  I actually skimmed it as part of responding to your comment, and the stuff about not requiring employees to confront shoplifters is in one little corner of it.  It’s mostly about requiring employers to treat workplace violence as a real issue and include it in their employee health and safety programs.  Saying it’s badly written is BS.

    Quite frankly, the whole thing about how Democrats should work harder to prevent Republicans from misrepresenting their work is BS, too.  There is no amount of work the Democrats can do that will prevent the Republicans from misrepresenting stuff.  Even when they do something completely innocuous, the Republicans flat out lie about it.  Nothing they do can stop people who operate in bad faith from being dishonest, and it’s time we stopped blaming the Democrats for the Republicans’ lies.

  131. 131.

    sab

    @Roger Moore: That sounds more like it. When I had my store I told the sales people that I wasn’t expecting them to get hurt for us so they could even leave the store ( a tiny boutique) if someone scared them. Only happened a couple of times. They didn’t abuse it.

  132. 132.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Roger Moore: Thanks for this.  I haven’t followed it at all.  But yeah, the idea that an employer should be allowed to expect their minimum wage worker (often young adults or teens) to be a vigilante for justice or risk being fired for refusing to do so, is completely bone-headed and really shouldn’t need to be explained to anyone who claims to care about workers’ rights.

  133. 133.

    cain

    @Jay: That’s probably going to be the real death knell. A lot of folks have managed to make twitter manageable by having copious amount of blocking. If you can’t block even folks like Tom Nichols are going to be looking for an exit –

  134. 134.

    Jackie

    Marc Elias just reported that a Georgia court struck down the law stating no food or drink be given to voters standing in line!

    That’s great news!

  142. 142.

    Yarrow

    I just saw the Republican debate is next week. I don’t know if that’s news or not but I didn’t know about it. Will anyone care?

  145. 145.

    NotMax

    State holiday (Admissions Day) today in Hawaii, so news is scattershot. Maui update (excerpts).

    Lahaina fire: 90% contained, 2,168 acres burned. MFD and US Army Reserve were onsite.

    Olinda fire: 85% contained, 1,081 acres burned. State DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife is monitoring. A drone with infrared capabilities was deployed overnight to look for hot spots at the Upcountry fires.

    Kula fire: 80% contained, 202 acres burned. Three Maui Fire Department and two DOFAW crews were onsite at last report.
    .
    A West Maui community meeting tentatively slated Saturday has been postponed due to health and safety concerns over air quality.
    .
    Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that nearly 1,000 federal responders are on the ground in Hawaiʻi to help the state recover from the devastating wildfires on Maui . In the days since President Biden declared a major disaster declaration for the state of Hawaiʻi, FEMA has approved more than $5.6 million in assistance to nearly 2,000 households including more than $2.3 million in initial rental assistance.

  146. 146.

    wjca

    @cmorenc:

    this cali proposal about severely limiting shopkeepers’ response to shoplifters is going to prove a huge own goal by cal dems

    This is the kind of thing you can expect when a state has only one viable party.  (Because, after all, California Republicans have gone so far into Never Never Land that they can’t win regardless.)  The wonder is that we don’t see even more dumb stuff like this.

  147. 147.

    The Pale Scot

    @Scout211:

    Christopher Worrell, a Florida Proud Boy convicted on seven counts stemming from his actions during the Jan. 6 riot….. but is now missing, according to a spokeswoman from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

     

    They let him out without a bond? Fucking idiots, someone should have lost their house for this

  148. 148.

    Roger Moore

    @Brachiator:

    Building owners are willing to keep properties vacant until they can get someone willing to pay the higher leases.

    Tell me about it.  There’s a small shopping center about a block from my home.  When I moved in 13 years ago*, it was anchored by an Albertson’s.  Two or three years later, the owner raised the rent and wanted to switch from a long-term lease to month to month.  Albertson’s decided they couldn’t keep the place going with the higher rent and closed up shop.  It’s been vacant ever since, and as far as anyone can tell, the owner hasn’t even made a serious effort to find a new tenant.  They would rather let it sit empty (and reputedly use it as a gigantic storage unit for their personal belongings) than accept a lower rent.

    They also let the whole property decline- weeds growing where there had been nice landscaping, the parking lot eroding rather than being repaved, etc- until the city hit them with a criminal code violation complaint.  The visible problems with the place have mostly been fixed, but the owner is still not really bothering with the place.  There are still shops that have stayed closed for years with the decaying remnants of the former businesses inside.  One place (a laundromat) was apparently damaged by a fire and still hasn’t been repaired more than a decade later.

    *How in hell has it been 13 years already? Where did the time go?

  150. 150.

    lowtechcyclist

    @WaterGirl:

    Holy shit, that’s disgusting.

    As usual, they mean absolutely nothing they say. Every last issue under the sun is only thought of by them in terms of whether it provides fodder for ‘owning the libs.’  Doesn’t matter if what they say today to own the libs is in direct opposition to what they said yesterday to own the libs.  They don’t mean any of it, they’re just trying to get a quick hit on us.

    I bet next to no Rethugs condemn this, just the way it was crickets after they showed photos of Hunter Biden’s penis in a House committee hearing.

  151. 151.

    Ruckus

    @Hildebrand:

    My sister never finished paying off her’s and she taught part time at a university for years – we held a service there for her.

  152. 152.

    Ruckus

    @cain:

    We could also tie a rope around his ankles and drag him in.

    A bit harsh sure but still, it’s possibly appropriate.

  154. 154.

    Jay

    @Roger Moore:

    Up here, it’s the Big Box stores crying “Covid, Shoplifting, Supply Chain” while making record profits.

    We don’t have many, (other than in rural areas) Independents. They are all networked franchises or Corporate stores. The networked, (multiple franchises with one owner) are particularly “bad” because they tend to exploit Temporary Foreign Worker permits, often in high unemployment areas.

    My Big Box made record profits during Covid. Half the Staff, record sales, (we were “essential”), crap pay, crap benifits, and then millions of dollars in Fed and Provincial Covid Relief Funds.

    We got a $0.90 raise during Covid. The CEO got a $14.8 million dollar bonus.

    Shoplifting was no worse before Covid, during Covid or after Covid, but we somehow “lost” 12 Rigid Cabinet saws, post Covid. Probably because the new hires were all 20hr a month, International Students with no clue. Do you know how big and heavy a cabinet saw is? That would be like a car dealership losing 6 Prius’s off the lot.

    There are Federal and Provincial “investigations” now into retail for gouging and other shenanigans. A certain Corp closed 4 “discount” stores to drive traffic to 8 other “premium” stores.

    Corporations know what is needed to reduce “shrinkage”. I had to take training on it every month, meanwhile, they were cutting staff.

  157. 157.

    Alison Rose

    @Old School: From what I can see, Tatertown has never been in the military, so maybe he should shut the fuck up about what they need or don’t need.

    Of course, he is in the party of cis men who think they get to determine what happens in everyone else’s bodies.

  158. 158.

    Jackie

    @Yarrow: Apparently MTG, Gaetz, Byron Donalds and possibly Kari Lake will be there as surrogates for TIFG if he’s a no show. If he shows up they’ll be there for support.

    What exactly do surrogates at a debate do?

  159. 159.

    Ruckus

    @Jackie:

    Isn’t Fucker still employed by faux not news? I read somewhere that he was taken off air but his contract still is valid.

  160. 160.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Roger Moore:

    Quite frankly, the whole thing about how Democrats should work harder to prevent Republicans from misrepresenting their work is BS, too. There is no amount of work the Democrats can do that will prevent the Republicans from misrepresenting stuff. Even when they do something completely innocuous, the Republicans flat out lie about it. Nothing they do can stop people who operate in bad faith from being dishonest, and it’s time we stopped blaming the Democrats for the Republicans’ lies.

    Preach it, brother. Every word of that is truth.

  161. 161.

    The Pale Scot

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    It seems to me that this is under the religious freedom laws where all religions must be allowed to put their favorite quotes on the cups.

    “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn”

    Works for me

  162. 162.

    Jay

    @Brachiator:

    2 Buy Lows and one Independent closed here. All Loblaw’s, (of the bread price fixing fame). So now, there is only 4 grocery stores in the area, one a Walmart. The Buy Lows cleared a $2million dollar profit in their last year, the Independent was only open for 8 months and made a $1.8 million dollar profit.

    All three stores sold Store Name or NoName products. $1.98 bread, $0.25 a pack ramen. Now the one Loblaws store sells $3.48 bread and $1.99 Ramen.

    Loblaw’s has done this nation wide and last year, reported a 58% increase in profits after cost.

  164. 164.

    Jackie

    @Ruckus: He is. I heard he’s done a few shows? on the ex Twitter, but there’s no info on how this interview would be carried out – if indeed it happens.

  165. 165.

    Ruckus

    @cmorenc:

    How are they going to confront shoplifters? Armed? Because here in the LA area we are seeing snatch and runs of a number of people and if you start shooting you’d not unlikely hit a bystander. Unarmed? With 6-20 doing a snatch and run, that’s very unlikely to end well.

    I don’t have any kind of an answer but untrained civilians stepping in, and possibly shooting a bystander or getting beat to death doesn’t seem to be the answer either.

  167. 167.

    NotMax

    FYI.

    Georgia’s most powerful Republican politicians rejected pro-Donald Trump calls to change the state constitution to give the governor direct authority to pardon those convicted of crimes.

    Far-right Trump supporters have pressed Gov. Brian Kemp and other GOP leaders to pursue an overhaul of pardon rules after the former president was charged this week with orchestrating a far-ranging “criminal enterprise” to overturn his defeat in Georgia’s 2020 election.

    Such a move would involve a constitutional amendment, which requires a two-thirds vote in the General Assembly and support from a majority of voters in a referendum. It can’t pass without significant Democratic support, rendering it a political impossibility. Source

  169. 169.

    Ruckus

    @trollhattan:

    Three houses next door to the complex I live in were getting new roofs. Two completed and the third has been sitting with the tiles piled up on the under tile surface for over a week. The crew is rushing to finish the job today and likely tomorrow.

    We just got a message from the complex office about the anticipated rain and what NOT to do. I expect that electricity may be in short supply Sunday onward for a bit.

  171. 171.

    NotMax

    Move over, X.

    MindGeek, the owner of Pornhub and other adult entertainment websites, has a new name: Aylo. The company says the rebrand represents “the need for a fresh start,” as reported earlier by the New York Post.

    After MindGeek CEO Feras Antoon and COO David Tassillo stepped down from the company last year, the private equity company Ethical Capital Partners took over MindGeek this past March.Source

  173. 173.

    japa21

    @cain: He was in jail but was released due to the lack of medical treatment he received.  The judge was not happy with the jail. He was placed on house arrest with a female person supposed to guarantee his remaining there.  Neither of them can be found and the phones they had are not in service.  Not sure why ankle bracelets weren’t applied.

  174. 174.

    wjca

    I must be looking in the wrong places, because I haven’t (yet) seen news of Kari Lake et al. blaming Hilary Clinton for Hurricane Hilary attacking (threatening to cause flooding in) Arizona.  After all, the name is the same, so….

  181. 181.

    Jackie

    More good news for E Jean Carroll!

    ““A federal judge has denied former President Trump’s attempt to delay a January civil trial in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against him,” The Hill reports.”

    TIFG Loser loses again!🤭

  182. 182.

    Scout211

    More news . .
    FAFO, you disgusting person, O’Keefe.

    Exclusive: James O’Keefe Is Now Under Investigation for Looting Project Veritas

    James O’Keefe, the founder and until this past February CEO of the right-wing nonprofit Project Veritas, is currently under investigation by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.

    While the exact nature of the investigation is not yet public, the timing would suggest that it relates to O’Keefe’s alleged financial improprieties during his tenure as the group’s chairman and CEO. Back in February, O’Keefe was accused of spending “an excessive amount of donor funds in the last three years on personal luxuries” by the conservative nonprofit’s own board of directors, amid their very public feud over the management and future of Veritas. Westchester DA Miriam Rocah’s probe follows a raft of civil lawsuits, criminal investigations, and six-figure court losses that have trailed the group under O’Keefe’s leadership—including a still-active federal investigation into the theft of property belonging to President Biden’s daughter Ashley Biden.

  185. 185.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Brachiator: “Increased shoplifting is killing stores…”

    Here in Brookings, OR they have two security personnel to cover a store that is open 119 hours a week. With the hours of the two overlapping that store has coverage for less that half of the week. The rest of the week the shoplifters have the run of the place. The other day a shoplifter just walked up to the front of the store, grabbed a $450.00 kayak and dragged it back to his car. He decided to abandon his project when he saw our daughter standing there watching him trying to stuff this thing into a Corolla…lol! He just got in his car and drove away.

    He’s one of their repeat offenders who knows the ropes. One day he walked out with a big screen TV because he knew there was nobody there to stop him.

    So no…

  186. 186.

    Jackie

    Heh!

    ”“President Joe Biden’s campaign on Friday accused former President Donald Trump of wanting “to avoid appearing in Wisconsin” as it seems likely the current Republican frontrunner will skip the first GOP presidential primary debate in Milwaukee next week,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.”

    “Said a spokesman: “Of course Donald Trump wants to avoid appearing in Wisconsin because he knows Wisconsin is a state that illustrates his failed leadership.””

    Is the WH suggesting TIFG is a🐓💩?

  188. 188.

    EmanG

    Here’s some fun news. Someone has hacked Trumps Patriot Legal Defense Fund website. The have some fun things to say. And here’s something I never thought I’d say to the Jackletariat but, please, go check out Trumps PAC website!

  193. 193.

    zhena gogolia

    Hahaha

    The first Republican presidential debate next week was already looking like a stern test for Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who is battling to overcome sagging national poll numbers, a fund-raising crunch and an overhaul of his top campaign staff.

    Now his tall task appears towering.

    On Thursday, key details about how he might approach the crucial debate were revealed in a report from The New York Times about a trove of documents posted online by a political consulting firm associated with Never Back Down, the super PAC that has in many ways taken over his campaign.

    The advice on display, which included potential attack lines and debate tactics, could be somewhat condescending — reminding Mr. DeSantis, for example, that he should be “showing emotion” when discussing his wife and children. Other parts were perhaps too revealing: suggesting that the governor attack the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been gaining on him in the polls but had otherwise not been widely seen as a candidate on Mr. DeSantis’s level.

  194. 194.

    mvr

    @WaterGirl: Which is worst? The “new” New College? A fucking bible quote in the college cafeteria? Or the misspelling?

    A *state-funded* college at that.

  198. 198.

    Doug R

    @WaterGirl:

     

    I learned that Roger Stone was caught on camera incriminating himself and directly tying himself to the coup. Seems to me that he’s the link between the Proud Boys, et al and the White House, re: the insurrection.

    It took a full year to crack Enrique Tarrio’s phone, but there’s got to be a literal shitload of stuff between him and Stone.

  199. 199.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia:

    …reminding Mr. DeSantis, for example, that he should be “showing emotion” when discussing his wife and children.

    I may never stop laughing.

    This is going to stick because it’s so true.  Love it.

  203. 203.

    WaterGirl

    @EmanG:

    DO NOT SUPPORT DONALD TRUMP’S FRAUDULENT

    PATRIOT LEGAL DEFENSE FUND

    In our country, everyone has to follow the rules, no matter who they are. Our Constitution, the big rule book of our nation, says that we’re all equal. Nobody gets special treatment.

    I want to talk a bit about lying. A lie is when someone doesn’t tell the truth on purpose. It’s like saying you ate an apple when you really ate a cookie. Lying is bad because it breaks trust. Imagine if your friends didn’t believe you anymore because you lied a lot. In some cases, like when people lie to the courts or the police, it’s not just bad, it’s a crime.

    Before we dive deeper, it’s essential to understand what personal character means. Personal character is the mix of qualities that define a person, like honesty, kindness, and courage. It’s how you act when no one is looking. It’s doing the right thing, even when it’s tough. Our character is like a muscle; the more we use it in good ways, the stronger it becomes.

    When we think about American presidents, there are some character traits that we’ve traditionally valued. We want leaders who are honest, brave, and selfless. Why? Because these qualities help presidents make the best choices for all of us. An honest president tells us the truth, even when it’s hard. A brave one isn’t scared to make tough decisions. A selfless leader puts the country’s needs before their own. These qualities have guided our nation through good and tough times, and they remind us of what’s great about America. And, remember America is ALREADY GREAT. We didn’t need an improvement. We only needed someone with good character to take the job of president for a while and then pass it on to the next citizen.

    Now, there’s something else we should think about. Asking people to give money to your political campaign is okay when it’s for the right reasons, like getting support to try to make the country better. But asking your friends do donate money to the Patriot Legal Defense Fund and then using that money to defend yourself from crimes? That doesn’t seem right. It’s like if a friend kept asking for lunch money but didn’t buy lunch. People give their money to people who want to be president to make things better for everyone, not just to help one person with their problems.

    “A president is a citizen that has the job of president for a while. But he is still just a citizen and subject to its laws.”

    Now, Donald Trump is in trouble with the law in Georgia. This is the fourth time something like this has happened. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but if someone keeps getting into trouble, we should think about what that means about someones character. Can all of the people be wrong who are bring criminal charges against him?

    Being honest is really important. If a leader isn’t truthful, it’s hard to trust them and that makes them dangerous. Our Constitution helps us when things get tough and when we’re not sure about our leaders. We need to make sure everyone tells the truth and does the right thing.

    We should care about what’s right and good for our country, not just one person. As we watch what’s happening with Trump, let’s remember to always look for the truth. That’s what being an American is all about.

    Thanks, and let’s always do what’s right for our country.

    Oh! and if you want to help makes things better for EVERYONE, not just one selfish person.

  208. 208.

    WaterGirl

    @BeautifulPlumage: I only know what EmanG wrote in his comment above.

    I just thought I would share the graphics and the text here for anyone who didn’t want Google to know they had gone to the T*** PAC site.   I figured I would take one for the team

    Plus, it may be back to normal once the folks who read the posts late get to it.

  210. 210.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @WaterGirl: it’s still there (as of 2 minutes ago).  I wonder how this can be?  Rudy was taking care of the cyber.  He must be too busy lately.

  212. 212.

    Another Scott

    @Ruckus: Yup.

    Back in the olden days, when people went shopping, they walked up to a counter with a list and the clerk grabbed the stuff while the customer waited.  The idea of mere customers messing around with the merchandise was heretical! In more recent times, there were catalog showroom places that worked similarly – you filled out a slip, submitted it, waited, and the stuff was brought to you.

    If “shrinkage” and “smash-and-grab” is actually a major problem, they can go back to things like that.  If, however, they don’t want to hire more clerks, and want to keep cutting staff and making customers do their own checkout and all the rest, well, …

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  215. 215.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @NotMax:

    All you have to do is scan an item and select “Skip bagging” to drop it directly into your cart. Slap a UPC for a cheap item on the expensive item you want and get an instant self-serve checkout discount.

    Consider it paying yourself for having to check and bag your goods.

  216. 216.

    NotMax

    @Odie Hugh Manatee

    Some linkage.

    Retailers have another self-made problem that can lead to more stolen goods. Self-checkout machines also increase the risk of theft, and they have become a major source of losses, the two company advisors told CNBC.

    The machines come with increased costs. In some stores with high rates of theft, losses are outweighing the investments companies made in them, the people said.

    “You create a problem where there wasn’t one,” one of the people said. Source

    Also: Retailers Reconsider Self-Checkout Strategy as Theft Soars in Canada.

  217. 217.

    Ruckus

    @Another Scott:

    The Target near me has an employee at the self checkout area, watching and helping. And self checkout is an aisle between 6 self checkout registers, and the employee walks around in the area. So if you wanted to cheat it would likely be possible but not very easy. And yes I’ve seen stores that do not do this and opens the possibilities of theft up a lot. But self check out is often far faster. Went today with one of my neighbors who lives in a wheelchair and we went to get in line to check out and it was 2 open registers and about 20 people waiting. We went over to self checkout and were out the door in about 1/2 or less than the time it would have taken at the employee checkout.

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