A Failed State

Plus: Israeli hostage update, ultraprocessed childhoods, and more...

Wildfires continue to burn in California: Overnight, the fires in and around Los Angeles continued to worsen. Five people have died, 2,000 structures have been destroyed, and 27,000 acres have been consumed so far. The Palisades fire is not yet under control, and 37,000 people have evacuated from that fire alone. But the Eaton fire and the Hurst fire also rage in Southern California, and a new one started overnight in the Hollywood Hills, which has since been gotten under control. CalFire reports that the Palisades fire is the most destructive in Los Angeles' history and ranks in the top 20 of the most destructive fires of all time for the state. In total, more than 130,000 people are under evacuation orders right now.

"As officials make assessments, it's likely that the damage estimates for the Palisades Fire will go up," reports The New York Times. "For comparison, the three most destructive fires in California history—the Camp Fire, which in 2018 destroyed the town of Paradise; the Tubbs fire in Napa and Sonoma counties in 2017; and the Oakland Hills Fire in 1991—destroyed roughly 18,800, 5,600 and 2,900 structures."

Authorities have struggled to bring the fires under control. At times, they ran out of water, with fire hydrants somehow running dry, which Gov. Gavin Newsom seems to believe is a problem he doesn't need to attempt to understand.

California governor Gavin Newsom is asked why the fire hydrants have no water. Says he doesn't know, local people will have to figure it out. California "leadership" is a disgrace: pic.twitter.com/fyyaupAyvZ

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 9, 2025

"The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was pumping from aqueducts and groundwater into the system, but demand was so high that it wasn't enough to refill three 1-million gallon tanks in hilly Pacific Palisades that help pressurize hydrants for the neighborhood. Many went dry as at least 1,000 buildings were engulfed in flames," according to the Associated Press. Demand was reportedly about four times greater than what was available in the hydrants, and about 20 percent of the hydrants in the area ran dry. (Maybe Newsom should read Roundup to figure out what's happening before he goes on camera!)

At other times, aircraft were not able to be used to fight the fires due to winds reaching 80 to 100 miles per hour, grounding helicopters and planes. By Wednesday afternoon, they had weakened to 50 to 60 miles per hour, according to meteorologists with the National Weather Service, meaning aircraft could start fighting the fires from above.

It's all horribly tragic, and California's governance isn't helping matters much. For starters, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass was traveling in Ghana as the wildfires started, only returning yesterday afternoon. (Very Ted Cruz of her.) The absenteeism has rubbed many Angelenos the wrong way, and Bass has no good justification for why she didn't cancel her trip as the weather warnings grew more severe.

Let me count the ways California has failed: One major issue at play is the lack of controlled burns that the state should be using to manage its forests. Why might this be? Well, because the mandated environmental reviews end up stymying efforts.

Yup. When the Forest Service identifies high-risk forests needing prescribed burns, it takes an average of 4.7 YEARS just to get through environmental reviews. For complex projects, it's 7.2 years - longer than many fire cycles. https://t.co/nITtIe9bDd pic.twitter.com/p9i1hmeQne

— Tahra Jirari (@tahrajirari) January 8, 2025

Truly wild how the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) ends up making it harder to do the environmentally sound thing and actually get ahead of destructive problems like wildfires.

Destructive wildfires are unfortunately common in the U.S., but they don't have to be

Sadly, when the Forest Service applies to treat more forest to prevent wildfires, they have to undergo NEPA review, delaying their ability to do their jobs.

Result? Flammable, overgrown woods. pic.twitter.com/G48vxSGu1g

— Crémieux (@cremieuxrecueil) July 26, 2024

Oh, also, California has repeatedly harassed insurance companies: To understand this, we have to back up a bit.

Back in 2017 and 2018, when wildfires raged throughout the state, a lot of insurers drastically scaled back their coverage. Those wildfires had cost them $23 billion in total, about twice as much as the companies had collected in premiums over that same time period, and many of the companies decided some of these places were simply too costly to insure.

Premiums, after all, are not arbitrary; they reflect risk. Teams of actuaries spend a lot of time trying to understand what prices to offer homeowners in any given area. Unfortunately, in California, the insurance commissioner—an elected official, Ricardo Lara—must approve premium increases. Lara generally won't approve high premium increases, which leads to the predictable outcome of insurers pulling out. Something Lara is also seeking to, uh, "fix" via government coercion.

"For the first time in history we are requiring insurance companies to expand where people need help the most," he announced last month. "Major insurance companies must increase the writing of comprehensive policies in wildfire distressed areas equivalent to no less than 85% of their statewide market share," he continued.

Yes, you understand this correctly: He thinks bullying private insurers into covering costly wildfire-prone areas (as opposed to allowing them to accurately price risk) will result in more coverage for homeowners. Look forward to, when it gets costly enough, State Farm and the like totally pulling out of the whole state. Lara, contra his own hubris, can't force the financials to work. (Somehow, many progressives cannot comprehend this cycle of cause and effect.)

But don't worry, there's another option. "Homeowners have largely replaced their fire coverage with a state plan of last resort called the California FAIR plan, an insurance pool, which covers up to $3 million in damages for residential properties and $20 million for commercial ones," reports The New York Times. "Between September 2020 and September 2024, the number of FAIR policies for dwellings grew by 123 percent, to 452,000 policies." The FAIR fund, though, was widely expected to become insolvent in the event of catastrophe—which any California-watcher knows is not an if but rather a when, given the wildfire track record over the last few years.

Last year, State Farm canceled 1,600 policies in Pacific Palisades because the state would not allow them to raise premiums enough to cover their exposure. The affected homeowners would then likely have to rely on the state-run FAIR Plan, an expensive last-resort insurance… pic.twitter.com/xe9bLPtaN3

— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) January 9, 2025

"What happens when the FAIR Plan becomes insolvent?" asks California attorney Laura Powell. "The insurers who haven't already left the state are required to bail the program out. The loss will be passed on as a surcharge to all the homeowners in the state. Living in California is about to get even more unaffordable." This is true, and a disturbing reality that is becoming more likely with each passing minute (and dollar of damage).

If it sounds like I'm being snarky, I am. Not because the plight of these homeowners doesn't matter to me, but rather because it matters so much that I think their governments should stop sabotaging the companies that are trying to serve them, as the government cannot and has not come up with a better alternative.

As an aside: The FAIR plan has failed to satisfy many homeowners, contra Lara's peachy press releases. Per the Los Angeles Times reporting back in July, it "was sued last week by four California residents who claim its policies offer subpar coverage for fire and smoke damage. The proposed class-action lawsuit seeks to represent more than 300,000 of the plan's residential policyholders. The plan also is facing a lawsuit from more than 1,000 homeowners in Los Angeles who say the plan wrongly denied their claims."

TLDR: The wildfires are California's first crisis with which it must contend. The politicians are its second.

---

Scenes from New York: City disorder back here on the East Coast, chronicled by one of my best friends. The replies are absolutely unhinged.

Respectfully, what am I supposed to do when the literal only path for me to get me + an infant/toddler from below ground on the subway to above ground is an elevator that a crazy person is clearly posted up in and not leaving?

— nicole ruiz (@nwilliams030) January 7, 2025

---

QUICK HITS

• A good take:

Three things that all seem clearly true to me:

* America would benefit from owning Greenland
* Greenlanders would benefit from being Americans
* America trying to make this happen by force or against popular will would be deeply evil

— Jeremiah Johnson ???? (@JeremiahDJohns) January 8, 2025

• "The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it had discovered the body of a hostage taken from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 in an underground tunnel in the area of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, along with evidence that raises questions about the state of another, related captive," reports The New York Times. "The deceased hostage was identified as Youssef Ziyadne of Rahat, an Arab Bedouin city in southern Israel. Mr. Ziyadne, who was in his 50s, and three of his grown children, were abducted from a kibbutz where he and two of the children had been working during the Hamas-led attack on Israel that ignited the war in Gaza." Two of the children, both teenagers, have been released in a prior hostage deal, but the third—22-year-old Hamza Ziyadne—may also be dead, per the Israeli military. Of the 250 hostages initially taken by Hamas terrorists on that terrible day, 100 have yet to be returned to their families, with roughly a third of that group likely to be dead.
• Terrifying/predictable:

Of course Bernie Sanders opposes nuclear power pic.twitter.com/isFrhkaInw

— Chris Freiman (@cafreiman) January 8, 2025

• "Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun head of state on Thursday, filling the vacant presidency with a general who enjoys U.S. approval and showing the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel," reports Reuters.
• A GOOD PHRASE:

You heard it here 1st. My new phrase:

ULTRAPROCESSED CHILDHOOD

We are doing so much with & for our kids, childhood's nutrients--free play, exploring, down time--have been leached out, replaced by adult-run, homogenized activities.

Nutritional value is low. Kids are drooping.

— Lenore Skenazy (@FreeRangeKids) January 8, 2025

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Overnight, the fires in and around Los Angeles continued to worsen.

The most important takeaway is that this is all Donald Trump's fault.

[Ajsloss]

My money is on Kash Patel.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

"IF YOU'RE SO SMART HOW COME HE HASNT DONE ANYTHING ABOUT IT YET??? Hmmmmmmmmmmm?????" - Chemjeff

[Fire up the Woodchippers! (5-30 Banana Republic Day)]

Haven’t noticed Fatfuck around lately. Diabetic coma?

[Don’t. Get. Eliminated.]

Budget cuts at the fifty cent factory after the election.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

He sneaks in later in the day or in the evening when he thinks nobody will be around to argue back anymore, and posts responses and lies that he hopes will remain unchallenged.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

I mean he did criticize Newsome and California in 2019 regarding their fire policies, forcing democrats to ignore the problem. So it really is his fault.

[Super Scary]

They had to do what they could to try and prove him wrong. If something is seen as a problem to Trump, the leadership in California do the opposite, primarily out of spite.

Sure it didn't work this time because the fires Trump was talking about then are happening now, but hey, you can't win them all.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Same with MSM; being at odds with the bad orange man is the most important thing!

[VULGAR MADMAN]

On the bright side, Californians are free from the menace of unvaccinated firefighters.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Trump talked extensively about California's water management issues during his appearance in the Joe Rogan podcast.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I know a couple of people who think controlled burns are fiction created by republicans.

[middlefinger]

Controlled burns are good, goats are better. GOAT herds with Aussie cattle dogs and “Shepherds”? Can clear out hillsides and acreage in no time.

Some fires have been started with controlled burns in mountainous areas.

[Overt]

"Can clear out hillsides and acreage in no time."

Goats are of limited use.

There is a herd of around 30 that they use down here in Orange County to help with fire abatement.

1) They are fine for grasslands or for clearing that final 50 yards to structures, because they will strip clear any plant in the ground.

2) They are not good for clearing forest or scrubland in southern california because most of the fuel on the ground is scrub brush- twigs and larger from sage bushes and scrub oak mixed with dead leaves. They do not eliminate this fuel.

3) I helped setup a clearing operation as part of a volunteer team. It was extremely time consuming. It involves rolling out a long, long temporary electric fence to keep them from wandering away. The oak trees in SoCal are great for these little jumping assholes, because the trunks grow nearly horizontal in places, giving them a surface to climb on, and get out of the pen.

Once the little bastards are penned in, they are real good at clearing small brush. But reseting can take hours.

They are better than the nothing that has been going on, though.

[middlefinger]

The penned in is where the heelers come in, but the dogs must be raised and trained with the goats. They’re part dingo or wild dog, they are loyal and hardworking. No goat would get out of line with these herders

Agreed on the small grasses and overgrown grasses and brush. Yeah the trees and twigs have to be culled and either burned or mulched

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Do the electric fences and heelers work with herds of homeless hobos?

[Chipper Chunked Chile Con Congress (ex NCW)]

Only one way to find out.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Hey, if climate change is both a cause and effect of ordinary racism, then Nazi, e.g. Trump, climate change is the worst kind of climate change. Besides, just like slavery, wild fires did not exist before white guys started oppressing the New World.

[LIBtranslator]

Nope. According to the Lizard it's the fault or Ayn Rand and them atheist Libertarians she inspired. THEY knocked down Comstockism with a single electoral vote in 1972-3. THAT enabled California to quit stripping women--guilty of having had sex--of all individual rights to control of their own reproductive systems. From there it was only a matter of time until God Awemighty and the Boy Jesus struck thim Gomorrhite bastids with the Lord's Righteous Lightning to burn thim in the Holy Fires of Hell!

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

Needs more prohibition.

[Fire up the Woodchippers! (5-30 Banana Republic Day)]

He probably babbles about this shit to people around him. Probably in an assisted living center for dementia patients.

[CE]

The LA Times has your back:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-08/a-tale-of-two-presidents-how-the-fires-show-the-difference-between-biden-and-trump

I'm not sure when fire control became a federal issue though. Seems like it's up to the city, county, and state to have a plan in place.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

It's only a federal issue if it's on federal land like national parks or forests. The Department of Interior and/or Department of Agriculture (which runs the Forest Service) has to administrate that.

In reality, even on the federal side very little is typically done about this because it requires money and manpower to keep forests clear in a way that the smaller brush fires used to do before the government started managing these areas in the first place. And any measures to actually mitigate tree and brush cover inevitably gets sued into oblivion by the enviromentalist fuckos who think any human intervention into such management is against nature and other hippie bullshit.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Around here (SW Colorado) the Forest Service is actually pretty effective at scheduling and completing controlled burns. I guess we have not gone as eco-ubstructionist as in California. Yet.

[Fist of Etiquette]

California governor Gavin Newsom is asked why the fire hydrants have no water. Says he doesn't know, local people will have to figure it out.

Maybe he's the man to bring us back from the imperial presidency. Newsom 2028!

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Well, he does sound like a champion for limits on state/federal government.

[CE]

Or at least, limits on expectations of centralized government effectiveness. Sort of an anti-Truman -- "the buck certainly doesn't stop here."

[Stupid Government Tricks]

No, they sure don't, they just keep on a-going until they're safe in some bank account.

[Minadin]

"Demand was reportedly about four times greater than what was available in the hydrants, and about 20 percent of the hydrants in the area ran dry."

Well, now they have a baseline for the re-design. Just have to get it through all of California and LA's bureaucratic red tape. New system should be up and running by 2040 or so.

[CE]

And by then, all of the dams and reservoirs will have been dynamited.

[JFree]

He's both an idiot and an asshole - and correct that water pressure in fire hydrants is a local issue

Fortunately Pacific Palisades solved that problem many decades ago with Prop 13. Apparently they aren't willing to pay to solve their own fucking problems.

They bought their ticket. They knew what they were getting into. I say, let it burn.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Shana.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

Regardless of my opinion of JFree, I do appreciate the Airplane! reference.

[Overt]

We can rest assured that JFear knows nothing about what he is talking about. Kind of like when he tries to talk about inflation, or climate change, or masking.

The idea that a Governor can't speak to a major operational failure in the largest metropolitan area in his state while he is doing a "crisis control visit" in that exact area is definitely his problem.

[Minadin]

Or anything related to the built environment like housing or urban planning or infrastructure.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

“IF ONLY THEY HAD PAID MORE TAXES!!!!!”

Lol. Goddamn J, you are one dumb motherfucker.

[Fist of Etiquette]

When the Forest Service identifies high-risk forests needing prescribed burns, it takes an average of 4.7 YEARS just to get through environmental reviews.

Single party rule. Single, heavy bureaucratic party.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

What's interesting is that this seems to be a California problem. Other states from Texas to Idaho seem to be able to clear the brush and used prescribed burns to minimize the amount of tinder.

[Randy Sax]

People in TX harvest and sell their timber. Thins the forest and makes profit. Cutting trees and making profit both illegal in Cali.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Plus, most land in TX is private property, also illegal in CA.

[CE]

Seems more like a city or county issue. Why allow so many trees and bushes so close to homes? Anyone could have seen this coming -- California has been having large, destructive fires every two or three years. This one just hit a wealthy, populated area.

I lived in an area with moderate fire risk for a while, and we weren't allowed to have trees within 100 feet of our house.

[Trollificus]

Hey! California DOES have a solution for the fire problem.
Just make the insurance companies cover it, at a rate the state finds politically palatable. Which is "a rate that shields wealthy homeowners from the actual cost of insuring their properties in high-risk fire areas"

It's magical economics, arrived at by the state economancers.

[Liberty_Belle]

Because it's not important until it happens to rich people.

[Truthfulness]

California's getting a rougher fire than before (and an even worse response), and it just happened to hit richer people. It's the severity of the fire that's causing the attention, not the people it's affecting.

[Super Scary]

It takes a long time to hug each individual tree.

[Ajsloss]

Especially them big ones in Sequoia National Park.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Group hug.

[Zeb]

Of which I believe a lot have burned recently because of CA's shitty fire management.

[Overt]

Sequoias are extremely fire resistant. Fires aren't new in California- they've been happening for millions of years. These sequoias get water deep from the aquifers and hold it in their trunks, protecting them while the forest around them burns down. That's why some are hundreds of years old.

The problem right now is that many of these aquifers are depleting for the same reason Californians have no water in their fire hydrants: poor water management in the state.

[Zeb]

Wasn't there some big thing a few years ago where a bunch of sequoias were killed?

[Zeb]

This is what I'm thinking of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQF_Complex

[Trollificus]

"In virtually every grove affected, extensive Giant Sequoia regeneration thrived especially in places where the fire was severely hot and had killed the most trees."

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Are people still ignorant of the fact that the giant redwoods have evolved to require fire to reproduce? The trees can't grow in the underbrush, so they adapted so that their seeds only sprout after being exposed to heat of an underbrush clearing fire. The big trees can survive the fires.

[Quicktown Brix]

Does that work for houses too?

[middlefinger]

Log cabins yep. The old timers did things for reasons
https://prologrestoration.com/why-log-homes-survive-forest-fires/

[Quicktown Brix]

Interesting!

[Ajsloss]

The big trees can survive the fires.

That doesn't mean they don't need a hug every once in a while. #treesarepeopletoo

[BYODB]

It must be mankinds effect on the climate causing them to evolve in this way since obviously forest fires are something only mankind can cause.

/sarc

[Zeb]

Anyone who's seen big redwoods should be able to figure that out. They pretty much all show signs of past fires.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...State Farm canceled 1,600 policies in Pacific Palisades because the state would not allow them to raise premiums enough to cover their exposure.

Newsomcare exchanges! Mandate that shit.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Yes! Fascism is the answer!

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

But only good fascism.

[Don’t. Get. Eliminated.]

You can’t use that word, It hurts my feelings!

— sarc

[Minadin]

They actually do have a state-run fire insurance scheme with really expensive bare minimum coverage levels, just so that people can get loans for their residences.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

I heard this morning that FAIR has 200 million in cash, 2.5 billion in reinsurance and is potentially already facing 6 billion in losses from these fires. The balance is supposed to be picked up by other insurance companies in the state who will in turn have to charge it off to their customers who had proper coverage.

This is one of those situations where instead of punishing everybody else, they should just decide to pay out claims based on impact to the claimant. Structure payments based on net worth of claimant other than the property destroyed. Completely shitty, but hey, nobody forced them to reside in the PRC.

I have never been a Musk fanboy, but he is clearly able to see the trajectory for CA and abandoned it just in time.

[middlefinger]

State Farm also

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

They were trying to extract themselves from the state for a reason.

Don't be shocked if we see calls for an insurance industry bailout crop up after this. This event aside, the biggest issue with insurance is that people think it's just this infinite pool of money to tap into when something bad happens. It's not--insurance has ALWAYS been based on a risk assessment of the customer and what they're looking to get insured. When you can't charge people for the cost of living in places that routinely get hurricanes, wildfires, or earthquakes, or for their shitty diets and personal habits that lead to health problems, or for getting in multiple car accidents because they're a drunk asshole who can't get a DD, then you obliterate the whole point of what insurance was established to support.

Of course, California did the retarded lefty thing under the influence of their retarded political lefty theology, and put a cap on insurance premiums. This violated the whole concept of providing insurance, which is a cost based on an assessment of risk. Absolutely no insurance company, if they're smart, should ever do business in California again after this. Not even for relatively mild stuff like renter's insurance or auto insurance.

[middlefinger]

Grandmother had a place (when I say place, I mean shack, no hot water, space heaters and fans an outdoor salt water shower and a few plug in cooking burners) right off the Ocean City NJ boardwalk - beachfront. Places in hurricane or weather event areas were somewhat disposable back then and I’m guessing uninsurable up to a certain degree. Gram would hunker down with her kids during evacuation and most of the winter. Check out at Japanese suburbs and their disposable plywood homes.

Fast forward after Sandy bailouts, there are multi million dollar mansions all over the coastline. Same in fire areas of the Rockies and California.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"...which Gov. Gavin Newsom seems to believe is a problem he doesn't need to attempt to understand..."

1) We can add this to the list of many others.
2) This man is just dying to be POTUS.

[damikesc]

I had to tell my son yesterday that, for Democrats, there is no benefit in being competent. A state running well will not advance you in the Party. You have to have a "big accomplishment" and "the state did not turn to crap on my watch" is not that for them.

It's why they obsess on "climate change" (which we cannot verify is bad nor can we do a damned thing about it) instead of issues we CAN deal with.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

The last thing any bureaucrat wants to do is solve the problem which got him his job and sustains his growing fiefdom.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Correct. "Success" is not solving a problem and making it go away. Success is the size, scope, and budget for the government program(s) dedicated to that problem.

[damikesc]

And the budget constantly growing, amazingly, is never evidence that the problem is not being fixed.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

The science is settled but they need trillions more for research.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Respectfully, what am I supposed to do when the literal only path for me to get me + an infant/toddler from below ground on the subway to above ground is an elevator that a crazy person is clearly posted up in and not leaving?

Um, maybe check your privilege at the elevator door?

[Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)]

Go Bernie gaetz?

[Medulla Oblongata]

"That's what you get for breeding..."
"That's what you get for living in NYC..."
"Here's $20 if you get off the elevator so I can use it..."

I love all the answers about "Just get some random man to carry your stroller."

[damikesc]

Because, in NYC, men love the idea of carrying an unknown baby stroller around for an unknown woman. No chance that comes back to screw you over royally.

[A Thinking Mind]

To an extent, the last part of that should be true. You want to live in a high trust society where there's a decent chance, in a busy location, that people are going to be helpful.

Of course, the problem is we tend to punish those people seeking to be helpful. Men especially worry about approaching strange women and offering to help them for fear of being accused of sexual harassment. Men also are afraid of confronting crazy hobos who are monopolizing elevators meant for public use because they don't want to go trial if the hobo attacks them and they have to fend him off. Places like New York do a good job of putting barriers between the natural interactions of neighborly-minded folks.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I see men helping unknown women with strollers all the time in the Subway. It's a common occurrence.

[Vernon Depner]

If there were any men there, the bum would be forcibly removed from the elevator so the lady could use it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Of the 250 hostages initially taken by Hamas terrorists on that terrible day, 100 have yet to be returned to their families, with roughly a third of that group likely to be dead.

Why would Israel do this?

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Racism and transphobia.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

And climate change?

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

It was amazing seeing Blinken admit that the administrations condemnation of Israel encouraged Hamas to not release the hostages.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

administrations condemnation of Israel

What fucking planet do you live on?

The far left loons hate "Genocide Joe" for his unwavering support and shipment of arms to Israel.

Yes - real far left loons that exist for real - not like the ones that you imagine old Centrist Joe as.

JOE KILLING THEM GODDAMN TERRISTS!

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Which is weird because Genocide Joe has tripped up the Israelis every chance he got. Well, his handlers have ayway.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Was your new years resolution to be extra retarded or something?

https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/01/blinken-admits-hamas-hardened-hostage-position-due-to-u-s-public-pressure-on-israel/

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Meaningless crap.

Of course they wanted a ceasefire. And of course the weapons sent to Israel pissed off Hamas supporters. They had two conflicting objectives they couldn't avoid.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Jesse - "Here's the actual facts with a cite. A confession by Biden's Secretary of State"

Buttplug - "Meaningless crap"

It's got to be hard getting your ass handed to you daily, Pluggo.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

A "confession" in your dilapidated mind only.

Again, there were two worthwhile objectives in conflict.

Ceasefire - worthwhile.

Support of Israel - also worthwhile.

#WingnutsHateRealpolitik

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

Ceasefire - worthwhile.

There was a cease fire in place on 10/7/23 - was that one worthwhile?

[damikesc]

Given who broke it --- it's hard to claim Hamas' word is good for much of anything.

[Anomalous]

I don't think he needs to put in any additional effort.

[CE]

I mean, he literally built an aid pier, for people who were holding 5 American citizens hostage.

[LIBtranslator]

Women in Israel have individual rights. That is a state of godless anarchy with no telling what they'd be capable of. Women in Mohammedan HAMAS countries know their place. Those hostages are lucky to have been freed from such evil clutches maybe? I'll read up on what Tatsuya Ishida and Julius Streichter had to say...

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

And what exactly would you say your point is, Hank?

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

I don't think a point is physically possible for old Hank.

[Truthfulness]

He wants Jewish women to be self-hating antisemites AND Islamophobes.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You heard it here 1st. My new phrase:

ULTRAPROCESSED CHILDHOOD

Processed into a different gender.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Have you seen an industrial gender blender?

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Band name?

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

“Controlled burn” sounds suspiciously like a job-killin’ regulation. Can’t have the government running loose like that.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Think of all the jobs demolishing and rebuilding those 2000 structures that have burned. Jobs that all those migrants can do because Americans won't.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

See, now you're thinking right. Gotta get Donnie to that elusive (for him) 3% GDP some day.

10-year Treasuries hit 5% yield this week - people are leaving equities for safety.

#MarketPeak

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd, the TDS-addled ass-clown of the commentariat, lies; it’s all he ever does. turd is a kiddie diddler, and a pathological liar, entirely too stupid to remember which lies he posted even minutes ago, and also too stupid to understand we all know he’s a liar.
If anything he posts isn’t a lie, it’s totally accidental.
turd lies; it’s what he does. turd is a lying pile of lefty shit.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Shut up Sevo. You garden gnome bitch.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

What, you can't take his typical blurb about you, little bitch?

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Sevo's copypasta used to annoy me until I saw that it really got to you, and now I love it.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Great example of the broken windows fallacy

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

The WEF has a solution for that: no windows! At least the kind with glass.

Now, shut up peasant.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

There a bugs waiting to be eaten; now get to it!

[CE]

At prevailing union rates, no less.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd, the ass-clown of the commentariat, lies; it’s all he ever does. turd is a kiddie diddler, and a pathological liar, entirely too stupid to remember which lies he posted even minutes ago, and also too stupid to understand we all know he’s a liar.
If anything he posts isn’t a lie, it’s totally accidental.
turd lies; it’s what he does. turd is a lying pile of lefty shit.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

Are you normally ultra-retarded, or is today just special?

[damikesc]

This is not more retarded posting than his usual bilge.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

True, but I was getting used to the retard not being here. The signal to noise ratio was better.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Is this your chaff to deflect blame from your precious democrats?

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

I don't like Democrats, you idiot. I just don't like Republicans either.

Since I don't shill for Donnie like you 24/7 it just SEEMS like I am a Democrat.

Both parties are roughly equally worthless.

WHICH I WILL ENJOY POINTING OUT FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

On a crusade, are we?

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

You are a Democrat shrike. Nobody buys your obvious lies retard lol.

You've defended Joe for 4 years, including this fucking thread.

Not everyone is as retarded as sarc and easily fooled.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Wrong, you liar.

You know I repeatedly said that Joe was "in over his head".

But I defend the truth.

Joe's economy is much better - in jobs, GDP and income/stock gains.

and inflation is Worldwide.

Those are facts.

But you lie with ease. I also admitted Joe had declined noticeably two years ago.

You remember these things but you won't admit it today.

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

Remember when you posted about fast food loss-leader items as evidence that there was no inflation?

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

The $5 McDonalds meals? Yeah.

Our largest restaurant chain went cheap-food for the masses.

I recall that.

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

Yep, you're still a dumbass.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Wingnut.com reported that it now cost $18 for a McDonalds meal.

You believed that shit.

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

Cite?

You also told us about your account that ballooned from 1k to 500k, whatever happened with that?

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

"Wingnut.com reported that it now cost $18 for a McDonalds meal.
You believed that shit."

This is why open society won't hire Buttplug back.

CBS - Top McDonald's exec says $18 Big Mac meal is an "exception," not the rule

AP - McDonald’s says $18 Big Mac meal was an ‘exception’

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Claims to be in finance. Doesn't understand loss lead.

Also continues to prop up a "great" economu built on government jobs and spending.

But he isn't a Democrat guys.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Goes on to lie about Joe to defend him while claiming he doesn't defend him lol.

Answer MLs question below. Or are you going to continue to lie about Joe's actions with energy and the courts stopping it from being worse?

Remember pushing the falsified job numbers?

Remember lying about transitory inflation?

All you do is lie to defend democrats shrike. You're tricking nobody but other leftist retards lol.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Moron.

"GDP is 3.6% under Biden" - news headlines say.

HEY QUIT DEFENDING BIDEN - says moron.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

And now props up GDP numbers built on government spending lol.

But not a Democrat.

You really are extra retarded this morning.

[LIBtranslator]

Even conceding all that, with some reservations about few noticing that German inflation was worldwide in 1923 or Brazilian inflation in 1991, what's the point of arguing with brainwashed MAGAts whose idea of politesse is ordure-flinging and projectile vomiting? We need to be reaching voters. Remember when we had 4 million votes?

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

No, Hank, none of us (maybe you) were around in the 1820s.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Hank blames Trump for the Monroe Doctrine.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Premiums, after all, are not arbitrary; they reflect risk.

Try explaining that to the "I Love Luigi" crowd.

................................................................................I will wait over here

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Why don't they return premiums if no fire occurs?? - Whoopi

[Quo Usque Tandem]

I can believe she would actually say that. Damn Poe again, it’s killed parody.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

She actually said that about health insurance.

Tim Young
@TimRunsHisMouth
·
Follow
Whoopi has no idea how health insurance works:

"If I don't go to the hospital for a whole year, where is my money? Why don't you give me the money back?"

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

There are dumb cunts, and then there are really, really dumb bordering-on-retarded cunts.

[Zeb]

She almost has a point. I've been to the hospital once in 25 years. If I had all the money my employer has spent on insurance, I could afford to pay for any emergency that is likely to come up.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

But that's not how insurance under the ACA model works. It is an argument for non ACA high deductible HSA plans.

[Zeb]

Yes.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Shut up and get on the train.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

Like Turd or Sarc, everyone knows she's an ignoramus, but sometimes she opens her mouth and proves the depths of her stupidity.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

"Better to remain silent...." Oh hell, we'd know she's a fool regardless.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Yeah, but the fact that Whoopi has made millions from being stupid proves that the universe has a sick sense of humor.

[Knutsack]

"The FAIR plan has failed to satisfy many homeowners...who say the plan wrongly denied their claims."

Based on recent events, maybe some officials should be watching their backs.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

I live in the boonies. Premiums used to be $2400/year, went up to $4400 two years ago, they dropped fire coverage a year ago, and I had to switch to the FAIR plan. It's only for fire coverage, a supplemental to ordinary house coverage. The FAIR premium this year is $5000+, the ordinary home insurance is $2000+.

$650/month.

They are also an utterly humorless bureaucracy with humorless agents. One came around last year to take pictures for the home office, acted like it was illegal to talk with me for fear of being accused of corruption, and a month later I got a warning that a pile of scrap lumber would cancel my insurance if not removed. Why didn't the agent tell me at the time he took the pictures? It was gone a couple of days later anyway.

The renewal letter this year was equally rude and humorless, full of warnings about non-compliance, bounced checks, etc. No way to download a PDF copy of the policy. Typical government bureaucracy.

[Zeb]

You pay more per month than I do for a year of homeowner insurance.

[rbike]

That is more than my house and my car insurance.

[Zeb]

That is likely true for me too.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Yep, and it only started ballooning in the last 3-4-5 years.

I despise government.

[gnome]

Why would you bother to insure your house at all, if not for fire risk? Didn't earthquake insurance get cancelled some time ago? War, civil disturbance aren't covered. What other catastrophic risks are there?

[Idaho-Bob]

The progs never blame government actors. The narrative machine targets business leaders. No matter what the circumstances.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Like Kulaks and wreckers. Ideology is the most important thing, Walter Duranty would tell you so himself.

[damikesc]

People can only be pushed so far, after all...

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Free people can only be pushed so far. The USSR and China have clearly demonstrated you can get oppressed people to push their neighbor into the ditch and shovel lye onto him by convincing them their neighbor is the one oppressing them.

Fucking kulaks deserve what they get.

[Vernon Depner]

Most Americans would have been happy to do that during COVID fascism.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Ah, the magic word "fair". Which to progressives means "I get what I want and somebody else pays for it." Also, "Those other people I don't like don't get any."

[(Good Riddance Robert L. Peters) Weigel's Cock Ring]

It really is. California is the very textbook definition of an "anarcho-tyranny": a state that is oppressive and overbearing of its most productive and law-abiding citizens (especially private business owners and taxpayets), and yet at the same time is utterly incompetent at performing its most important core job and services: maintaining a semblance of general order, providing necessary infrastructure, putting out fires, etc.

I know that Gavin Newsom is fully convinced that he's the next in line to become president, but I'm going to make a prediction right here and now. That smarmy, gready-haired putz will never get the democratic nomination, much less become president. Deep doen in their hearts, evem most democrats don't realky want their hom tu turn into CLifornia, whether they're willing to admit it openly or not.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

America would benefit from owning Greenland
* Greenlanders would benefit from being Americans

Donnie has his eye on retaking Greenland and Canada -- "You got nothing on me, Vlad".

#Greenland=Sudetenland

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd, the ass-wipe of the commentariat, lies; it’s all he ever does. turd is a kiddie diddler, and a pathological liar, entirely too stupid to remember which lies he posted even minutes ago, and also too stupid to understand we all know he’s a liar.
If anything he posts isn’t a lie, it’s totally accidental.
turd lies; it’s what he does. turd is a lying pile of lefty shit.

[(Good Riddance Robert L. Peters) Weigel's Cock Ring]

Your attempts at deflection won't work you pathetic fucking loser.

The entire country is watching what's going on out west with sadness and dismay, while also shaking our heads and saying "yeah, no thank you." This will be Newsom's personal domestic version of the Afghanistan fiasco, just watch what happens to his approval numbers both in California and nationwide in the weeks and months ahead.

You won't even attempt to address any of the above because you know damn well I'm right, the same way you knew Trump was going to win, which is why you completely disappeared at election time like the cowardly little bitch that you are.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

I just realized that I don't call Buttplug a "bitch" enough.
I'm going to remedy that, thanks.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

which is why you completely disappeared at election time

I PREDICTED he would win on this site, you MAGA nimrod lackey.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd lies. turd lies when he knows he’s lying. turd lies when we know he’s lying. turd lies when he knows that we know he’s lying.
turd lies. turd is a lying pile of lefty TDS-addled shit and a pederast besides.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

No you didn't.

But hey, I've been meaning to ask you about Biden's most recent executive order shutting down off-shore drilling again. How does that square with your last four years of narratives?

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

You're such a liar (like Jesse)

Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive) 2 months ago
Okay, Peanuts, let's go on the record. Make your prediction!

I'll go first. Several days ago I thought Donnie had the advantage in the swing states. Of the seven he had leads in five swing states. But Kammy is closing with high voter participation which favors Democrats. Already more people have voted in NC than did in the entire 2020 election.

But "toss-up" is not a prediction.

I give Donnie the edge.

shrike predicts - Trump.

I will follow up Sun-Mon.

Vote you pussies!

Mother's Lament (garbage) 2 months ago
Flag Comment
Mute User
Trump will "lose" and Kamala will be the first presidential candidate in history to break 100 million "votes".

Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive) 2 months ago
Hmmm. Very interesting.

https://reason.com/2024/11/02/your-right-to-booze-could-be-impacted-no-matter-who-wins-the-presidential-election/?comments=true#comments

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

That's not what I asked you. Again, what do you think about Biden's most recent executive order shutting down off-shore drilling again.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Admit that you lied about me not predicting a Trump win first.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

You predicted it AFTER the democrats were collapsing in polls. Lol. When was 2 months ago.

Prior to that you spent months propping up Joe. Pushing every DNC anti trump narrative.

Who the fuck do you think your bullshit works on shrike?

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

He "predicted it" on 11/2... He's a regular Nate Silver, that one.

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

I PREDICTED he would win

Rewind to last summer when you were telling us how crucial the taylor swift endorsement of harris was.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

The Ukraine is the Sudetenland if you want an actual historical analog, pedo.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Yeah, but Vlad has already won Ukraine in the MAGA version of Risk. Most likely Vlad takes over all of Europe and Donnie settles for Canada/Greenland.

I haven't seen the MAGA/Vlad world global plan though.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

The TDS-addled shit-pile turd lies. turd lies when he knows he’s lying. turd lies when we know he’s lying. turd lies when he knows that we know he’s lying.
turd lies. turd is a lying pile of lefty shit and a pederast besides.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

And if that sounds unfair remember that Vlad is the top man and Donnie is bottom bitch.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

You really are a deranged little bitch.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Did you not see Donnie MELT in front of Vlad in Helsinki?

It was sickening.

Any moment Donnie would unzip Vlad and fellate him for Russia Today.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

You really are a deranged little bitch.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Projection. He pretends it was Trump holding the giant "reset" button.

Without his Open Society talking points he's not very useful for anything other than trolling.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd certainly is dishonest, but he’s got a heaping helping of stupid to go with his dishonesty. Stupid, lying, TDS-addled steaming pile of lefty shit and proud to be!

[damikesc]

Kinda funny how the only President recently that Vlad did not try to seize territory with was Trump.

Odd, no?

But keep believing a "dossier" that has been proven false repeatedly. Sure improves your non-existent credibility.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Not only proven false but proven to be a fraud attempt. Just like Sarc, the old Nazi lies are all they have to cling too.

[damikesc]

People dislike hearing that the only person who committed violation of campaign law in 2016 was Hillary.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd certainly is dishonest, but he’s got a heaping helping of stupid to go with his dishonesty. Stupid, lying, despicable steaming pile of lefty shit and proud to be!

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Perhaps your best contribution ever, Sevo.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

Still ten times better than anything you've written here, little bitch.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Yeah, but Vlad has already won Ukraine in the MAGA version of Risk""

No. Vlad may gain some territory but not getting the whole thing.

From the beginning I thought Vald's greater Ukraine campaign is a ploy to gain the area he wanted via a cease fire to end the greater war. In that respect, Vald is likely to come out a winner.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Even after being told greenland has been discussed for over a century, you continue to go full retard. Amazing.

[Rick James]

You got trolled.

SPB: Borders are important!

Going to start keeping a tally on this.

[Don’t. Get. Eliminated.]

DEFLECT FROM CRITICISM OF DEMOCRATS!

[charliehall]

"maintaining a semblance of general order"

Most California cities are among the safest US cities. General order.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

Cite?

[tracerv]

This sounds like one of those lies, damn lies, and statistics type of bullshit.

[damikesc]

Yeah, you're gonna need to cite that one.

[Idaho-Bob]

This is by far the funniest shit I've ever read.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

"Most California cities are among the safest US cities."

Oh wow.

[damikesc]

If true --- it is only because ALL major cities are basically run by Democrats. They all have a tendency towards shitholeness.

NYC should have fucking statues made of Giuliani. He made NYC livable for a while. Until the residents bitched that it was too nice and wanted it to become shitty again.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

The livestock didn't like the shit being cleared out of the stable.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

Well, Palm Springs and Redding are probably ok. The big cities? Lol.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Denver has been paying NGOs to ship illegals including members of Tren to other cities in Colorado causing inter city anger.

https://gazette.com/opinion/denver-s-mayor-offloads-immigrants-on-aurora/article_43efc320-c9e2-11ef-9b3f-7f2bd0bab3f6.html

[Medulla Oblongata]

SF is handing out bus tickets to "anywhere but here" to homeless.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Arizona has had far more homeless than usual this year. Probably partly the reason.

[Chupacabra]

Seems like summer in AZ should take care of that problem.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

I wonder.

We've never, and I mean never, had a homeless problem in my neck of the woods, because winter temps can drop past -40. But the three years we've been inundated with them and nobody knows where they are all coming from.
In order to keep frozen corpses off the streets the city has been forced to give them shelter during the worst of it.

[MT-Man]

Same here and we got the forced taxation of an "emergency" tax to fund shelters with zero say, why are there South Carolina, Texas, California plates at warming shelter what a strange choice of a very high cost of living now Portland/Seattle comparable and terrible climate October to March....

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Of course not. You live in Moose Dick, Canada. You're the 2024 version of Ted Kaczynski.

I expect to see you on the news someday.

[Don’t. Get. Eliminated.]

I expect you to be tossed into a pit of snakes by the father of one of your victims someday. And by expect I mean hope.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

"I expect to see you on the news someday."

You probably will, for doing something praiseworthy and getting an award. It will air just a week before the story of how you got shanked in your cell by a pedo-hating inmate after the police dig up the contents of your backyard.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Frozen corpses are much easier to stack with a forklift.

[I, Woodchipper]

Really? Are you sure? Because I dont want to celebrate too soon...

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

"Offloading on Aurora" is a bit misleading here because the cities literally are right next to each other. You go east on Colfax and cross from Denver to Aurora when you hit Yosemite.

I don't doubt Mayor Howdy Doody is busing migrants to dump them off in Aurora, but they can get there themselves just by taking the #15 bus.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

The GOP has introduced an amendment legislation for term limits.

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/republicans-introduce-constitutional-amendment-impose-term-limits

[Medulla Oblongata]

Cruz does this every 2 years (new Congress).

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

LA had sent vital fore fighting equipment to Ukraine.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/vital-la-firefighting-equipment-was-handed-ukraine-reports-show-americans-now-caught

Was hilarious, sad but hilarious, Joe visiting LA the same day he sent another half billion to Ukraine.

Also a good time to remember home insurers stopped insuring for fire in California last year due to California not allowing them to adjust rates for fire risks.

Get the popcorn out. California hellacapes are going to make for good television. Sadly the ending is they reelect the same democrat retards who continue to cause the problems.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

My prediction: with dramatic increases in house (re)building and insurance (if even available) more middle class people will leave California. Thus their desired trend towards Neo-feudalism will jump ahead.

[Ron]

the city of LA also cut their fire fighting budget by $20 million and i heard but can't verify the reason the hydrants gave out is the city didn't refill the storage facilities

[damikesc]

Trump went off on Newsom for that one. He refused to do it.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Biden confirms he is going to give preemptive pardons to everyone who abused their office during his administration. Sarc cracks a fifth of plastic bottle vodka to celebrate.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-confirms-hes-considering-preemptive-pardons

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Only his "Fifth"? That doesn't sound like a regular Sarc celebration.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Still morning. He will switch to peppermint schnapps at work.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

"That guy must really like candy canes."
- Sarc coworker

[Don't look at me!]

Sarc doesn’t have a job, spends all his time here.

[Don’t. Get. Eliminated.]

Are we not considering handies under the bridge a job?

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Is "peppermint schnapps" code for hand sanitizer?

[I, Woodchipper]

Every single high ranking public health official should be put in a tribunal.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Wildfires continue to burn in California: Overnight, the fires in and around Los Angeles continued to worsen.

Garland quickly blamed the deaths on J6.

[Ajsloss]

It follows. If all the fire extinguishers are in DC, they aren't much help to LA.

[Randy Sax]

Canada and Greenland you don't want to take by force. The Panama canal you probably could. Pull up with the aircraft carriers and say "surrender or die". Seems feasible to take over without firing a shot.

[charliehall]

Aircraft carriers can't fit in the canal. And the US Army can't fight in mountains or jungles, which is most of Panama.

[Randy Sax]

I know they can't go in the canal, but the planes have the range to cover the whole thing. And the goal isn't actually to fight. But to give them no better option than to surrender the canal (not all of Panama), spend a year or so updating the technological infostructure, automate most processes, and fill remaining managerial positions with Americans.

[Ajsloss]

Are you for real? If only an aircraft carrier had some way of projecting force over an area more than three meters from its own boundary.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"Are you for real?..."

Yes, a true steaming pile of lying lefty shit.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

No, no. To properly use an aircraft carrier you have to have line of sight.

[Knutsack]

"And the US Army can't fight in mountains or jungles, which is most of Panama."

Please, explain.

[charliehall]

Look at its history. The last successful mountain campaign was in 1847, by Winfield Scott in Mexico. We don't have any Winfield Scotts today and if we did, Trump would fire him. For jungles, look at Vietnam.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"...The last successful mountain campaign was in 1847, by Winfield Scott in Mexico..."

Shitbag gets his history from "Parade".
Ever hear of Guadalcanal, you stupid pile of lefty shit?

[Knutsack]

So you're going to skip over the 10th in WW2? They were pretty successful.

There are plenty of jungle operations that go on and are won that you just haven't heard of.

What you're really saying is not that the U.S. military can't fight in the jungles and mountains, but that the U.S. is missing the political will to take off the gloves.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

Yeah, to charlie, any difference between an "optional" war and an "existential" war is a mystery; stupid lefty shits are like that.

[Hank Ferrous]

Not only skipping the Po and Apennine campaigns, but manages to miss Panama completely The absolute lack of mountainous terrain in Afghanistan is the dipshit's saving grace for 0 mountain warfare. /sarc . Facts never stand in the way of a fuckwitted narrative...

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

chuckles is as senile as Biden.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

The entire line of Pacific Islands are all jungle covered volcanoes, you ignorant douchebag.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)]

The 2nd ranger battalion literally scaled a cliff to take out German posts before dday

[VinniUSMC]

WASP and America-class ships absolutely can.

And the newer route, Neopanamax size, probably would allow for transit by Nimitz and Ford-Class ships.

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

Aircraft carriers can't fit in the canal.

Brilliant military analysis. You could've been Kamala's SecDef!

[Don’t. Get. Eliminated.]

DLAM doesn’t call you the dumbest motherfucker alive for nothing.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

He didn't say anything about sending them through the canal, you fucking moron. You think those Tomahawk missiles launched during Desert Storm were from carriers in the Euphrates River?

[soldiermedic76]

Noriega would like a word with you. The US Army fucking took over Panama in 24 hours dipshit. We've been there, done that, got the fucking T-shirts.

[soldiermedic76]

With just a couple battalions from the 7th ID and 82nd ID.

[charliehall]

Trump will solve the problem. By deporting the entire agricultural workforce of the San Joaquín Valley, there will be no more need for irrigation water. It will therefore be available for urban use in Los Angeles. The farm lobby has prohibited Los Angeles from buying the cheap subsidized water the farmers get, even at market rates. Thanks to Trump's mass deportation there won't be a farm lobby anymore. MAGA.

Oh you will have to eat Mexican vegetables at a higher price thanks to the tariffs. MAGA.

[sarcasmic]

It's funny because it's true!

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

Do you know anything about how agriculture works?

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Are we shocked sarc is on Charlie's team? Lol.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

Shouldn't be. Sarc loves to chum up with anyone who opposes his "mean girls".

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Sarc's food comes from instant ramen packets and the stuff he steals from the freezers at work. What else does he need to know?

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Thanks to Trump's mass deportation there won't be a farm lobby anymore. MAGA

Yeah, but Donnie will provide farmers with direct payments from the US Treasury like hie did after his shitty tariffs decimated them in 2018-19.

#FarmersForDonnie

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd lies. turd lies when he knows he’s lying. turd lies when we know he’s lying. turd lies when he knows that we know he’s lying.
turd lies. turd is a TDS-addled lying pile of lefty shit and a pederast besides.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Looks like Buttplug's got his crystal ball out again to predict the future, because apparently there's no first Trump term for us to look at.

[sarcasmic]

It's a fact that the Trump administration sent checks to farmers to reimburse them for their economic losses that resulted from China's retaliatory tariffs on soy beans during his first term. And you guys always say to ignore what he says and look at what he did. So, based upon his first term, it seems logical to predict he'll be sending out a lot more checks because his proposed tariffs will no doubt result in retaliatory tariffs, and massive economic losses for Americans.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Don't bother him with facts.

My Forbes link below is for anti-tax libertarians.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd certainly is dishonest, but he’s got a heaping helping of stupid to go with his dishonesty. Stupid, lying, despicable, TDS-addled steaming pile of lefty shit and proud to be!

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

This is awkward. Sarc gas been pro tax for months. Oh. Also not a libertarian.

Weren't you also against the Trump tax cuts buddy?

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Don't bother him with facts.

[sarcasmic]

Sarc gas been pro tax for months.

I said that increasing spending without increasing revenue is irresponsible (because it is), so Jesse decided to lie and claim I'm pro taxes. Which is funny considering that he spends so much time and effort defending massive tax hikes on imports while claiming to support tax cuts. The taxes that he supports are especially destructive because they slow economic growth by making everything more expensive, while also having the effect of decreasing exports thanks to inevitable retaliatory tariffs. The end result is a slower economy worldwide, and decreased government revenue.

I would end most if not all tariffs to increase economic growth by decreasing the price of goods while also increasing exports as other governments responded in kind. That would also have the effect of increasing revenue as all that economic activity would result in more taxes being collected, without having to raise them.

He knows this, but instead chooses to lie.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

Except that you don't seem to know the first thing about how to use tariffs. When used strategically, they can be used to help build up your industries instead of sending these jobs and factories overseas. The US did that very successfully during the late 19th century. It's a major reason we didn't wind up in a massive early 20th century economic depression like Brazil and Argentina, both agricultural exporters who failed to fully industrialize prior to the start of the 20th century.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""from China's retaliatory tariffs"'

It was just China taxing their own citizens.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Trump Tariff Aid To Farmers Cost More Than U.S. Nuclear Forces
....
The Trump administration gave more taxpayer dollars to farmers harmed by the administration’s trade policies than the federal government spends each year building ships for the Navy or maintaining America’s nuclear arsenal, according to a new report. A National Foundation for American Policy analysis concluded the spending on farmers was also higher than the annual budgets of several government agencies. “The amount of money raises questions about the strategy of imposing tariffs and permitting the use of taxpayer money to shield policymakers from the consequences of their actions,” according to the analysis.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2020/01/21/trump-tariff-aid-to-farmers-cost-more-than-us-nuclear-forces/

#DreamyLibertarian!

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd certainly is dishonest, but he’s got a heaping helping of stupid to go with his dishonesty. Stupid, lying, despicable steaming pile of lefty shit and proud to be! With a raging case of TDS besides.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

“The amount of money raises questions about the strategy of imposing tariffs and permitting the use of taxpayer money to shield policymakers from the consequences of their actions,”

Take that and stull it up your MAGA rectum, Sevo.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

The TDS-addled turd lies. That's not a surprise to anyone who reads his constant stream of bullshit.
But it's becoming obvious that as Misek is too stupid to understand the concepts of "evidence" or "relevance", the concept of "honesty" is simply beyond turd's ken.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

"Trump Tariff Aid To Farmers Cost More Than U.S. Nuclear Forces"

Who are you clowns trying to kid. Biden gave $28.7 billion to farmers in his first year alone.

And then there was all sorts of other goodies.

Biden-Harris Administration Issues Financial Assistance to More than 43,000 Farmers, Ranchers, and Forest Landowners through the Inflation Reduction Act’s Discrimination Financial Assistance Program

President Biden signed a stop-gap government funding bill over the weekend that calls for speedy payment of $10 billion to farmers to buffer lower commodity prices and high production costs.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

So you hate Joe and love Donnie for the same policy?

Disingenuous as always, Mother Lament.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

I will turn that question back to you, since you were the one that brought it up in the first place. Why are you criticizing Trump for the same thing (but less) than what the illegal Biden junta did?

Obama beat them both.

So why did you try and make it like what Trump did was extraordinary?

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Hint. It is (D)ifferent.

[Medulla Oblongata]

After Carter's embargo decimated farmers, and many farms were foreclosed on Willie Nelson had to step in to help save them with Farm Aid. I guess private charity saving them is better than government checks.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

Perhaps he can deport lefty shits like you, FOAD, asshole.

[damikesc]

Lefties for slave labor, coming out in full force!

Then again, Democrats are pretty much always on the side of slavery. Historically AND currently.

[sarcasmic]

You do realize that it's the political left that equates people working for less money than they hubristically believe people should be getting paid with slave labor, right? So your beliefs on the subject are 100% in lockstep with leftist ideology. Not that that's a surprise, being that "leftist" has been redefined to mean "anyone who doesn't worship Trump" so Team Trump can adopt actual leftist policies, like using soldiers to round up undesirables at gun point.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

That doesn't make a lick of sense. I know you're trying to troll but you may want to attempt some coherence.

[damikesc]

YOU are the one who wants more laborers with virtually no rights to seek better compensation for their labor.

You can justify supporting slave labor all day long, the reality is there.

And the DNC has ALWAYS supported slavery. Slavery until the end of the CW, then Jim Crow afterwards. Then to the USSR, one of the world's largest slave labor camps. Then over to China, ALSO a massive slave labor camp.

Not sure why you always side with them, so slavery is clearly not something that will end your support for a party. Ergo, you support slavery.

[sarcasmic]

That's not what I want. That's what my hate-club's dishonest narrative says I want.

And it doesn't change the fact that the political left equates cheap labor with slavery. So on this subject you are trumpeting leftist ideology.

[damikesc]

No, you don't want to ADMIT it is what you want, but it is.

"I just want cheaper labor from people who want to supply it" --- which means they will become effective slaves to their employers as they will have zero ability to fight unfair or illegal treatment.

Sory if you do not recognize the logical end for your policy preferences.

[sarcasmic]

Those are not my policy preferences. That's just another strawman dreamed up by my hate-club.

Repeating lies doesn't make them truth. And attacking me with those lies doesn't change the fact that you stated firm agreement with the political left on equating cheap labor with slavery.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

It's not a sTrAw MaN. It's the effects of the policies you have loudly supported here.

[sarcasmic]

You guys post more about me than I post myself, to the point where you confuse what's said about me with what I actually say.

[Don't look at me!]

You should spend less time here.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Sarc didn't tell you, DLAM?

Apparently he never spends time here anymore. Just ask him.

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

How would you know this when you have them muted?

[Quicktown Brix]

"I just want cheaper labor from people who want to supply it" = free market.

[damikesc]

Except the market is only "free" when all participate under the same rules.

Do away with the minimum wage entirely. Do away with all worker protections. THEN it is an equal playing field.

But we are a civilized country and do not want to lower ourselves that low. As we should not.

[sarcasmic]

As I've said many, many times, my policy preference would be to make it easy for immigrants who want to work to legally come and legally work with legal protections. That would end the incentive to illegally come and illegally work without legal protections, which appears to be what you're complaining about. Now that you know my policy preference I fully expect you to ignore it and continue to argue against my hate-club's lies instead of what I actually said.

[damikesc]

Your policy preferences are not supported by large swaths of the electorate.

You have lost the argument. You can thank the last 20 or so years for that. And those people who you say you do not agree with ---- THEY killed your preferences.

So...why continue defending them and siding with them?

[sarcasmic]

You did exactly what I expected you would do.

[Quicktown Brix]

Except the market is only "free" when all participate under the same rules.

Your policy preferences are not supported by large swaths of the electorate.

Yes. Here we complain about regulations driving up prices but if those regulations involve immigrants, all of a sudden we get a "there's nothing you we can do attitude."

When a blue area takes away gun rights we don't lay down and say, "well we're in the minority here so we'll just have to deal with it."

You have lost the argument.

Yeah, we lost the argument. That's what being a libertarian is. And it is also continuing that argument anyway.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

You have also made the argument that morality beats law if someone wants to believe the law is unjust. So what good are the laws you want to pass? Someone from El Salvador can just claim your laws are unjust. Back to square one.

[sarcasmic]

You have also made the argument that morality beats law if someone wants to believe the law is unjust.

I said that when law and morality conflict, that one must choose between the two. The best way to avoid that is to keep the law just. Like no victimless crimes for starters.

[damikesc]

Except "victimless crimes" often DO have victims.

If legalized prostitution increases crime in an area, which it tends to do, there ARE victims --- the people who live there and have to deal with it.

Homeslessness is "victimless", as long as you ignore everybody else who lives there and has to deal with the filth, aggression, etc from the homeless encampment.

The number of legitimately victimless crimes is smaller than you think.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Your policy preferences are not supported by large swaths of the electorate.

damikesc, 100 years ago:
"Wait, you think blacks and whites should be able to marry? That's crazy talk. Your policy preferences are not supported by large swaths of the electorate. Sucks to be you, now sit down and shut up."

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

1. As I've said many, many times, my policy preference would be to make it easy for immigrants who want to work to legally come and legally work with legal protections.

2. That would end the incentive to illegally come and illegally work without legal protections,

Your #1 ignores the reality that already exists and your #2 is a non sequitur. How would it "end the incentive" of Haitians and Venezuelans whose nations are lawless shitholes.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

damikesc, 100 years ago:
"Wait, you think blacks and whites should be able to marry? That's crazy talk. Your policy preferences are not supported by large swaths of the electorate. Sucks to be you, now sit down and shut up."

Jeffy, can you post anything that is not a logical fallacy? In my experience, the answer is no.

[damikesc]

"damikesc, 100 years ago:
"Wait, you think blacks and whites should be able to marry? That's crazy talk. Your policy preferences are not supported by large swaths of the electorate. Sucks to be you, now sit down and shut up.""

Oh, silly me.

I thought you were capable of arguing and not being a tubby cunt.

My mistake. Won't happen again.

Tubby cunt.

[sarcasmic]

His point is that you attacking libertarian ideas for not being popular today is no different than, a hundred years ago, attacking anti-racist ideas for not being popular then. You're judging right and wrong based upon popularity, not merit.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

It's still a logical fallacy, Sarc, and still stupid.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Your team wants the slave labor, pal, because your team knows it is impossible to stop free people from migrating here, and yet you try anyway. It is no different than the drug warriors who self-righteously claim that they want to 'get rid of drugs' yet by supporting their prohibitionist policies they are the ones who create the black market and violence associated with the illicit drug trade.

[damikesc]

Demanding all employers abide by the same rules = slavery? Intriguing theory. Asinine, but intriguingly so.

Using your logic, any crime prevention is a waste as crime will still occur. Thefts will ALWAYS happen so why cause more problems punishing it? Demanding punishment for theft is just fascism, amirite?

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Demanding all employers abide by the same rules = slavery?

That's silly and not what I'm saying. When the rules themselves have a very predictable outcome and yet your team still supports enforcing those rules, then it can be fairly argued that your team also supports those outcomes at least in part.

When drug warriors insist that drugs should be illegal, and engage in vigorous enforcement efforts for this purpose, which predictably leads to underground drug markets and violent cartels controlling these markets, then the drug warriors themselves share some blame for the result.

When closed-border morons such as yourself insist that only those people with the correct papers can legally work, and engage in vigorous enforcement efforts for this purpose, it very predictably leads to an underground labor market and the violence and exploitation that follows from such a market. That is what you and your team support at least in part.

The way out is to grant these workers the legal ability to work in this country. That way everyone is subject to the same fair labor standards. But you don't want that, you WANT the 'illegal labor' to suffer so that they will self-deport.

[sarcasmic]

When the rules themselves have a very predictable outcome and yet your team still supports enforcing those rules, then it can be fairly argued that your team also supports those outcomes at least in part.

Foreseeable consequences are not unintended.

[damikesc]

"When drug warriors insist that drugs should be illegal, and engage in vigorous enforcement efforts for this purpose, which predictably leads to underground drug markets and violent cartels controlling these markets, then the drug warriors themselves share some blame for the result."

But when drug legalization leads to downtowns full of cracked-out zombies who have a tendency to assault and steal --- that is just a "victimless" crime, right? You seem to not want to ANY blame for the result.

We have TRIED your way. We saw Portland. It is a bad idea.

"When closed-border morons such as yourself insist that only those people with the correct papers can legally work, and engage in vigorous enforcement efforts for this purpose, it very predictably leads to an underground labor market and the violence and exploitation that follows from such a market. That is what you and your team support at least in part."

Demanding protection of personal property directly leads to theft and the violence associated with it. Guess we should not protect personal property.

"If we do this, something bad might happen" is a justification to do nothing at all. Never try to change anything. I'm glad the world is perfect as is, as I bet you are also.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Notice how once again the summation of the jeffsarc argument is a system with zero costs when reality shows their preferred system has great costs.

The system they argue for here is similar yo the refugee system. And it comes at a great cost per refugee.

So they just say that system without costs, fighting reality.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Communism has never been tried, it will work this time!

Same argument style as jeffsarc.

Deny reality.

[sarcasmic]

We have TRIED your way. We saw Portland. It is a bad idea.

False. Decriminalization is not legalization. It just means they don't bust users. Importing, making, distributing and selling drugs are all still illegal. That creates a black market and all the crap associated with it.
Did you know that drinking was not outlawed during Prohibition? What was outlawed was importing, making, distributing and selling the stuff. So what you call erroneously call legalizing was actually the equivalent of Prohibition.
I've said this before, quite a few times. Did you not read it, or did you read it and ignore it because it contradicts the conservative narrative?

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Portland recently recriminalized some drugs. If decriminalization failed, I can't imagine legalization being successful. I guess it depends on the definition of success.

[sarcasmic]

Decriminalization is like Prohibition. Criminalization is like Prohibition plus laws against use and possession. Prohibition was a failure on many levels. Decriminalization fails and criminalization fails even worse. What does failure look like? With alcohol prohibition it looks like black markets, violence, loss of liberty, rampant abuse of power, adulterated substances (the feds poisoned booze before putting it back out on the black market that intentionally killed at least ten thousand people, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if future historians discover that the government causes thousands of overdoses a year by poisoning illegal drugs with fentanyl), and so on and so forth. With drug prohibition you get all that and more because of laws against use and possession.

What does success look like? Eliminating the black market. By the way, no one has ever said that drugs are great and that legalizing drugs won't have any downsides. That's a strawman and a lie repeated so many times that people like you believe it. What those of us in favor of legalization assert is that the effects of prohibition are worse.

[Medulla Oblongata]

The way out is to grant these workers the legal ability to work in this country. That way everyone is subject to the same fair labor standards.

I'm fine with that. Remove minimum wage laws, tax withholdings and all the other overheads that employers currently a supposed to enforce on citizens, right after removing the welfare state supports.

I'll take a chance that I lose my job to someone who's willing to do it cheaper and better, not a problem. Just don't make me pay to support all the others who cannot or will not find a job (citizens or not).

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

it is impossible to stop free people from migrating here

Not very clever. You have to misrepresent the refugees and criminals that are coming to America as "free people" simply because they made it here, which is completely disingenuous. Free people don't flee their homes. Go fuck yourself.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

...your team knows it is impossible to stop free people from migrating here...

Hey, dumbass, you ever take up my suggestion of crossing the 49th or the Rio Grande without reporting to customs on either side and see how far that gets you?

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

it is impossible to stop free people from migrating here,

Like your fellow child molesters.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Pro slavery racists since 1798.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

neocon vermin think the ag industry won't innovate without foreign peon labor, all because he doesn't want to pay an extra $1 for an avocado.

So much for MUH FREE MARKET, eh?

[Medulla Oblongata]

I don't care that she's female or LGBT+++, but promoting DEI instead of fire-fighting readiness seems wrong to me.

https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1876862059909926951

Meet Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley. She boasts about being the first female and LGBTQ fire chief in the LA Fire Department. Promoting a culture of DEI is her priority.

Does this make you feel safer?

[chemjeff radical individualist]

promoting DEI instead of fire-fighting readiness

Who said it was "instead of"?

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Cope and seethe, Jeff. Your chickens are all coming home to roost.

[Mike Parsons]

results seemed to have said it

[damikesc]

They certainly are not ready for it.

That is pretty obvious.

[Medulla Oblongata]

She said it was her #1 priority. To me, anyone who's the fire chief, the #1 priority simply must be firefighting preparedness, all other things should be lower priority.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

^This

[Mike Parsons]

Sadly, they wont learn from this that their gov and DEI hire did anything wrong, they will just scream about muh climate even louder.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

What's up Peanuts? Been busy. Missed Monday Jan 6 here. I know you missed me.

How many of you celebrated the MAGA version of Bastille Day?

[sarcasmic]

The MAGAs set so many strawmen on fire that the comments looked like Los Angeles.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Maybe Donnie will replace July 4 with Jan 6 as MAGA Independence Day. July 4 means nothing to MAGA.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd lies. turd lies when he knows he’s lying. turd lies when we know he’s lying. turd lies when he knows that we know he’s lying.
turd lies. turd is a lying pile of lefty shit and a pederast besides.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

Want to explain to the commentariart how you managed to get your original account permabanned?

[sarcasmic]

Wouldn't surprise me at all.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

I suggest getting some serious help for your Trump fixation. It seems to have taken over your life and totally broken you.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

He's nothing but a trolling bitch now, just like Buttplug. At least Lying Jeffey still plays politruk and tries to evangelize Act Blue narratives and redirect conversation, but the other two can only call names and shitpost.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)]

Trump is so good with real estate he lives rent free in alot of people's heads

[damikesc]

Funny, being patriotic is one of the more clear signs you're a conservative.

Progressives HATE this country.

You know, people like you.

And progressives LOVE pedos.

You know, people like you.

[sarcasmic]

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it" - Mark Twain

"Patriotism is defending Trump and hating Democrats." - conservatives

[damikesc]

It wasn't me who turned having an American flag visible anywhere to being a conservative.

[sarcasmic]

How does flying the symbol of the federal government equal patriotism?

[damikesc]

It speaks volumes that you view the flag as representing the federal government.

Volumes, son.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Sarcs imagination is pretty fucking rampant. His ideas are always based on his drunk delusions.

sarcasmic 7 months ago
Flag Comment
Mute User
I thought his followers would start murdering neighbors with Biden bumper stickers. What a bunch of pussies.

sarcasmic 7 months ago
Flag Comment
Mute User
I see them here and there. But they don’t compare to the rednecks driving around in Ford trucks flying a Trump flag on one side and the Stars and Bars on the other. Those ignorant racist fucks are all over the place.

sarcasmic 7 months ago
Flag Comment
Mute User
Yes in Maine. They hate Democrats, blacks, immigrants and basically everyone who doesn’t think like them and look like them, along with anyone with a college education. So much hate. You and them would be instant friends.

He basically just lives his entire political view from MSNBC and reddit caricatures of his enemies.

He is a fucking leftist loon.

[damikesc]

I am wondering if sarc is, in fact, Keith Olbermann.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

You may be on to something. Was thinking an angrier Jennifer Rubin myself.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

"Patriotism is hating Democrats." - humanity.

Fixed that for you. American's don't hate those evil snakes enough, yet.
Some people here think that they do, but they don't.

Now ask me why.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

""Patriotism is defending Trump and hating Democrats." - conservatives" - sarcasmic 29 minutes ago

"That's not what I want. That's what my hate-club's dishonest narrative says I want." - sarcasmic 19 minutes ago

Sarcasmic is a trolling shitweasel who is unable to grasp any nuance outside of his own projections.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

I just posted some of his blasts from the past. It is funny he talks about dishonest narratives. He is always projecting.

[sarcasmic]

Get a life.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

gEt uh liFE (hic)

[damikesc]

You complain that people misstate your preferences --- then bitch when they accurately quote you.

What would you prefer?

[sarcasmic]

Accurately quote me? He cherry picks comments out of context, ignores any serious comment that I make, claims obviously unserious comments are serious, deliberately misconstrues what I say, claims that comments mean the opposite of what they clearly mean, and otherwise does what he complains that the media does with what Trump says. In short he's a lying hypocrite. That's what I'm complaining about. If he wants to accurately quote me then that's fine. But he doesn't.

On top of that he's got literally thousands of my comments bookmarked. Thousands. That's why I say "Get a life" because damn that's just unhealthy.

[damikesc]

People say I've said that.

He provides more proof of his claims than the people disputing what he said have.

How he spends his time is of exactly no concern of mine.

[sarcasmic]

He provides more proof of his claims than the people disputing what he said have.

Until you dig into it. Then you find he's lying, repeating lies, using half-truths, distorting, conflating, and otherwise being completely and totally dishonest.

[damikesc]

You know, you're free to post the context you say he is leaving out. Nobody is stopping you.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

If he wants to accurately quote me then that's fine. But he doesn't.

The fuck I didn't. I quoted you exactly in the context that you wrote it, asshole. It's not my fault you constantly contradict yourself.

[sarcasmic]

You know, you're free to post the context you say he is leaving out. Nobody is stopping you.

He posts more comments about me than I post myself. If I was to correct his lies that would be all I did. And I tried before, going through his comments lie by lie. What happened? He continued to repeat the same lies, while people like you continued to believe them. It's not worth it.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

There is zero context left out lol.

It was one of his drunken rage outbursts.

Sarc hates he can't openly lie about what he has said or done. It makes him furious.

I am curious as to what context he thinks those posts are justified though.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Sarcasmic seems to have me muted, while still responding to JesseAz. It makes me all warm and fuzzy to know he cares that much about what I write here that he can't bear to acknowledge when I criticize him.

I love you too, buddy!

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

Welcome to The List© Chuck, along with me and DLAM.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

How dare you dlam.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Team Red has really weaponized the concept of patriotism lately.

It used to be, patriotism meant a love for one's country. Supporting different ideologies or politicians didn't necessarily mean that one didn't love one's country, it was instead just a different way of expressing that love.

Now, though, patriotism means toeing the Team Red line. A "true patriot" is one who adopts the conservative lifestyle - owning guns, drinking cheap beer, living in the sticks, going to church, hating abortion, voting for Trump, blah blah. It really is offensive to the rest of the population who really do love the country but just don't think that sucking Trump's cock is the best way to express that love.

[damikesc]

Would you prefer "Free Palestine!" chants? Those people seem so fond of this country.

Or all of those illegals? Man, THEY sure love America.

But keep sucking up to the Hamassholes and the illegals. Just stretch your legs once in a while as kneeling in front of others probably gets tiring. I will, though, bow to your expertise on that.

YOUR side has made your own bed. Sorry if being pro-US is a bad thing in your eyes.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Would you prefer "Free Palestine!" chants? Those people seem so fond of this country.

Why not? Why do you think that the ONLY "PRO-AMERICAN" position that a patriot must have is to unquestioningly support Israel? Can't you even contemplate that a patriotic American might genuinely love America but also be skeptical of Israel's policies towards Palestine?

Or all of those illegals? Man, THEY sure love America.

For some of them - sure, why not? They voted with their feet, didn't they? Why would they freely choose to migrate to a place that they hated?

You keep demonstrating how you define patriotism so narrowly, to mean only those specific beliefs that you agree with. That is wrong.

[damikesc]

Tubby Cunt, go fuck yourself.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

Jeffy needs to be told this more often.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Why do you think that the ONLY "PRO-AMERICAN" position that a patriot must have is to unquestioningly support Israel?

​Israel is a parliamentary democracy, consisting of legislative, executive and judicial branches. What kind of disingenuous piece of shit do you have to be to believe that Americans should not support of one of few governments in the world that aligns most closely to ours and instead side with the theocratic genocidal zealots that elected the HAMAS to represent them, knowing that Israel is their neighbor and has the support of the US?

The first time Israel takes an action that is the least bit repressive of another FREE people, I will advocate for not supporting it. Until then, shut the fuck up.

[damikesc]

The only people worth supporting for the Left are people who treat others like insects at best.

[Medulla Oblongata]

'Death to America' rapidly emerging as key slogan of anti-Israel agitators in US

The slogan "Death to America" is seemingly gaining steam among anti-Israel agitators, who have swept across the nation.

The anti-Israel demonstrations that have spread across the country have taken on an anti-American tenor in recent weeks, with students at the University of Michigan who were participating in the protests being given pamphlets titled "10 anarchist theses on Palestine solidarity in the United States," which included a page that stated, "Freedom for Palestine means Death to America."

[Yeah, that's real patriotic...]

[sarcasmic]

What's wrong with guns and cheap beer?

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Nothing's wrong with guns and cheap beer. But the effete snobby liberal in Manhattan who likes martinis and hates guns is still capable of being just as much of a patriot as the beer-swilling gun-toting redneck.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

And how exactly are those liberal Manhattan patriots going to defend America without guns? Oh, they will force other people's children to do it.

You have earned every "fuck you" you have received today.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Poll:

* 25 percent of young Democrats said they disagree with the statement "I would rather live in America than any other place," compared with 10 percent of young Republicans; just 49 percent of Democrats agree with the statement, compared with 71 percent of GOP respondents

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Please. Those people don't even like this country, much less have any patriotic feeling for it. It's why they and their side say it needs to be "disrupted, dismantled, and abolished," and constantly spouting marxist bullcrap about "we've come so far, but still have so far to go," because the True Communist Utopia is always somewhere over the rainbow.

[damikesc]

It is humorous seeing people who OBSESS over 1/6 ad infinitum accusing others of obsessing over it.

1/6/21 was a protest. Lots happen.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd, the ass-clown of the commentariat, lies; it’s all he ever does. turd is a kiddie diddler, and a pathological liar, entirely too stupid to remember which lies he posted even minutes ago, and also too stupid to understand we all know he’s a liar.
If anything he posts isn’t a lie, it’s totally accidental.
turd lies; it’s what he does. turd is a TDS-addled lying pile of lefty shit.

[Sandra (formerly OBL)]

I missed explaining to you for the hundredth time that your username is embarrassingly stupid. Your most trusted source Wikipedia debunks it.

Motives for the September 11 attacks: no overlap whatsoever between the motives of the 9 / 11 mass murderers and the 1 / 6 goofballs.

Anyway. How was your last White Dudes for Harris meeting?

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

1 / 6 goofballs

Yeah, they were just goofbally tourists out for a stroll.

See, that is the kind of "fact" that Facebook will now promote. And that is the kind of alternate fact that those Jewy bastards at Wikipedia won't allow. Good thing Co-President Elon wants to kill Wikipedia off.

#Wikipedia=Communist

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd lies. The TDS-addled turd lies when he knows he’s lying. turd lies when we know he’s lying. turd lies when he knows that we know he’s lying.
turd lies. turd is a lying pile of lefty shit and a pederast besides.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

Oh, and this slimy pile of shit can't spell "protesters". Fuck off and die, turd.

[damikesc]

"How dare MY narrative is not the only one!"

Tres freedom-loving there, sparkles.

1/6/21 was, at absolute worst, a mostly peaceful protest. A BLM protest with exponentially fewer injuries and far lower property damage.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

And that is the kind of alternate fact that those Jewy bastards at Wikipedia won't allow.

Heading down the same path as Misek, misconstrueman, and J(ew)free, Pluggo-bitch?

[damikesc]

Well, his idol DID work with Nazis when he was younger...

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

It was sarcasm, you moron.

As a young man my idols were all Jewish - Dylan, Mahler, Einstein.

And Christy Canyon. Not Jewish.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd, the TDS-addled ass-wipe of the commentariat, lies; it’s all he ever does. turd is a kiddie diddler, and a pathological liar, entirely too stupid to remember which lies he posted even minutes ago, and also too stupid to understand we all know he’s a liar.
If anything he posts isn’t a lie, it’s totally accidental.
turd lies; it’s what he does. turd is a lying pile of lefty shit.

[damikesc]

"See, guys --- I don't hate ALL Jews!" -- SPB. Oh wait, SPB2. SPB was banned for kiddie porn.

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

Nuh-uh. He lost the password. Or someone in IT had it out for him. Or something.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

That's exactly what we'd expect a Nazi-wannabe to say.

[Sandra (formerly OBL)]

They were sore losers throwing a childish tantrum that had no chance of preventing Dementia Joe from taking office.

Progressive outrage about 1 / 6 would have been more convincing if Democrats themselves hadn't perfected "election denial" and downplayed leftist rioting in 2020.

[damikesc]

And 1/6 protesters would have received far less empathy if not for the absolutely irrational sentences handed to them and the judges' demands that they write papers denouncing their beliefs.

Even "bad" people do not deserve to be forced into re-education.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

True. Had they been given a little fine to pay and nothing more, I doubt we would have seen the amount of outrage over it. Instead, the little fascists decided to throw the book at anyone even remotely near the Capitol that day.

[damikesc]

And the lead prosecutor STILL wants to go further on that.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

They were sore losers throwing a childish tantrum

Just like the BLM protestors in the summer of 2020. Sore losers. Childish tantrums.

[damikesc]

Tubby Cubt, feel free to compare damages, injuries, and deaths and get back to us.

But go slow....you know, because you're a Tubby Cunt and all.

[Medulla Oblongata]

I was thinking it should have been handled more like women who were mad that Kavanaugh was going to be a SCOTUS justice, and who were incited by Sen. Liz Warren to storm the Hart Senate Office Building. 500++ were arrested for trespassing and given $17 fines and sent home.

[Medulla Oblongata]

But...they were going to rape and murder AOC...she said so (even though she wasn't even in the building).

And

Rep. Pete Aguilar claims there were "AR-15s" and "guns and weapons" inside the Capitol on Jan. 6

https://x.com/Breaking911/status/1876735397289500783

[Rick James]

How many of you celebrated the MAGA version of Bastille Day?

I did a Jan 6 re-enactment by shooting a bitch in the face.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

She deserved it, the cop couldn't see, so good clean shot - sarcasmic.

[damikesc]

Was she at least trespassing?

Trespassing is a capital offense --- but only AT the Capitol. The rules are kinda weird, admittedly.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

The party's priority it to protect the party.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

I did a Jan 6 re-enactment by shooting a bitch in the face.

Don't give them fuel to discredit you. Babbitt was shot through the shoulder from the side in an upward trajectory so that the bullet transected her trachea and she subsequently succumbed to her injuries. It might be more appropriate to write, "by drowning a bitch in her own blood."

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

nicole ruiz
@nwilliams030
·
Follow
Respectfully, what am I supposed to do when the literal only path for me to get me + an infant/toddler from below ground on the subway to above ground is an elevator that a crazy person is clearly posted up in and not leaving?

Liz, why didn't you include the responses from the male dem mouth breathers?

Ian MacAllen
@IanMacAllen
I think you probably do the same thing that happens when you get to a station and realize the elevator is out of service. You pull yourself up by the bootstraps and figure it out. NYC is not for the weak. If it’s too goddamn hard NJ’s suburbs are right there.

https://x.com/IanMacAllen/status/1876767456439517557

[damikesc]

I love the whole "NYC is for the weak" thing.

NYC is the most pussified major city on Earth. I've seen tougher wads of wet toilet paper than 99% of the population of Manhattan.

[damikesc]

Yes, PARIS is less of a pussified shithole than NYC.

Fuck, Brussels is less pussified than NYC.

[Ajsloss]

Brussels is less pussified than NYC.

Really going out on a limb here by saying the city that birthed Jean-Claude Van Damme is less pussified than somewhere else.

[damikesc]

Brussels would not charge somebody with second degree murder for self defense and protecting others on a train.

[tracerv]

He won the Kumite dude. Get real.

[Moonrocks]

You pull yourself up by the bootstraps

Isn't that phrasing a bit problematic in progressive circles?

[Spiritus Mundi]

it takes an average of 4.7 YEARS just to get through environmental reviews. For complex projects, it's 7.2 years - longer than many fire cycles.

Meanwhile some government DEI hires in lucrative sinecures fleece the taxpayer to do.......what are they actually reviewing that takes 4 to 7 years?

[Randy Sax]

If you get too good at your job, you can't milk the project for years of gov't paychecks.

[Ska]

Some kind of weird inversion of the Peter Principle.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

what are they actually reviewing that takes 4 to 7 years?

Reddit would be my guess...

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Bud, it's the most basic rule of bureaucracy: do not solve the problem you were hired for, or you will be out of work.
The corollary is to always propose solutions which make the problem worse, because that is how you get promotions and hire more subordinates and increase your fiefdom.

[damikesc]

As others have pointed out, CA spends BILLIONS on homelessness. All that does is guarantee it will never be solved, since so many people have their livelihoods based on the issue existing.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Why do you hate humanities majors?

[damikesc]

Have you MET Humanities majors? 🙂

[Medulla Oblongata]

Mayor London Breed...stated in the order that a recent survey “found that 40% of unsheltered people in San Francisco did not live here before arriving.”

Sure, they came to SF *because* SF was handing out free shit. What did you expect?

[Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)]

But the important thing is La fire chief is a dyke who has the priority of promoting fagotry in the fire department. No need for training, just faggotry

[damikesc]

Up there with the NOLA police chief who had no idea they had barriers that could stop traffic from entering.

Who needs competency when you have boxes to check?

[Medulla Oblongata]

Here Are the 11 Guantanamo Detainees That Were Just Released by the Biden Admin

On Monday, the Biden administration announced that 11 Yemeni detainees being held at a U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will be sent to Oman for resettlement.

According to Fox News, this includes two former bodyguards for Osama bin Laden. All of the men were captured after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

NPR laments: Despite its late push, the Biden administration is unlikely to be able to close Guantanamo's prison and court before Trump takes office.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Biden is going door to door like Hitler rounding up migrants to deport them. - sarc

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

California is no different than the Soviets 100 years ago. They consolidate power in state institutions, suppress real institutions and then blame the real institutions when they can no longer provide services to the people. The State of California is responsible for both the fires and the insurance failures. Just like the USSR was responsible for the famines.

Predictably, they are already blaming the kulaks, the businesses and landholders who are not allowed to maintain their properties free of wildfire fuel.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"Where is Karen Bass? LA Mayor Returns From Ghana Trip as City Burns"
[...]
"Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has been criticized after it emerged she was out of the country, attending a presidential inauguration in Ghana, as northern and western suburbs of her city were hit by devastating wildfires fanned by high winds.
Media outlet INKL News reported this morning that Bass was on her way back to Los Angeles and should return to the city within hours..."
https://www.newsweek.com/where-karen-bass-la-mayor-returns-ghana-trip-city-burns-2011556

Someone needs to hand her a fiddle.

[Medulla Oblongata]

I don't mind that she was out of town when the place burned down, shit happens on its own schedule. I mean, she could have been called to DC to testify or gone up to Sacramento to talk with Newsome or the legislature, any number of viable reasons to have been out-of-town when it caught fire.

When is amazing to me is that the mayor of LA flew to Chana on taxpayer dime for "Bass was in Ghana as part of a delegation to celebrate the inauguration of Ghana President John Mahama, and to meet the country's first female vice president, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang."

And her reactions have been, well, less than stellar:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/01/09/watch-la-mayor-freezes-criticism-over-ghana-visit-fires/

Los Angeles’ mayor remained speechless as she was confronted by a reporter after flying back home to find swathes of her city burnt to the ground.

Karen Bass has faced a storm of criticism for cutting $17.6 million (£14.1 million) from the city’s fire department budget and for travelling to Africa over the weekend despite a critical weather warning.

David Blevins, a Sky News journalist, asked the mayor as she waited to leave the plane: “Do you owe citizens an apology for being absent while their homes were burning? And do you regret cutting the fire department budget by millions of dollars, madam mayor?”

Ms Bass, 71, remained stony faced and silent, looking to the floor as Mr Blevins held out a microphone in a video of the confrontation taken on Wednesday. The journalist went on to ask: “Have you absolutely nothing to say to the citizens today?”

Mr Blevins added: “Elon Musk said that you’re utterly incompetent. Are you considering your position?” but Ms Bass offered no reaction, instead turning to face the wall as the volley of questions continued.

[Rick James]

Most big city blue mayors are ideological positions. They no longer are elected to fix potholes, keep the traffic moving and make sure the fire hydrants work. That's out of date thinking.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

Gone are the days Michael Bilandic would be ousted from office for failing to plow the streets properly after a series of heavy snowstorms.

[damikesc]

I'd be more understanding --- except warnings were being given before any of the fires happened that there was going to be a huge problem.

If it is a CONSTANT problem of warnings, then she might need to find a way to fix a problem.

[Ron]

even further she went to the inauguration of a foreign president but is refusing to go the U.S. presidents inauguration. city mayors have no business going to foreign countries for political purposes, that is for the federal level

[Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)]

Or revoke her passport. She can stay there

[Ska]

Free range kids? Ultraprocessed childhood? I'm looking forward to the next food analogy.

[Randy Sax]

White meat and dark meat?

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Soylent Preteen?

[Jerry B.]

Soylent Green is children!!!!

[Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)]

Cheaper by the dozen?

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

The Bundy Bunch.

[ducksalad]

The term "Generation Veal" was used by college instructors for the first cohort that went through K-12 with Internet.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Mad they didn't choose generation turducken mike?

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

And HO2 to wash it down with?

[mad.casual]

SBS is junk science/legalize it now parents make Shake and Bake Children.

[Rick James]

California governor Gavin Newsom is asked why the fire hydrants have no water. Says he doesn’t know, local people will have to figure it out. California “leadership” is a disgrace:

Anderson Cooper's first 2028 campaign ad for Gavin. Cooper is Goosin' for Newsom.

[Rick James]

FYI, in Newsom's defense, this is the attitude of a politician that knows he's going to win no matter what.

[mad.casual]

Fire districts are just a social construct, man. Like, just a figment of human imagination.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'"For the first time in history we are requiring insurance companies to expand where people need help the most," he announced last month. "Major insurance companies must increase the writing of comprehensive policies in wildfire distressed areas equivalent to no less than 85% of their statewide market share," he continued.'

This is the next phase in Nanny Fascism. Just like with minimum wages, if government-set insurance premiums cause private companies to reduce or eliminate operations, then Big Nanny will mandate new business plans, with worker staffing, work hours, and insurance coverage.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

And insurance companies' CEOs will be shot instead of the politicos who caused the problem.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

'"For the first time in history we are requiring insurance companies to expand where people need help the most,"

So much for any critiques of Ayn Rand that her villains were exaggerated caricatures. This guy is like, "Wesley Mouch, hold my beer!"

[mad.casual]

You know who else bankrupted their economy in order to subsidize putting people into ovens *and* fiddled while their empire burned?

Unrelated: Does anyone else have an unexplained craving for California Pizza Kitchen?

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"Obamacare Enrollment Hits Record Ahead of Trump’s Return"
[...]
"Almost 24 million Americans have signed up for plans offered under the Affordable Care Act, driven by subsidies that are expiring and that Congress may not renew..."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/08/us/politics/obamacare-enrollment-aca-trump.html

We can hope.

[Ron]

its not like people have a choice. much like Californias fair plan for fire insurance no one can afford private insurance any more without government help. My health insurance would be over a $1000.00 a month privately now thanks to Obama care. I have no choice but to use California's fair plan and Obama's ACA. of course I believe that was the goal all along regulate the private insurers out of business

[See.More]

> ... I have no choice but to use California's fair plan ...

Sure ya do: move.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'Lara, contra his own hubris, can't force the financials to work. (Somehow, many progressives cannot comprehend this cycle of cause and effect.)'

Duh. Logic and math are hated concepts, not just because they defy political delusions, but because they are oppressive white patriarchal constructs, and therefore must be "resisted".

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Now who is it again who thinks that borders are just imaginary constructs?

https://apnews.com/article/trump-imperialism-canada-panama-greenland-b4b53445dee97398b498b79eab54d49b

“Canada and the United States, that would really be something. You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like and it would also be much better for national security,” Trump said of the world’s longest international border and the U.S.'s second-largest trade partner.

[VinniUSMC]

You think that artificial means imaginary? Add that to the list of things that jeffsarc rotund collectivist doesn't know.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

That's Jeffy's favorite trick here, the redefinition of words. Illegal Aliens becomes immigrants, artificial means imaginary, gender no longer refers to your sex.
It makes it easier to lie when you do that.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Jeffy, you lying piece of shit. By recognizing the artificial nature of the line that separates the US and Canada, Trump is actually reinforcing the idea that borders are not imaginary constructs. The line is artificial, there is nothing in the landscape of the border between the US and Canada that is definable, it is not a river or a mountain range. But his statement clearly acknowledges the sovereignty of the government on either side of that artificially drawn line. The border can be demonstrated to exist because the security on one side of the line is different from the security on the other side.

Why are you like this?

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Because fifty cents a post.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

"Respectfully, what am I supposed to do when the literal only path for me to get me + an infant/toddler from below ground on the subway to above ground is an elevator that a crazy person is clearly posted up in and not leaving?"

Stop voting for Democrats?

[Don't look at me!]

Get a sidearm?

[Rick James]

Premiums, after all, are not arbitrary; they reflect risk. Teams of actuaries spend a lot of time trying to understand what prices to offer homeowners in any given area. Unfortunately, in California, the insurance commissioner—an elected official, Ricardo Lara—must approve premium increases. Lara generally won't approve high premium increases, which leads to the predictable outcome of insurers pulling out. Something Lara is also seeking to, uh, "fix" via government coercion.

Hey Reason, an an analogous situation would be say, New York City dramatically restricting roads in NYC for things like bike lanes and 'parklets' for sidewalk dining, and then implementing congestion pricing to fix it.

[damikesc]

I still do not get how they can charge congestion prices and not be in outright violation of the interstate commerce clause.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

It only charges within NYC. How would the commerce clause be in play?

[damikesc]

NJ residents are charged for it. That is, by definition, interstate commerce. If only NY residents had to pay to enter NYC, that would not be interstate.

Also, NYC does not solely pay for all roads entering NYC.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

NJ residents are only charged for it if they enter Manhattan below 60th street. You can get around Manhattan if you are going to LI, Brooklyn, or Queens. You do not have to pay if you are going north on 95. You only have to pay if you are on lower Manhattan streets. That doesn't sound very interstate to me.

NY does pay for roads within NYC. I don't think any of the congestion money is going towards that.

Don't get me wrong. I hate the plan. It's a regressive tax to assist in feeding a monetarily unsatisfiable beast.

Of course NJ gonna complain. What is it $15 bucks at the Holland then another $9 bucks once your'e in Manhattan. I definitely get it. But I don't see an interstate issue.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

California is a failed State because of the political choices made by a majority of it’s residents. Expect they will just try harder.

[Ron]

whats sad is every solution talked about will end up being done by the government because the regulations created by said government for private entities to do it will be too expense for anyone but the government to do it. its a self full filling circle jerk they created

[See.More]

> California is a failed State because of the political choices made by a majority of it’s residents voters.

FIFY

[Rick James]

If it sounds like I'm being snarky, I am. Not because the plight of these homeowners doesn't matter to me, but rather because it matters so much that I think their governments should stop sabotaging the companies that are trying to serve them, as the government cannot and has not come up with a better alternative.

Who did the lion share of these homeowners vote for?

[Rick James]

Three things that all seem clearly true to me:

* America would benefit from owning Greenland
* Greenlanders would benefit from being Americans
* America trying to make this happen by force or against popular will would be deeply evil

FFS the amount of energy being spent on this. Jesus Trump is fucking #winning and #winninghard with this troll. He literally got a million open border nutcases to suddenly discover borders mean something.

[Peter Kreeft taught me LOGIC, BEWARE !!!!!!!]

You are as demented and poorly spoken as your eponymous rocker was.
I guess you don't read what you right, if ONE of these is even correct then you have no point
DO borders mean something
DO we have a million nutcases.

You are one of those who argue that on balance it is a good thing that Tren de Aragua is allowed in. Rick James, good choice

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

You are as demented and poorly spoken as your eponymous rocker was.

P R O J E C T I O N - as your comment is incoherent and missing punctuation and your handle is nonsense.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Don't know who Peter Kreeft is but I won't be subscribing to his newsletter. And for the record this is the first time I've seen Rick James described as a "rocker".

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Wait what?

[mtrueman]

"Jesus Trump is fucking #winning and #winninghard with this troll. He literally got a million open border nutcases to suddenly discover borders mean something."

Enjoy it while you can. When he's president he'll have real enemies and real issues.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

From whiny lefty shits like you? Fuck off and die, asshole.

[Mike Parsons]

"When he's president he'll have real enemies and real issues."

Ya he didn't just have the entirety of the US gov going after him in a Stalinesque show trial, activist judges skewing court cases, cheered on by globalist world leaders.

Quite the opposite. He is coming in on a wave of momentum, he doesnt have to run for re-election, and his election win is a big FU to the journos, MSM, deep state, and shitlibs.

I think he is going to have a fun time, and im here for all the pants shitting and pearl clutching from the mean tweets

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

Definitely no assassination attempts. Iran didn't put a bounty on him.

[mtrueman]

" a Stalinesque show trial"

As I say, soon enough, he'll have real enemies to contend with.

"his election win is a big FU to the journos, MSM, deep state, and shitlibs."

As I say, soon enough, he'll have real enemies to contend with.

"I think he is going to have a fun time,"

No doubt. Along with all his billionaire friends.

[Mike Parsons]

"As I say, soon enough, he'll have real enemies to contend with."

Please elaborate.

[mtrueman]

Trump will be president in a few days. He'll be faced with issues of more consequence than the size of his adoring crowds.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

In case you haven't noticed, like Grover Cleveland, Trump has "been there, done that" once already.

[mtrueman]

"In case you haven't noticed"

I did notice. He's had plenty of experience combating his 'enemies' over the size of his adoring crowds. I telling you that soon he'll have real enemies to contend with.

[InsaneTrollLogic (On The List!)]

You going to name names, or just be a cryptic dork?

[mtrueman]

Cryptic dork.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

"As I say, soon enough, he'll have real enemies to contend with."

Other than the American political establishment classes, who?

[mtrueman]

If Trump doesn't know already, he'll find out soon enough.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

It's you that made that claim, not Trump.

[mtrueman]

And I stand by that claim. Soon enough, Trump will have real enemies to contend with. Enjoy these next few days while you can.

[damikesc]

He does have the benefit of following Biden, the most corrupt and God awful shit bird of a President we've had since Wilson.

[mtrueman]

The benefits of following Biden will only take him so far. Soon he will have real enemies to contend with.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Standing by a claim would be providing some facts or predictions with meat on them.

Any left shit can assert nothingness like you have. They do, all day long, all year long.

[mtrueman]

Fact: Trump has real enemies and

Prediction: as president, he'll have to contend with them.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

<i<"Fact: Trump has real enemies and"

And I keep on asking "outside the American political establishment who?", and you won't tell us.

[mtrueman]

My advice, less keep on asking and more thinking for yourself. I don't want to reveal more than I have to. Suffice it to say, trolling is fun but in a few days Trump will face real enemies who must be dealt with. Judging from the responses to my comment, perhaps I've already said too much.

[Truthfulness]

@mtrueman

You can't answer his question because you have none.

[Nobartium]

Are you or the fakeastinisns stepping up to that plate?

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Enjoy it while you can. When he's president he'll have real enemies and real issues.""

That's funny.

[mtrueman]

Laugh while you can, monkey boy.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Keep posting the good ones and I will.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

You do the same, commie vermin.

[Rick James]

You oughta see the enemies he had while not president!

[mad.casual]

And, again, AFAICT the whole thing started as the result of shitstain reporter's piss poor leading/inclusive "GOTCHA!" question about ruling out "military or economic coercion".

Were Trump a more aggressive individual, purely motivated by scorched-Earth vengeance rather than being about rising above it, #theartofthedeal, and #winning he would've shouted at the guy "WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE LAST 4 YEARS OF MONEY *AND* CASH BEING RAINED DOWN ON THE UKRAINE EXPLICITLY AS MILITARY *AND* ECONOMIC COERCION YOU GODDAMNED ASSHAT?!?!? I"M PROPOSING BUYING THEM BACK AT A FAVORABLE AND AGGRESSIVE PRICE BECAUSE THEY"RE COSTING US MONEY YOU DUMBFUCK. WILL I RATTLE MY SABER TO GET THE GODDAMNED PRICE? YES. I WOULD BE STUPID TO SAY OTHERWISE. IS THAT MILITARY OR ECONOMIC COERCION? YOU DUMBFUCKS IMPEACHED ME OVER QUID PRO QUO EVEN TRADES. THE US, UN, EU, WEF, CHINA, ETC., ETC., ETC. HAS BEEN ENGAGED IN OPEN, GLOBAL ECONOMIC COERCION SINCE BEFORE THE GODDAMNED COLD WAR. SECRET SERVICE! THROW THIS RETARDED DEGENERATE SCUMBAG TRAITOR OUT AND, IF HE CAUSES ANY PROBLEMS, YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO SHOOT HIM."

[Peter Kreeft taught me LOGIC, BEWARE !!!!!!!]

I am not a Californian but I knew about this long ago.

https://www.econlib.org/library/columns/y2022/mckenziejmckenziercalifornialeaking.html

[mtrueman]

Imagine spending a million $ on building a flammable house surrounded by flammable trees.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

I am sure you would rather see Americans living in mud huts, you fucking psychopath.

[mtrueman]

You'd prefer to see them burnt to a crisp in expensive homes? And somehow I'm the psychopath....

[damikesc]

Not speaking for Chuck, but I'd prefer the government they are paying for do the bare minimum of actual oversight and providing of services.

No excuse for not clearing dead brush. None at all.

[mtrueman]

"but I'd prefer the government they are paying for do the bare minimum of actual oversight and providing of services."

Wouldn't the private sector be better at this sort of thing? Have we learned nothing?

[damikesc]

Since the government is stealing the money, they damned well should be required to do something. Unless they lower taxes to 0%, your goal seems silly.

[mtrueman]

"Since the government is stealing the money, they damned well should be required to do something."

That's reasonable. But stealing more money isn't the answer.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Wouldn't the private sector be better at this sort of thing?

Are you fucking kidding me? Go ahead and show up with a loader to clear brush and grass from land that belongs to the State of California or its subdivisions. Or even on your own land, without a permit and the required 3-7 year environment impact study. You will be arrested the moment it comes to the attention of the authorities, which it will, because CA is full of Democrats who can't mind their own business.

[mtrueman]

"because CA is full of Democrats who can't mind their own business."

California is full of Libertarians who expect the government to put out their fires for them. And do nothing but whine when things get hot.

[Truthfulness]

The Newsom governorship is hardly full of Libertarians. You're blaming the wrong people for the government preventing others from solving the problem themselves only to find out that they're far worse in doing such a job.

[Jerry B.]

You didn’t note that one part of the government, (NEPA), is actively preventing another part of the government, (CALFIRE) from doing anything, and yet you expect they’d allow private businesses to do anything? Also, see California’s insurance commission driving insurance companies out of the state.

[mtrueman]

When you expect the government to put out your fires for you, expect disappointments.

[Truthfulness]

Of course. They also prevented others from doing the job themselves.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

What makes you think the government is allowing any private action?

[mtrueman]

The only private action I'm seeing is terror stricken citizens fleeing for their lives. Those confronting the flames are on the government payroll.

[Truthfulness]

There are volunteers who would be happy to put out the fire. You don't speak for private action, nor for any civilian.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Dirt doesn't burn.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241018-fire-proof-houses-and-the-people-rebuilding-their-homes-using-earth

[mtrueman]

Only a psychopath would build a home designed to withstand a forest fire.

[Truthfulness]

Such a "psychopath" out to be commended for such effort.

[lwt1960]

Since I'm always critcal of Liz's columns, I should give credit when due. The analysis of CA is spot on. Just as in the conversations on medical insurance, the issue stems from a fundamental misunderstanding (likely a willful misunderstanding) of the term "insurance". The premiums pay the losses. The premiums paid today allow the companies to invest the funds to pay overhead and profit, while the expected losses get paid in the future. Pretty simple math, which can't be legislated away. Anyone who has purchased a home in CA knows the angst that comes with getting homeowners' insurance, especially if you have brush within X yards of the property, thus forcing you into the FAIR plan. No insurance, no mortgage. No mortgage, no housing market. Expect a meltdown in the CA housing market over this. Another example of a blue state getting their democracy "good and hard". Who knows, might be enough to turn CA back into the purple state it was pre-prop 209 in the 1990's?

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Since I'm always critcal of Liz's columns

Who are you normally? I don't recall seeing this nick before.

[mad.casual]

TLDR: The wildfires are California's first crisis with which it must contend. The politicians are its second.

[leaps from the Sperg-dunk 3-point line and sticks out tongue for effect]

Technically, the seasonal wildfires were here first.

[I, Woodchipper]

.Unfortunately, in California, the insurance commissioner—an elected official, Ricardo Lara—must approve premium increases.

California exerts soviet politburo level control over insurance industry.

Whenever a Californian complains about insurance, you know you're talking to a moron who doesnt understand they should be complaining about government. their insurance is 100% controlled by the state in just about everything they can do.

[shadydave]

People talk about Marxism's failure in Russia, China, North Korea, Cambodia, Cuba, Venezuela, etc. But maybe there is no greater indictment of Marxism than its failure in California.

Despite it naturally being paradise on Earth, and despite being able to free ride off the rest of the country that isn't wholly Marxist, Marxism has still managed to completely destroy California. People are _fleeing_ paradise. How the hell are there still socialists in the world?

[mtrueman]

China is the world's largest economy. More the half of the world's patent filings originate in China. Perhaps California's problem is that it isn't Marxist enough.

America's top patent filer, Qualcomm, applied for just over half the number of patents of China's top filer, Huawei. Qualcomm is a chip maker headquartered in, you guessed it, California.

[sarcasmic]

China is the world's largest economy.

False. The USA's economy is one and a half times that of China, with less than a fourth of the population.

[mtrueman]

Measuring by PPP will yield a different, terrifying and humbling answer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)

[Truthfulness]

PPP is a stupid measure and you know it. You dishonesty is evident.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

So I guess the right-wing narrative of the day is that "California DEI policies caused the LA wildfires to get out of hand." Do I have that right?

So we have the Team Blue non-falsifiable hypothesis of "Climate change causes all our problems", and now we have the Team Red non-falsifiable hypothesis of "DEI causes all our problems."

[Mike Parsons]

The rational down to earth narrative is CA's shitty policies as a whole make them worse off.

[Moonrocks]

Team Red's framing, that California's far-left government apparatus is utterly corrupt, utterly incompetent, or both, is tautologically true. Either California's far-left politicians are cynically using Climate Change as cover for their corruption and/or ineptitude, or they truly believe that Climate Change is an existential threat and have done (less than) nothing to prepare for it in the last several decades.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Oh good, MTG the dunderhead has weighed in on the California wildfires. Let's see what her esteemed opinion is?

https://www.newsweek.com/gavin-newsom-criminally-liable-fires-marjorie-taylor-greene-2012459

The Georgia congresswoman, who is a loyal Trump ally, called out Newsom in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday evening, writing: "Governor Newson may be criminally responsible for these California wildfires. As governor, Newsom has literally dismantled every responsible way to combat these devastating deadly wildfires. California, you need to choose new leadership and hold your current leaders accountable."

Funny how she didn't mention Newsom's obvious use of Jewish space lasers to start the fires. Maybe when Newsom is dragged into court in chains, the Jewish space laser conspiracy will be unmasked!

[Don't look at me!]

Are you taking hits off sarc’s booze jug?

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Newsome absolutely did dismantle every responsible way to combat the wildfires.
Making the forestry services to get an EPA report every time they wanted to clear brush or do a controlled burn is just one of many examples.

[Uncle Jay]

Jeff, you really need to lay off Hunter's crack pipe.
You're making a fool of yourself again.

[Nobartium]

A completely accurate opinion.

Tough tittes that demonrats are shit at running anything.

[damikesc]

Tubby Cunt, you are pissy because she is right.

He refused to refill the reservoirs. Newsom. HE refused it.
He did nothing to deal with the massive issue of dense undergrowth in the forests.

He SHOULD be criminally liable.

[JesseAz (mean girl ambassador)]

I'm going to steal tubby cunt for Jeff. Making me laugh. almost tries to be nice with tubby knowing he is a grotesque sloth. Then just adds cunt.

[I, Woodchipper]

high school brain type of post

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Here's the thing. As crazy as MTG and Trump can sound at times, they actually have a better grasp on reality, and more effective solutions, than any "serious" progressive politician. And the 2024 election proved that most people agree.

[Rick James]

Newsom doesn't even know why there's no water. It's a mystery. How can it be his fault? "What water" is proof that he had no part in any of the wildfire response disaster.

[shadydave]

I have a hot take: if you live in a mansion in Malibu, why would you have insurance in the first place? Insurance is supposed to lose you money, it's not an investment. If you are already wealthy, why pay it? Just set up an index fund and pay what your premium might be into it.

Insurance is to pay to deal with the small risk that you might be hit with a cost you can't afford to pay. If you're rich, that covers virtually no plausible scenarios.

[damikesc]

Unless you're paying cash upfront for it --- good luck with a mortgage while having no home insurance.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

As long as they provided mortgage insurance, the lender would be fine with it. They certainly don't care if you under-insure your home as long as the mortgage amount is covered.

[ducksalad]

Yup. We're not even wealthy but we ditched the homeowner's insurance as soon as we got the mortgage paid off.

98% chance of having $3K extra every year.
2% chance of having to move to an apartment, stop eating out, and wait a few more years to retire.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

I hope you never get doxxed whitemikesalad. It would be profoundly wrong of me to burn your house down, but it would be such poetic justice to take a flame to a gaslighting shitweasel like you that I would definitely be tempted.

[ducksalad]

Great to see you, Chuck. I hope you're having a wonderful day.

[Mother's Lament (Salt farmer)]

Chuck's right you know.

[Uncle Jay]

LA can't put out their fires because they decided it was a good idea to put a bunch of politically correct proggies in power.
Now LA is burning down.
But don't worry.
The mayor's house and the houses of all the LA city council members are safe.

[MWAocdoc]

"It's all horribly tragic, and California's governance isn't helping matters much."

Well, duh! It should never have been government's job in the first place! At the very least, government could have gotten out of the way of whatever private mitigations there might have been. But no, power-seeking officials 1) insist that it is the job of government to fight fires and prevent them; and 2) do a terrible job of those responsibilities that they have insisted are theirs; while 3) actively interfering with the efforts of private enterprises to do the job better. So what else is new?

[(Good Riddance Robert L. Peters) Weigel's Cock Ring]

Not a hugely important story, but worth noting that the disgusting pig wire the big fat ass, aka former First Lady Michelle Obama, couldn't be bothered to show up at Carter's state funeral. We're told that she had a "scheduling conflict" in Hawaii, but of course we aren't told precisely what it is she has going on that's so important she couldn't pay her respects. Every other former president and first lady was there (imagine if Laura Bush or Melania snubbed the event, we'd never hear the end of it). If Barack was bothered or embarrassed by his erstwhile wife not being there, he certainly didn't show it.

I assume that if Carter had been black, she 100% would have been there. She's not particularly interested in putting forth much effort to honor a white guy, no matter how liberal he may have been.

[ducksalad]

Were you there yourself, or did you also piss on Carter's memory by missing it?

Personally I'd prefer it if ex-POTUSes and their families went back to being absolutely normal people and kept their heads down. Their presence at state funerals just costs you and me money for their Secret Service to travel with them, increases the funeral's target value for terrorists, wastes bandwidth, and forces us to remember them. I'm willing to remember them once, at their own funerals.

[Don't look at me!]

He’s not a former first lady.

[ducksalad]

You can't be 100% sure of that.

[Don't look at me!]

Willing to bet?

[(Good Riddance Robert L. Peters) Weigel's Cock Ring]

Even Trump himself, who is hardly one of the world's greatest exemplars of decorum and civility, was able to conduct himself in an appropriate and respectful manner for this particular occasion. And I can almost guarantee that he didn't live Carter any more than I did.

It's pathetic that fat-assed Moochelle couldn't bring herself to leave Hawaii for a day and do the same.

[mtrueman]

"Even Trump himself, who is hardly one of the world's greatest exemplars of decorum and civility, was able to conduct himself in an appropriate and respectful manner for this particular occasion"

Hardly surprising. Trump and Carter are both white.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

SEE! IT'S RACISM!!!

[mtrueman]

It's America. What else could it be?

[Truthfulness]

The land of the free. You do not believe in that, and that's made evident with you bringing up the race card.

[mtrueman]

"no matter how liberal he may have been."

Carter was not particularly liberal. He was challenged on the left by Ted Kennedy, who ultimately failed to take the nomination. Michelle Obama did attend Kennedy's funeral, even though he was Irish, and not exactly black.

[Brandybuck]

As much as I hate to defend the asshole, water in local municipal and county fire hydrants is NOT the responsibility of the governor!

Now, it doesn't mean is is absolved of all responsibility. Fire management in this state has been abysmal. But still, whining that he's filling up the local hydrants is way off base. Even for California media.

[Don't look at me!]

It’s trump’s fault.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Local and county are at still affected by the state. Isn't the claim that the gov's actions prevented/interrupted local or county from having the ability to properly provider water for the fire hydrants?

Seems the gov's actions created a down range problem. Does he have any liability in that?

[MWAocdoc]

Who could EVER have predicted that there would be a water shortage in a desert?! California has been diverting water from the northwest via pipelines to their big blue cities for decades. One of the main reasons the socialists haven't busted the dams to free the salmon up here long ago is because the "A-Listers" in LA wouldn't have water to fill their hot tubs and swimming pools. Or, oh yeah, to fight wildfires in the Palisades.

[Rick James]

As much as I hate to defend the asshole, water in local municipal and county fire hydrants is NOT the responsibility of the governor!

Anderson Cooper: Governor James, why is there no water in the Fire Hydrants?

Governor Rick James: *to woman behind Anderson Cooper* Bitch! Show your titties! *back to Cooper* Anderson Cooper! I can assure you I will be putting together a blue-ribbon task force to investigate what the water delivery problems are here, and then if there's any role for the state to remedy this issue for the future, I will personally oversee major reforms. I have been on the phone with the Mayor-- although it went straight to her voicemail, and I got an Outlook Out of Office Message saying she was in *checks notes* Ghana to *checks notes* celebrate the first woman president. Honestly, Anderson, I'm shocked that the mayor of one of our great cities is out of the country and not answering the phone while this crisis is unfolding. Either way, I am currently meeting with local fire officials and the officials that oversee the reservoirs and tank delivery systems to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. In addition to the water problem, I will be reviewing all environmental policies that prevent or slowed the process of wilderness management. With Climate change being an unfortunate reality, we should be doing everything we can do to mitigate its effects.

[DRM]

Incidentally, this is a reminder that State Farm is a mutual. That means it's a nonprofit, and has no investors to whom it could return any profits.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Todays 'Pearls Before Swine': https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2025/01/09

[Uncle Sam and Pig on front stoop]

Uncle Sam: Hey Pig, I need to borrow some more cash. I'm broke and just need a little more money to buy the bare essentials.

Pig: Really, Uncle Sam? What did you do with the $100 I gave you last week?

Uncle Sam: Set it on fire and threw it down a manhole.

[Pig back inside with Rat]

Pig [to Rat]: Our uncle is not good with money.

[rbike]

I was watching the local news tonight because .... Well anyway, they announce that crime is down in my state if Iowa by a goodly amount. All crime, even shootings. Not a peep about two years ago when our Republican governor allowed citizens to concealed carry. It empirically does make a difference. Just know that I or anyone at the store, in their house, or on the sidewalk might be carrying a gun.

[JohnZ]

The state of California and the major cities are run by incompetent leftist morons and political hacks.
Some people are saying" let L.A. burn to the ground."

[AT]

This is the first and last thing you need to read/watch about the CA fires.

https://x.com/shellenberger/status/1877400204145729768

[Incunabulum]

>and Bass has no good justification for why she didn't cancel her trip as the weather warnings grew more severe.

I'm going to point out two things here.

1. There's no reason to cancel the trip because of high winds.

2. There was no reason for her to be in Ghana on the taxpayer's dime, *at all*. Period. None whatsoever.