Half-Hearted Halftime Outrage

Plus: Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison, endemic fraud in federal welfare, Ghislaine Maxwell won't talk to Congress, and more...

Playing defense. The Seattle Seahawks triumphed over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX in a mostly snoozy defensive struggle. The final score of 29–13 makes the game sound a lot more exciting than it was.

Neither team scored a touchdown until the fourth quarter. The vast majority of the game saw Seattle running the ball into field goal range and New England failing to get that first down.

People joked on social media that by carrying a football during his halftime performance, Bad Bunny got more rushing yards than the Patriots did during the entire game.

Per @NextGenStats: Bad Bunny travelled 124.4 yards with the football, the most by any halftime performer AND the most by any player over the NGS era. A historic run on the national stage pic.twitter.com/AM0JUDuzaQ

— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) February 9, 2026

Still, a Super Bowl is a Super Bowl, and one assumes that the estimated 120 million people who watched the game in the company of friends and family managed to enjoy it—provided they weren't rabid Patriots fans.

Half-hearted halftime rage. For people who need something political to argue about, the real action was obviously the halftime show. Puerto Rican headliner Bad Bunny performed in Spanish the midst of a sugar cane field, with cameos from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin.

The selection of Bad Bunny to headline the show sparked controversy in some corners of the right, partly for his history of liberal statements, partly because they think he isn't popular, and partly just because he's Puerto Rican.

In protest, the conservative group Turning Point USA hosted an alternative halftime show featuring Kid Rock and a collection of country artists. This counterprogramming attracted about 5 million viewers, which is ample but still far less than the 120 million who watched the official Super Bowl halftime show.

Not even President Donald Trump seemed to have watched the conservative halftime show, judging by his negative review of Bad Bunny's performance.

A review of Bad Bunny by President Trump pic.twitter.com/IXmjVK6QUM

— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) February 9, 2026

People who were bracing for an overly politicized mainstage show can mostly relax now. The most partisan moment of Bad Bunny's performance was right at the end, where he spiked a football with the text "Together We Are America" while flanked by people carrying flags of all the Western Hemisphere countries.

Your mileage will vary on how much you liked the show as a piece of music and showmanship.

As someone who listens to a lot of metal, I personally wasn't all that bothered by not being able to understand the lyrics. The Spanish-language performance probably helped to tamp down a lot of controversy about any politics smuggled into the lyrics.

It's probably not a great signal for the health of the discourse if the country even threatens to split into red-team/blue-team Super Bowl halftime shows. The endless partisanship and culture-war bickering is tiresome.

On the other hand, I was struck by how little outrage I saw on X following Bad Bunny's performance. Perhaps having conservative-coded counterprogramming provided for a little short-term social peace. The people who would have been most upset by the mainstage performance were watching something else.

And indeed, the real competition to the Super Bowl halftime show wasn't Kid Rock. It was not watching the Super Bowl at all.

As popular a television viewing experience as the Super Bowl is, only around 40 percent of households with TVs watch the Super Bowl. That means close to two-thirds of the country is doing something other than watch the game.

America is a big country, and there are lots of ways people choose to spend their time. The trends in media and entertainment toward more on-demand options make this truer every day.

The Super Bowl halftime show is just less of a stage today than it was 15 or 20 years ago. Whoever is on it says a lot less about where American culture is than in the past.

Bad Bunny's performance didn't signal the fall of America. It also wasn't quite the triumph for multiculturalism that some liberal writers seem to think it was.

If the halftime show is less of a showcase of where the culture is, there's less of a need to have some big culture war about it.

Jimmy Lai sentenced. The Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai was sentenced on Sunday to 20 years in prison for violating the jurisdiction's "national security" law.

Lai has been in custody since 2020, when he participated in protests against the imposition of the national security law he's now been convicted of violating. The sentence all but ensures that the elderly man will die in prison.

Lai first came to Hong Kong as a penniless 12-year-old refugee. From that lowly starting position, he managed to make a fortune in Hong Kong's garment industry before starting the pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily.

Lai has long been an advocate for free speech and free markets. In 2023, the Cato Institute awarded him its Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty. His sentencing is a travesty of justice and a reminder of how important the right to speak freely is.

QUICK HITS

• The Wall Street Journal reports on endemic fraud in the federal government's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
• Noam Chomsky's wife responds to the controversy over her husband's chummy relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
• A partial Homeland Security shutdown appears likely, reports Politico.
• Federal prosecutors were told not to investigate Renee Good's killing.
• Ghislaine Maxwell won't answer Congress' questions from prison.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Puerto Rican headliner Bad Bunny performed in Spanish the midst of a sugar cane field...

Couldn't understand a word he was saying. GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY.

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

Those that speel Spanish also say they can't understand him.

[Rick James]

Those that speel Spanish also say they can't understand him.

Let's just admit that everyone here could use a Quality Learing Center.

[SCOTUS gave JeffSarc a big sad]

Metallica would have been a far better fit. Ina any language.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Wife and mother in law speak fluent Spanish. They couldn't understand anything he sang.

[Mike Parsons]

"Ey!"

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Spanish, or LatinX-ese?

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Articulated Spanish more than mumble Spanish or whatever that was yesterday. I only was able to pick out a handful of words and speak conversationally well.

[Chupacabra]

I speak Spanish and I find Puerto Rican/Cuban/Dominican really hard to understand. The only accent that's worse is Chilean.

[SCOTUS gave JeffSarc a big sad]

Bad Bunny is a leftist. So he undoubtedly babbles.

[Zeb]

Puerto Ricans can be difficult to follow in my experience.

[But SkyNet is a Private Company]

Except J-Lo, it’d be fun following her AMIRITE BROS

[mad.casual]

Not even President Donald Trump seemed to have watched the conservative halftime show, judging by his negative review of Bad Bunny's performance.

I can't imagine being such an old, out-of-touch, mentally-enfeebled recluse that not only do you just have the have one screen that you watch by yourself, you can't even imagine other people watching multiple screens together, let alone the POTUS.

[Mike Parsons]

Most generous take that I can kind of agree with: "I dont speak spanish, so I didnt understand any of it, and I dont really like this style of music, but he seemed to be having a good time up there"

However the negatives being:

- blatantly going for someone who speaks no english, in America's biggest TV program, in a sport by and for America, is a choice.
- Blatantly going for someone who speaks no English despite being fully capable of learning it (he's not an old grandma stuck in her ways) at a time where we have issues with enclaves of people that are here illegally and make no effort to learn or speak English, is a choice.
- Picking a spanish speaking only dude who regularly galavants around in a dress, is a choice
- In terms of music, its a very repetitive Reggaetón beat (almost the same beat the whole time, every song) with mumbly-rap spanish, dude cant sing, and lots of retarded sounding "ey"s. I guess im out of touch with the kids (well, the kids from latin american countries, as ive never heard of US kids ever mention this dude), but is this the hotness out there?

Its just the NFL doing open corporate Wokeism, and it feels so 2020 tbh

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Corporate wokeism plus feminine appeal. Actual sports does not ping all the target demographics.

[Ron]

Reason blaming Right leaning people when this was a political choice by the NFL to use a person known for his stance and that 85% of the country doesn't even know or could or even would listen to.

[Incunabulum]

Reason has long held the view that the culture war is all the right's fault - if they would just lay down and take it everything would be fine but since they oppose it they're responsible for all the problems.

[But SkyNet is a Private Company]

I love Spanish language music.
I could have listened to Lady Gaga and even Ricky Martin all night. They can sing and had authentic sounding music behind them.

Mr Bunny isn’t very talented

[Chupacabra]

Yeah, the Lady Gaga bit was great.

[SCOTUS gave JeffSarc a big sad]

I love Madame Ga Ga!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo0f3nz6Z8M

[damikesc]

For a "wildly successful singer", Bad Bunny has a better history of pro wrestling matches than music.

[mad.casual]

he's not an old grandma stuck in her ways

Or some, third-world Guatemalan. He grew up on an island subsidized by the US government/people. Imagine a white dude growing up in Puerto Rico singing "contemporary country" music who doesn't speak Spanish. He's not some counter-culturalist, he's just a self-aggrandizing asshat.

FFS, Rammstein sings/writes songs in English and they grew up in East Germany.

[charliehall]

Puerto Rico is part of the United States. Has been since 1898.

My high school Spanish teacher was Puerto Rican and described herself as "US Citizen not by choice".

But the decision to make Spanish one of the languages of the US was made in the early 19th century, with the 1804 annexation of the Louisiana Purchase which had been ruled by Spain for 40 years. Even more inhabitants spoke French. It should be noted that Louisiana was admitted to the union as a state in 1812 even though it had no recognized western boundary with (still Spanish) Texas nor a recognized eastern boundary with (still Spanish) Florida, and in spite of the massive smuggling and slave trading operation run there by the notorious pirate Jean Laffite. So much for the ignorant rants of the secure borders folks. (Laffite's pirates would provide essential support to Andrew Jackson in the New Orleans campaign at the end of the War of 1812.) More Spanish speakers were added to the US in 1819 with the annexation of Florida, more with the annexation of Texas in 1845, a huge number with the annexation of the southwest in 1848, a few in the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, and more in the 1898 annexation of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

He is in his own country. And if you don't like Spanish you should campaign for the return Florida, Puerto Rico, and Guam to Spain, and Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, and part of Colorado and Wyoming to Mexico.

Or take some Spanish lessons. It is a relatively easy language for English speakers to learn.

[damikesc]

I'm all for freeing Puerto Rico. Remove their territory status, remove all US funding, and let them sink or swim.

[SCOTUS gave JeffSarc a big sad]

If we take all out stuff off the island, will the garbage pile tip over? I’m asking for Hank Johnson.

[GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND]

"My high school Spanish teacher was Puerto Rican and described herself as "US Citizen not by choice"."

She sounds like a moron.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Puerto Rico is part of the United States. Has been since 1898.

WHY DO I BOTHER TRYING TO ENTERTAIN YOU PEOPLE

[GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND]

charliehall is the dumbest motherfucker alive.

[InsaneTrollLogic (smarter than The Average Dude)]

Except for MollyGodiva.

[InsaneTrollLogic (smarter than The Average Dude)]

Are you retarded or something? Oh, wait, I know the answer already, charliewalz. It’s Fist making a joke, dumbass.

[epsilon given]

"US Citizen not by choice" -- if she doesn't want to be a US citizen, why doesn't she naturalize somewhere else?

And how is it "not by choice" when Puerto Rico has regularly voted whether to become independent, and each time, decided to remain a US territory? Apparently they are "oppressed" by being an American territory, yet at the same time unwilling to free themselves and become independent.

And last I checked, all those places you say "should be returned to Spain and/or Mexico" (while we're at it, why don't we return Mexico to Spain?) -- they are all thoroughly Americanized, including English being by far the most dominant language (and even in Puerto Rico, I'd be surprised if English weren't common) -- and with regards to all these places, why is it that pretty much the only ones who want to return these areas to Mexico and/or Spain are the ones who are here illegally (end even, then, probably not many of them)?

Seriously, if you think Spanish is so great, why don't you just move to a place where it's so common, and leave the rest of us alone to "wallow" in our English "misery"?

[BigT]

It was great. Next year it should feature a klezmer band with songs in Yiddish.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Soros praises socialist Spain PM.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/soros-praises-spains-sanchez-mass-amnesty-500000-illegals

Note. Thus amnesty is occurring in a country with one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Europe. The PM has literally called for cultural replacement.

This is what Soros wants.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Bring back the Moors!

[The Angry Hippopotamus]

Moops!

[GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND]

HE LIVES IN A BUBBLE!

[I, Woodchipper]

there was a time when the young men of spain had been almost entirely culturally replaced and when they decided to do something about it they created an empire.

[charliehall]

The expulsion of Jews and Muslims was the ultimate act of racist bigotry. (And the Spanish looked at it in racial, not religious terms.) My junior high school social studies teacher pointed out that Spain has never recovered, because by expelling Jews and Muslims they expelled most of their brainpower.

[damikesc]

Muslims?

*snicker*

The society that has translated fewer books in their history into Arabic than is written in English in one year? The ones who have no done anything intellectually of note in nearly a millenia?

Yeah, their loss was truly horrific.

[Marshal]

You junior high social studies teacher was a racist.

[GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND]

"My junior high school social studies teacher pointed out that Spain has never recovered, because by expelling Jews and Muslims they expelled most of their brainpower."

I'm sensing a pattern here, and it explains a lot.

[Square = Circle]

And the Spanish looked at it in racial, not religious terms

No, they didn't. There was no such thing as "Spanish" when that happened. There were Castilians, Galicians, Aragonese, Catalonians, etc. What the various Catholic kingdoms of Iberia had in common was their Catholicism, along with a history of marginalization by the Umayyad rulers of most of Spain, who were Sunni Muslim.

Even by 1492, when the expulsion happened, the Kingdom of Castile-Leon and the Kingdom of Aragon were two different kingdoms in personal union, which was soon to also include the decidedly un-Spanish Austria. They did not regard themselves as one country and one race of people, and they weren't united into the Kingdom of Spain until the late 1700s.

As a matter of fact, they famously still don't regard "Spanish" as having any sort of "racial" meaning, and to this day identify as Catalonians, Castilians, Andalusians, Basques, Galicians, etc.

Most importantly, they really didn't care about "race" as long as you were Catholic, as represented by the fact that we refer to it as the expulsion of the Muslims and the Jews, not the expulsion of the Moors.

Even the Spanish Nationalists were Catholic first, Spanish second.

In short, your junior high school social studies teacher was an ignoramus.

[epsilon given]

Spain was doing just fine up until they sent their Armada against the English -- it was then that they started going downhill, decades after 1492, and England began to dominate.

[Z Crazy]

They just hate whitekind!

[charliehall]

Most Puerto Ricans are White.

[GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND]

Cite?

[epsilon given]

Define "white".

[Ra's al Gore]

Epstein Files Reveal Scope of Ghislaine Maxwell’s Role in Clinton Circle
Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime companion helped advise on the kickoff of the Clinton Global Initiative and arranged for $1 million in funding for it, emails show.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/us/politics/epstein-clintons-maxwell.html

Ms. Maxwell took part in budget discussions related to the first Clinton Global Initiative conference; talked through challenges about it with both Clinton aides and Publicis Groupe, the company that produced the inaugural event; and arranged to wire $1 million to pay Publicis for its work on “the Clinton project,” according to emails in the massive cache of documents collected as part of the government’s investigations of Mr. Epstein.

The source of the money is unclear, including whether Mr. Epstein provided the funds. However, the emails show that he was aware of the payment.

“Ask him to tell you why i million now and where will it be going,” Mr. Epstein wrote to Ms. Maxwell a few days after she received the wiring instructions from Publicis.

[Ra's al Gore]

Maxwell honored at Clinton event years after sexual abuse allegations emerged
This article is more than 5 months old
Jeffrey Epstein associate attended Clinton Global Initiative conference in 2013 as advocate for ocean conservation
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/25/epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-bill-clinton-conference

Ghislaine Maxwell was honored by the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in 2013, four years after sexual abuse accusations against her emerged – and two years after the former president Bill Clinton’s staff recommended banning her from official events, CNN has reported.

Maxwell – who in 2022 was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking and related crimes – attended the CGI conference as a guest of merit, where she was applauded for her work on ocean conservation alongside other “Commitment to Action” leaders, according to the network.

Maxwell’s complimentary access to the conference indicated that her invitation was personally recommended by either Bill or Hillary Clinton, the former first lady, secretary of state and US senator, the outlet said. That is because a top Clinton aide, Doug Band, had instructed CGI staff to “remove Ghislaine, from all lists” for Clinton-related events, as CNN put it.

[Ra's al Gore]

Yes, she did

Did Ghislaine Maxwell Attend Chelsea Clinton's Wedding?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ghislaine-maxwell-chelsea-clinton-wedding/

Weeks prior to the wedding, on June 18, 2010, New York Magazine's Intelligencer reported that Chelsea purportedly had a firm policy on who was to be invited. According to the article, "bride-side sources" said that Chelsea "instituted a strict no-strangers policy" and that "she must personally know every invitee."

Years later, in 2019, Politico published that "a person familiar with the relationship" said that, prior to the 2010 wedding, Chelsea had become close with Maxwell, something that a spokesperson for Clinton later disputed

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Epstein apparently helped the Clinton's form the corruption behind the clinton foundation.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

"Jeffrey Epstein associate attended Clinton Global Initiative conference in 2013 as advocate for ocean conservation"

You know what else smells like the ocean?

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

Kramer's failed cologne?

[Ajsloss]

It didn't fail, CK picked it up and ran with it.

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

True, but Cosmo himself saw no royalties for it.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Mike Benz was on Rogan. He now classifies Epstein as simply a fixer, for democrats and ceos. Working with the CIA and government as well.

Basically a means to run deals and run cover for corruption.

[mamabug]

That tracks. The pedo-island thing looks to be a side-hustle, he and Maxwell's main job was hooking up people in power to the people who wanted to buy it.

[Social Justice is neither]

Not a side hustle but a means of ensuring continued information and silence.

[charliehall]

Ms. Maxwell thinks that Trump is going to pardon her.

[epsilon given]

But she's wisely pleading the 5th in case he doesn't.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

The many lies of Wes Moore is pretty amazing.

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/wes-moore-says-the-kkk-chased-his-great-grandfather-out-of-south-carolina-historical-records-tell-a-different-story/

To democrats, narratives are more important than truth.

[Idaho-Bob]

Yet another false example of black "history" month.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Hey, man, my imaginary narrative is just as true as things that actually happened!

[damikesc]

I loved his public promise to investigate Maryland fraud and then deciding that he really does not feel like doing so.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The most partisan moment of Bad Bunny's performance was right at the end, where he spiked a football with the text "Together We Are America" while flanked by people carrying flags of all the Western Hemisphere countries.

Interesting he refused the flags of Northern Hemisphere countries, as technically there's only a quarter of the globe that the United States can't lay hemispheric claim to.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

The century long corruption problem of California.

https://calmatters.org/commentary/2026/02/california-persistent-government-corruption/

[Spiritus Mundi]

And nothing happened....

[Ra's al Gore]

Texas Lawmaker Goes Mask Off: Non-Whites Can “Take Over This Country”
Gene Wu, member of the Texas House of Representatives, encouraged select racial groups to engage in an intersectional struggle against their shared “oppressor.”
https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/02/resurfaced-remarks-show-texas-lawmaker-pushing-racial-power-politics/

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

Skin color is the most important thing.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

The joke is on Wu, since "yellow" is white-adjacent. And his kids will end up in the camps after the revolution.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Maoism is the most important thing.

[damikesc]

I bet if a conservative said that, you'd have numerous Reason articles bemoaning such racism.

As a white person, since he has explicitly threatened me, am I free to murde...er, vehemently disagree with him?

[Idaho-Bob]

Oppressed-race congress people are my favorite oppressed people.

Whitey must be doing something fucking wrong.

[Z Crazy]

So many hate whitekind.

He clearly blames Laken Riley for her own rape and murder!

[damikesc]

It seems that the Left is DESPERATE for whites to view themselves as a political group.

They will dislike what that leads to.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Wall Street Journal reports on endemic fraud in the federal government's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

Thank you, Nick Shirley, for getting the ball rolling on this kind of thing.

[Ra's al Gore]

BOMBSHELL: The Mexican Government Is Working On Conquering America
https://www.lifezette.com/2026/02/bombshell-the-mexican-government-is-working-on-conquering-america-watch/

Schweizer described what he called the Reconquista movement, arguing that it is not rhetorical posturing but a coordinated strategy backed by Mexican leadership to reclaim territory lost to the United States.

“The Reconquista movement involves all the leadership of Mexico,” Schweizer said.

“I could read to you literally dozens of quotes from Mexican presidents, Mexican senators, prominent people in journalism that say they are using mass migration as a means to reconquer or retake the territories that were lost to them.”

[Ra's al Gore]

Casting ballots on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border
https://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/26/world/americas/mexican-american-dual-nationals-voting

A citizen of both Mexico and the United States, Coria-Sanchez can vote in both countries’ presidential contests this year. He has until Saturday to send in an absentee ballot for Mexico’s federal elections, which are Sunday. The U.S. election will come later this fall.

...More than 2.7 million Mexican-born residents of the United States are naturalized U.S. citizens such as Coria-Sanchez, according to a report released by the Congressional Research Service this month.

In Mexico, they have won the right to vote from afar but are pushing for more political power and attention.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

What is the downside of returning California, southern Arizona, and New Mexico?

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Hey now. We provide copper.

[Incunabulum]

Uh, Southern Arizona is going nowhere.

[Incunabulum]

Also, let's remember that there is a difference between 'Mexico', 'Spanish controlled territory', and 'lands controlled by pre-Columbian tribes'.

[Square = Circle]

Also, let's remember that there is a difference between 'Mexico', 'Spanish controlled territory', and 'lands controlled by pre-Columbian tribes'.

^^^

The only part of California that even can be thinly argued to have ever been part of Mexico is a strip of land along the coast north to Sonoma. Los Angeles is literally the furthest east they ever settled.

And the period of time that this part of California could be said to have been sort-of part of Mexico (a civil war large-scale fist fight was fought in CA in the 1820s over whether it was or wasn't) was about 20 years, and the total "Spanish" population (actually, Spanish-speaking natives largely transplanted from Sonora) was about 50k.

[mtrueman]

"they are using mass migration as a means to reconquer or retake the territories that were lost to them."

Wouldn't you?

[epsilon given]

And I cannot help but note how it's funny that they are resorting to invasion and conquest tactics to get that land back into Mexico's control, when all they have to do to regain control is convince the citizens living in those States how much better they'd be under Mexico's system of government, and should thus secede from the United States and unite with them!

But nah, why do that, when you could just force them back into the fold? In much the same way Democrats would rather repeal the Electoral College rather than make themselves appealing to individual States, complain about Gerrymandering rather than offer proposals and build trust to the point where people would vote for them regardless of boundaries, and cheat in elections (because we can't let the FASCISTS be DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED!!!), and so forth.

[Social Justice is neither]

Sorry Bitches but Cuba and Venezuela are not America so you and Bad Bunny can shove your commie open borders bullshit. There is a reason most of those countries are near failed states and we don't need to be importing their cultural failure.

[Spiritus Mundi]

Good thing he didn't have the Greenland flag in his preformance.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Noam Chomsky's wife responds to the controversy over her husband's chummy relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

I hope he didn't manufacture any consent on that island.

[Square = Circle]

I find it interesting that his wife's defense of him is basically "you have to understand that he's really quite dumb."

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Media pushing stories to allow state run media in the US. For left leading journalism.

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/media-outlets-push-wa-bill-funding-state-sponsored-journalism

[Idaho-Bob]

Wait, it isn't state sponsored now?!?!

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Mostly NGO funded. So... maybe?

[Mike Parsons]

Honestly, lets just let them take the mask off. Unless we really thought every single govt employee really needed that "Politico Plus Package" that cost 10,000$ per year instead of the standard 100$ per year membership, and also instead of not fucking funding them at all

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Joseph Goebbels approves.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Fascists gotta fascist.

[Ra's al Gore]

Spanish Government Legalizes 500,000 Illegal Aliens to 'Defeat the Far Right'
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2026/01/29/spanish-government-legalizes-500000-illegal-aliens-to-defeat-the-far-right-n3811328

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

The Moores have conquered Spain again

[Minadin]

Well, the card says 'Moops.'

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

And American Democrats all splooge.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A partial Homeland Security shutdown appears likely...

Guard your own towers, boys. The terrorists are getting free rein.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Open borders is essentially the demand from democrats.

Whats funny is ICE is already funded by BBB. So thisnis TSA and the like. Will go over well for democrats.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

Was there a football game yesterday? I guess I missed it.

[Chupacabra]

If you could call that a football game.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Nancy euro-style football?

[Spiritus Mundi]

Foosball!

[Medulla Oblongata]

Did they ever catch that gorilla that punched you in the eye?

[Zeb]

I was watching the far more exciting sport of curling.

[Ra's al Gore]

Mamdani Has a Terrific Idea for How the U.S. Should Handle the Immigration Issue
https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2026/02/07/mamdani-has-a-terrific-idea-for-how-the-us-should-handle-the-immigration-issue-n4949241

The Boy Mayor continued: “And I consider my own faith: Islam. A religion built upon a narrative of migration. The story of the hijra reminds us that prophet Muhammad, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam [peace be upon him], was a stranger, too, who fled Mecca and was welcomed in Medina. Sura Nahl 16:42 tells us: “As for those who emigrated in the cause of Allah after being persecuted, we will surely bless them with a good home in this world. Or, as the prophet Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, ‘Islam began as something strange, and will go back to being strange. So glad tidings to the strangers.’”

After some hesitation, that line got some dutiful, albeit puzzled, applause, after which Mamdani drove his point home: “If faith offers us the moral compass to stand alongside the stranger, government can provide the resources. Let us create a new expectation of city hall, where power is wielded to love, to embrace, and to protect. We will stand with the stranger today.”

This is all swell, but it couldn’t be more misleading. According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad didn’t show up in Medina as a needy refugee. He was invited there to become, for the first time, a political and military leader as well as a preacher of religious ideas. Once there, he exiled two of the Jewish tribes of Medina, massacred the third, and then later went to the oasis where the exiled tribes had established a new community and massacred them as well. Mamdani didn’t say anything about that, but as an observant Muslim, he undoubtedly knows it, and his choice of this as the example of Muhammad for New York City to follow carried ominous overtones for the Jews of the city.

Mamdani also didn’t mention what it means in Islamic theology to “emigrate for the sake of Allah.” It means to move to a new land in order to Islamize that land, and impose Sharia upon it. To recommend that as a model for immigration to the U.S. is tantamount to recommending the conquest and Islamization of the U.S. As a knowledgeable Muslim, Mamdani without any doubt knows this, but is counting upon the ignorance of his audience to give his words a benign patina.

[Mickey Rat]

Thanks for sharing the rest of the story.

[MK Ultra]

I read that in Paul Harvey's voice. Good day!

[mad.casual]

Even if you accept Muhammad as a leader of peace, he reconquered Mecca (as documented in their own scriptures). Even if you accept that he peacefully reconquered Mecca, his tactics and methods were more brutal and vengeful than ICE's.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

"where power is wielded to love, to embrace, and to protect"

I guess all that killing in the Islamic world is just a far-right conspiracy story.

[Social Justice is neither]

I guess that is one way to describe the UK SE Asian Muslim rape gangs and their related depraved behavior.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Sure, let's bring in a million more men looking forward to getting their 9-year old wives.

[Incunabulum]

Someone should ask Mamdani how the Islamic states treat immigrants.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Federal prosecutors were told not to investigate Renee Good's killing.

They had previously outsourced that to social media anyway.

[mad.casual]

News: Bosses told the people who work for them what (not) to do.

What political prosecutions won't this administration engage in, separation of powers won't they tear down, plain old business, legal, and social norms *won't* they upend?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ghislaine Maxwell won't answer Congress' questions from prison.

If only we could put Congress in there with her anyway.

[Ra's al Gore]

Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler accepted gifts from Jeffrey Epstein, Reuters reveals
https://journalrecord.com/2026/02/06/goldman-sachs-lawyer-gifts-jeffrey-epstein/

Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler accepted gifts from late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and advised him on how to address press inquiries regarding his crimes, according to a Reuters review of emails among millions of documents the U.S. Department of Justice released last week.

Ruemmler, who was also White House counsel during the Obama administration, referred to Epstein in emails as “Uncle Jeffrey” and received gifts from him including wine and a handbag, the documents show.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

She was given the CIAs highest award under Biden after she left government to avoid it being public.

[Ra's al Gore]

Yes, Some Children May Have Died From COVID Shots
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/12/prasad-memo-covid-vaccine-deaths/685175/

[Ra's al Gore]

The secret messages behind the lab-leak cover-up Beijing was helped by a cabal of conspiring scientists
https://unherd.com/2023/07/the-secret-messages-behind-the-lab-leak-cover-up/

The Dane declared to his colleagues that the question they needed to answer was whether Covid emerged due to “evolution or engineering” since both were “really rather plausible” — as remains the case today. Andersen added that Garry would not want the virus to have arisen from “GOF escape” — a reference to controversial Gain of Function research, which boosts the infectivity of viruses and was banned for four years in the US. “The main thing still in my mind is that the lab escape version of this is so friggin’ likely to have happened because they were already doing this type of work and the molecular data is fully consistent with that scenario,” he said.

...Rambaut said revealingly that due to “the shit show that would happen if anyone serious accused the Chinese of even accidental release, my feeling is we should say given there is no evidence of a specifically engineered virus, we cannot possibly distinguish between natural evolution and escape so we are content with ascribing it to natural processes”. Andersen responded that he agreed this was “a very reasonable conclusion” despite hating “when politics is injected into science”. And this seemed to become their eventual template.

[Use the Schwartz]

"Rambaut said revealingly that due to “the shit show that would happen if anyone serious accused the Chinese of even accidental release."

I don't believe it was released accidentally by China. IMHO it was intentionally released to quell the Jasic Uprising that began in 2018.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

100% safe and effective with no downsides!

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

All at the low low price of hundreds of billions!

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

And permanent reset of attitudes towards liberty vs state compliance.

[Mickey Rat]

"The selection of Bad Bunny to headline the show sparked controversy in some corners of the right, partly for his history of liberal statements, partly because they think he isn't popular, and partly just because he's Puerto Rican."

Bad Bunny was controversial on the Right because he seems to be a raging Leftist, not a liberal. They think he is not popular because there is no common culture any more. I myself had never heard of the guy before he was announced as the headline performer. I do not know of anyone who against him for being Puerto Rican per se, but that he does not perform in English on this most American of sports spectacles.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Shakira sang in Spanish at the sb a few years ago. Nobody complained. Good show.

Bad Bunny was political and antagonistic for weeks leading up to the show.

His god bless america wasn't for the USA, it was for all the countries in America. Ironically trump gave a hat saying make Americas great again to Columbia's Petro.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

BUT TRUMP!

[mad.casual]

They think he is not popular because there is no common culture any more.

This has it a bit backwards.

There is common culture in the US. Even with immigrants. He's not in it. He's specifically famous because he's a culture-less globalist icon.

He's popular in lots of Spanish-speaking countries* and cities that, rather pointedly and/or accurately, share as much culture as the US and the UK or France or Germany (e.g. Mexico, Peru, Spain, Columbia, Chile) .

Very much akin to having a soccer match at halftime. Yeah, soccer is popular, but the people in Spain aren't watching soccer at halftime of the Superbowl because they share culture with the LatinX viewers in CA.

*NB: This is if you believe the Spotify numbers aren't absolute shit to begin with. Remember, when Elon purchased Twitter, the biggest sticking point was sussing out all the bullshit accounts inflating user numbers and trends specifically designed to fuck up objective valuation.

[Mickey Rat]

That might be even worse, as his fan base in the US is very limited, and the NFL is pandering to an international audience.

[mamabug]

If they went by spotify numbers, they should have had the Kpop Demon Hunter trio sing instead.

[mad.casual]

They're the wrong kind of white adjacent, so it's OK to exclude them.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"The selection of Bad Bunny to headline the show sparked controversy in some corners of the right, partly for his history of liberal statements, partly because they think he isn't popular, and partly just because he's Puerto Rican."

Mostly because he a freak-show. Do you go to the circus to see the bearded lady?

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Reason writers might... especially Robbie.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Sorry, Sevo, but bearded lady is now main stream urban hipster life.

[Ra's al Gore]

Ah, the glories of European govt healthcare - once US subsidies are removed, it ain't so successful.

Trump’s Attempt to Make Drugs Cheaper Is Pushing Up Prices in Other Countries
The president’s order is upending health care in Switzerland.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-04/trump-s-medicine-price-order-is-upending-health-care-in-switzerland

For the past few years, Swiss oncologist Christoph Renner has treated blood cancer patients with Lunsumio, a new drug that helps the immune system recognize and destroy malignant cells. Then, last summer, Renner got an email from Roche Holding AG, Lunsumio’s manufacturer, informing him the treatment would no longer be available in Switzerland because health insurers there wouldn’t pay for the infusions. “You see what’s possible,” says Renner, a professor at the University of Basel, “and then you’re told you can’t use it.”

The move was a response to rules President Donald Trump introduced that force drugmakers to reduce their prices in the US to the lowest level paid in other developed countries. In Switzerland, new medications typically cost far less than in the US, so in theory Americans should benefit from the change. The problem is, instead of bringing prices down in the US, pharmaceutical companies are raising them elsewhere.

[Mickey Rat]

American consumers were essentially subsidizing drug prices for the more welfare state countries because the US market was the only one where they could charge or the real total price of the drugs Most people have not understood the economics of health care, and thought the European model was normal.

[Ra's al Gore]

Oregon lawmaker calls for investigation into potential Medicaid fraud he says is linked to attempted murder
https://www.oregonlive.com/health/2025/09/oregon-lawmaker-calls-for-investigation-into-potential-medicaid-fraud-he-says-is-linked-to-attempted-murder.html

Rep. Ed Diehl, R-Stayton, cited reporting by Oregon Roundup, a Substack site run by Oregon-based writer Jeff Eager, that said an Oregon addiction recovery provider received more than $2.3 million in Medicaid reimbursements in less than a year to operate what Eager asserted was a halfway house that saw frequent police activity.

Diehl alleged the Lake Oswego halfway house was racked by crime and home to a person now charged with assault and attempted murder of a Washington woman.

According to public records Eager obtained, Uplifting Journey, LLC received $2,317,496 in Medicaid reimbursements between April 2024 and March 2025 for providing addiction recovery services under the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s Medicaid program that serves 1.4 million low income individuals and people with disabilities.

Most Medicaid payments in Oregon don’t come directly from the Oregon Health Authority but are authorized by a coordinated care organization such as Health Share of Oregon or Trillium Community Health Plan, which both oversee delivery of Medicaid services in Lake Oswego.

Uplifting Journey, founded in 2023, operated a halfway house in Lake Oswego that police visited 17 times between 2024 and 2025, according to reporting by The Post Millenial. Oregon Roundup reported that Medicaid payments to Uplifting Journey stopped in March, three days after a man accused of attempted murder in Seattle may have lived at the halfway house or was present at the premises.

In February, prosecutors in Seattle charged Kevin Daniel Sanabria Ojeda, 24, with kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder and said he lived at the halfway house in Lake Oswego.

[Ra's al Gore]

What Percentage of Our Economy Is Fake?
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2026/02/06/what-percentage-of-our-economy-is-fake-n3811322

Some of our fake economy is pure black market, but of course, much of it is straight from the government to fake businesses. Learing centers, hospices in junkyards, teachers' unions that do everything but help educate kids, and an academy that churns out fake scholarship.

Obviously, there is a sector of the economy that is fabulously productive that props up all this graft, and the federal government can borrow trillions of dollars to keep it all going. There is an America that works, even if the left is trying to kill it. The American entrepreneurial economy is still strong, but underneath that layer of actual productivity, how much of the rest is just...fake?

There is no accounting for all this for obvious reasons, but I wonder. How many of those run-down storefronts are the legal address for 5, 10, or 50 fake businesses?

[Ra's al Gore]

18 Percent of Fed-Funded Home Health Care Is in Los Angeles County, and Fraud Is Rampant
https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/02/02/18-percent-of-fed-funded-home-health-care-is-in-los-angeles-county-and-fraud-is-rampant-n4949014

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Fraud all the way down.

Reason - DOGE was terrible!

[Ra's al Gore]

Are landlords still evil?

Immigration Crackdown Creating 'Havoc' For Some Apartment Owners
https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/multifamily/immigration-policies-created-havoc-multifamily-sector-132949

Forty percent of apartment owners, developers and investors reported that recent immigration policies hurt leasing efforts and occupancy rates, according to a survey conducted by John Burns Research and Consulting for the National Apartment Association.

In Florida, where about 22% of the population is foreign-born, 67% of landlords polled reported a negative impact from immigration policy enforcement, according to the report. In Texas, 21% of owners and developers reported a significant negative impact, while another 26% said they felt a somewhat negative impact.

Immigration actions, including detentions and deportations, have meant some tenants simply vanish from their units. Other impacts include delayed or diminished payments.

“Not only did a lot of my tenants disappear, but slow paying became more of a norm, because people are living month to month trying to figure out if they're going to be here or not,” said Ariel Lopez, owner of South Florida-based multifamily landlord The Lopez Cos. “It's created a lot of havoc for the multifamily sector.”

Lopez owns 300 apartments in Miami-Dade County that today are operating at a 30% vacancy rate, he said. Typically, that rate is closer to 2%. He places the blame squarely on the federal government's immigration policies.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

But immigrants don’t cause higher rents!

[Ra's al Gore]

‘We’re Not Criminalizing the Unhoused’: How a Homeless Encampment and Drug Dealers Are Destroying a Local Condominium Complex and Turning Its Residents’ Lives Upside Down
Prince George’s County, Md, is going to court to evict legal residents over damage allegedly caused by the camp
https://freebeacon.com/america/were-not-criminalizing-the-unhoused-how-a-homeless-encampment-and-drug-dealers-are-destroying-a-local-condominium-complex-and-turning-its-residents-lives-upside-do/

HYATTSVILLE, Md.—The sign outside the Marylander Condominiums, a 200-unit complex in Prince George’s County, Md., describes it as a "private community."

But for members of a homeless encampment in the condo’s backyard, the complex also serves as a crackhouse, a bathroom, and the entrance to an open-air drug market, which has become a magnet for organized crime and caused millions in property damage.

Transients break into buildings and smoke crack in the stairwells. Tenants traversing the property must navigate needles, feces, and sleeping bodies as addicts nap half-naked in the hallways and sprawl themselves like welcome mats outside residents’ doors.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

I’m picturing the scene outside Biff Tannen’s casino.

[Mickey Rat]

How to make your society unlivable by enabling broken people's self-destructive behavior in 10 easy steps.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

Don't feed the vermin!

[damikesc]

The condo residents....vote overwhelmingly Democrat. Have for years. Screw 'em. This is what they wanted.

[The Angry Hippopotamus]

The real controversy of the day was the referee ruling a touchdown in the closing seconds of Puppy Bowl XXII to give Team Fluff the 73-69 victory.

Twilight Barkle clearly fumbled before getting the toy across the goal line.

[mtrueman]

I'm surprised the closure of the CIA World Factbook doesn't warrant a mention. It was easy to navigate, up to date, broadly scoped and authoritative, as far as I could discern. I used it sometimes as a reference, sometimes just had fun browsing. It gave each countries vital statistics, languages spoken, ethnic breakdown, economic and social indicators, telephone codes, time zones etc.

I remember referring to it during the Libya kerfuffle in the Obama years and how the book showed Libya to be so far ahead in so many ways compared to African and even European neighbors.

[Moderation4ever]

There is really no reason for a shutdown of DHS. Democrats have not called to abolish ICE or to defund ICE but rather offered a list to reform ICE that most Americans agree upon. Any shut down is on Republicans that just want to let ICE have free rein.

[Ra's al Gore]

Tlaib: ‘We Must Eliminate Funding for CBP, ICE’ and DHS
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/tlaib-we-must-eliminate-funding-for-cbp-ice-and-dhs/

Democrat Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib says that “we must eliminate funding for CBP, ICE and their parent organization DHS”

[Medulla Oblongata]

Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Other Democrats Push To Slash $75 Billion ICE Funding

Democrats push to abolish ICE, cut funding as possible government shutdown looms

All Democrats Backed Sanders Push to Repeal $75B for ICE to Undo Medicaid Cuts

Democrats’ plan to shut down ICE funding has already been foiled

‘Enough Is Enough’: Democrats Threaten Shutdown Over ICE Funding

https://www.aol.com/news/democrats-push-abolish-ice-cut-005151928.html among many others...

[Moderation4ever]

Your article is from 2021, that is five years ago. Let's deal with current events.

[Marshal]

I'm shocked that leftists assert "facts" completely without regard to whether they are true. Sometimes I find myself suspecting their only concern is whether their comments advance the narrative or not.

Totally shocking.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Swing and a miss.

Or more leftist bullshit.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Do your idiotic lies work on other retards?

[I, Woodchipper]

She never misses does she? ^

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'The selection of Bad Bunny to headline the show sparked controversy in some corners of the right, partly for his history of liberal statements, partly because they think he isn't popular, and partly just because he's Puerto Rican.'

Them darn racists!

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'Noam Chomsky's wife responds to the controversy over her husband's chummy relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.'

Was she happy that Noam stopped asking for anal?

[Mike Parsons]

the joke obviously wrote itself, but "manufacturing consent" certainly is a choice of a book title

[Moderation4ever]

I thought Bad Bunny deliver a performance that is pretty typical of Superbowl half time performances these days. If anyone politicized the show it was Trump. And difficult as it may be he looked even stupider than usual for this.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

Walz +6

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Parody +5.

[Mike Parsons]

"White leftist with correct opinions definitely had an amazing time bobbing his head along pretending to be interested while having no idea what was going on"

[Mike Parsons]

Important: new photo of Ghislane Maxwell speaking with Atlantic owner, reveals that MAXWELL HAS LOW KEY BEEN HIDING SOME FUCKING HONKERS

[Ska]

I have to admit it - that was the most interesting discovery about this in the last couple of years. Get the AT&T lady and her together for a solid bikini shoot.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Perhaps Epstein was a fan of Charlie Wilson, who might have said "You can teach them to type, but you can't teach them to grow tits."

[Ra's al Gore]

Gotta hide transcripts about Paki grooming

Government Orders Deletion of UK’s Largest Court Reporting Archive
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/02/09/government-orders-deletion-of-uks-largest-court-reporting-archive/

The Ministry of Justice is ordering the deletion of a large archive of court records, raising concerns that the Government is fleeing from transparency over failings in the justice system amid a string of murders and sex attacks by asylum seekers. The Times has the story.

[Ra's al Gore]

And now you know why they want 500K new immigrant voters

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist party sustained its second major loss in two months in a snap regional election, underlining the government’s waning support in large parts of the country.
https://x.com/business/status/2020616697569280429

[Truthteller1]

And half hearted praise on the left. WTF is your point other than mindlessly bleating sweet nothings to the herd?

[Ra's al Gore]

Which will guarantee it happens to someone else.

Why I Didn’t Report My Rape
In 2021, six men sexually assaulted me in a Las Vegas hotel room. Something more than abolitionism prevented me from reporting the crime.

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/why-i-didnt-report-my-rape/

he simple answer to the question of why I never reported the rape is that I believe in the abolition of police and prisons. The less simple, less articulate answer is that to pursue prosecuting and potentially incarcerating other people is inconceivable to me, even when they have hurt me more than I could have ever believed possible. Because of this, I can only vocalize what I want in negative and inherently impossible terms: that all I want is for it to never have happened. The prospect of being a participant in other peoples’ incarceration is as alien to me as anything could be, to the point that I can only conceive of it in childish terms—how silly and strange it would be to have a group of people incarcerated at my expense when doing so would do nothing to fix the damage they have already so thoroughly done.

[Mickey Rat]

"...how silly and strange it would be to have a group of people incarcerated at my expense when doing so would do nothing to fix the damage they have already so thoroughly done."

Absolutely no consideration for the harm they will likely do to some innocent person in the future. What do you get when there are no consequences for violating other persons?

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Chicago?

[mtrueman]

"What do you get when there are no consequences for violating other persons?"

If you're rich enough it might win you the presidency.

[charliehall]

The facts that it took until 2024 before anyone successfully sued or prosecuted Trump, and that Trump got out of the fines and walked on the felonies. proves that New York is indeed soft on crime.

On the other hand, there isn't much violent crime here in NYC anymore. January was an all time record low homicide rate. There were ZERO homicides in Manhattan last month. More people have died from the deep freeze weather. 🙁

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

Clinton wasn't that rich in '92.

[charliehall]

His salary was $35,000/year and he didn't own a home or even rent an apartment. He wasn't much better off at the end of his Presidency but he got a big book advance. He came from actual poverty, the first US President to do so since Lyndon Johnson.

[Square = Circle]

He came from actual poverty, the first US President to do so since Lyndon Johnson.

Do you ever fact check anything before you say it?

Clinton's maternal grandparents owned a grocery-store and his step-father co-owned a car dealership.

Johnson came from a political dynasty - his father grew up poor, but married the daughter of a former TX secretary of state and was himself a successful politician.

If you count these guys as having come from "actual poverty" I can only assume that you come from such a rich family that you don't see any difference between the guy who owns the store, the guy who works at the store (like Ronald Reagan's father did), and the guy who doesn't even have a job at all.

I wonder why you overlooked Reagan when talking about "poorest Presidents since Johnson?" Oh, wait - no I don't.

[mtrueman]

"I wonder why you overlooked Reagan when talking about "poorest Presidents since Johnson?" Oh, wait - no I don't."

Johnson was extremely poor as a young man. Read Caro's biography for details. It's an excellent work. I've been waiting for years for him to publish vol 3, his years as president. His 'political dynasty' background didn't do him much good. He attended perhaps the shittiest college in Texas and on graduation could only get work teaching poor Spanish speaking Mexicans in a decidedly non prestigious school on the border.

Reagan seems to have a solidly middle class background. You gotta go to Nixon if you want to highlight a Republican who grew up in difficult circumstances.

[Rick James]

First, we assume her 'rape' story is true. If her rape story IS true, then I feel less than zero sympathy for her. Because, as you suggest, she not only doesn't care about her own victimhood (which moves my gauge to zero sympathy) then she doesn't care about the next potential victim or would condemn any other victims of 'perpetuating patriarchal capitalism'. Sympathy moves into the negative.

If her story is untrue (which I strongly suspect-- and she has no evidence of it by her own definition), then she just falls into the same category of so many other narcissistic #MeToo lying victims, however, at least in this case, no one went to jail, lost their career or got canceled.

[mtrueman]

"then she doesn't care about the next potential victim or would condemn any other victims"

Why should she care more about the next potential victim that you care about her, an actual victim, according to your own assumption?

[Rick James]

Why should she care more about the next potential victim that you care about her, an actual victim, according to your own assumption?

Is this an intentionally retarded statement or are you just accidentally retarded?

If her story is true, and she's not willing to report it for her own selfish ideological retardation, then she is potentially condemning other people to be victims.

If a serial rapist were going house to house, announcing [his] intentions to the victims and the first person to be raped doesn't report the incident knowing he's about to go next door, then the first "victim" is condemning the next to [her] fate. Less than zero sympathy.

Again, if you're the victim of a crime and you make the conscious choice to not report it, then that is an ipso-facto condition of you not considering yourself a victim. Zero sympathy.

[mtrueman]

"Is this an intentionally retarded statement or are you just accidentally retarded?"

It is entirely intentional and was the only suitable response to your ill conceived comment.

"then she is potentially condemning other people to be victims."

Everyone is entitled to their own principled retardation. And morally, she's not obliged to act in ways that are an insult to her conscience. And sending her perpetrators to prison is certainly no guarantee that these men will never rape again. Prison rape in the US is so common that it's a cliche, the punch line to thousands of jokes in sitcoms, standup routines and movies.

"Again, if you're the victim of a crime and you make the conscious choice to not report it, then that is an ipso-facto condition of you not considering yourself a victim."

You're contradicting yourself. A victim is a victim regardless of who he or she talks to after the fact.

"Zero sympathy."

You said as much the first time around. Yet you expect her to have concern for non existent victims. And how about your excusing her rapists? If she's not a victim, her rapists did nothing wrong. What precisely is a victim? My online resource offers the following: "One who is harmed or killed by another, especially by someone committing a criminal or unlawful act. " Not a victim? Then no harm, no criminal act. Despicable.

[Mickey Rat]

Even if her story about being raped is untrue, she is still advocating for doing nothing about horrendous violations of rights that happen to other people.

[mtrueman]

"she is still advocating for doing nothing"

That's not what the original post says. It says she's advocating for the abolition of prisons. Apparently a cause she thinks outweighs her personal suffering. If you didn't pick up on this the first time around, try again. Here it is in full:

"Which will guarantee it happens to someone else.

Why I Didn’t Report My Rape
In 2021, six men sexually assaulted me in a Las Vegas hotel room. Something more than abolitionism prevented me from reporting the crime.

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/why-i-didnt-report-my-rape/

he simple answer to the question of why I never reported the rape is that I believe in the abolition of police and prisons. The less simple, less articulate answer is that to pursue prosecuting and potentially incarcerating other people is inconceivable to me, even when they have hurt me more than I could have ever believed possible. Because of this, I can only vocalize what I want in negative and inherently impossible terms: that all I want is for it to never have happened. The prospect of being a participant in other peoples’ incarceration is as alien to me as anything could be, to the point that I can only conceive of it in childish terms—how silly and strange it would be to have a group of people incarcerated at my expense when doing so would do nothing to fix the damage they have already so thoroughly done."

[Mickey Rat]

OK, perhaps I did not make my meaning clear. She is advocating doing nothing to provide disincentives to criminal activity, even crimes that hurt people, because of an aversion to meting out punishment. Frankly, it is the natural progression of the anti-capital punishment argument, because the state is inherently untrustworthy and punishment is mean spirited and violates the criminal's rights.

[mtrueman]

I agree with your restatement here. But it's a bit premature to say she is advocating doing nothing to disincentivize crime. She doesn't approve of incarceration, to be sure, but for all we know approves of restitution in the form of payments, for example. She hints as much in her saying that jailing the perpetrators at her expense would do nothing to fix the damage done to her.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

She appears to have enjoyed being a victim, and wants more .

[mad.casual]

Yeah, "victim".

If you get assaulted by six people in a Vegas hotel room and, somehow, don't involve the cops/EMTs; either you owe the wrong people money and they've pledged to hurt your friends/family *or* you weren't really a victim of anything.

[Rick James]

That's why I suspect her story isn't true. Everything about this feels like shallow clout-chasing. And by her own definition, there's literally no proof.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"Which will guarantee it happens to someone else."

The woman is well and truly down that road to hell.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

We've found the new archetype for "dumb cunt".

[Super Scary]

The sad part is that her vote counts just as much as ours.

[Spiritus Mundi]

I know you mean 'ours' as in each one of us individually, but I wouldn't be surprised if she is in the vote early and often crowd.

[mad.casual]

Which will guarantee it happens to someone else.

Assuming it happened at all.

It sounds primarily like shit that didn't happen. Secondarily, buyer's remorse that has been rationalized.

Six guys supposedly engaged in a sexual assault but, Jackie Coakley fashion, she didn't end up in a pool of her own blood with her friends calling the ER? The hotel she stayed at has no interest in making sure other guests aren't sexually assaulted by roving gangs of men in their hallways?

If it happened at all; she brought six poor, inner city guys who are just as talented and just as bright as White gamblers in Vegas, got ran through, and convinced herself it was an act of social justice. She didn't file charges against 6 drunk, gambling, Vegas horndogs that she lured back to her room in the name of social justice. How magnanimous.

Notable Facts:
- "Anna Krauthamer is a writer and doctoral candidate in English Literature at Columbia University."
- She's mid. a kind 5 (out of 10) at best.

[damikesc]

I'm glad she feels she is worthy of rape. She probably is.

The other women she sentenced to rape are not.

May she swallow a bullet.

I've never been a big "Repeal the 19th" guy. But I am seeing the justification.

[Social Justice is neither]

Hopefully nobody inclined to criminality reads The Nation because there is a line of logic where her declaration translates into her broadcasting an easy and consequence-free target for future robberies and rapes.

[Marshal]

I can't get to the story but I don't believe this. This is how left wingers pledge their loyalty to the cause.

[bill steigerwald]

After Prince nailed it, the NFL's idiots in charge should have quit all future Super Bowl halftime shows and simply had a man, a dog and a frisbee do their thing until play resumed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WYYlRArn3g

[charliehall]

I remember when they had college marching bands.

[Rick James]

Like Prince did?

[Medulla Oblongata]

Usually don't watch the Super Bowl, but we had a houseguest this weekend who wanted to watch, mostly to see the commercials.

Didn't care for the halftime show but that's only partly because of the "insult" of it vs just not being my type of entertainment.

I do remember being interested enough in the past to see Aerosmith, Prince (!!), Michael Jackson, and the Black Eyed Peas. Oh and the Blues Brothers that one year. Probably nothing since the Peas has been music I listen to--couldn't even name one if my lift depended on it--and hence had about zero interest in sticking around for a half-time show.

[JFree]

So basically a Puerto Rican found a way to trigger a bunch of old farts into yapping "Get off my lawn"

[Mickey Rat]

More like "I don't know who you are or why I should want to".

[Rick James]

The Wall Street Journal reports on endemic fraud in the federal government's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

Amazing what merely 50 migrants and a conservative youtuber can do to influence the direction of reporting of the corporate media.

[Neutral not Neutered]

Of fucking course you have to make a slur at the right in any and every article you write. Fuck off.

"the show sparked controversy in some corners of the right,"

Citation of the "some corners on the right' now asshole. And prove no centrist corners or leftists corners didn't "spark controversy" because he's Puerto Rican or spews liberal in spanish.

So fucking sick and tired of the accusations that racism only exists on the right when racism exists everywhere on earth that humans of all races exist and are racists against each other. It is not just a white problem. It sure as fuck isn't just a conservative problem.

Bad Bunny is not a good singer. His sound actually sucks.

Ricky Martin and Lady gaga made the most of it for him and helped carry the show. Certainly the music was fine.

Bad Bunnies voice sucks. I don't understand Spanish well enough to know what he was saying so don't care about any attempted message, liberal, marxist, Anti American or whatever it was...

[mad.casual]

Noam Chomsky's wife responds to the controversy over her husband's chummy relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

My favorite part is where Noam Chomsky, "father of modern linguistics", analytical philosopher and cognitive scientist is a childishly naive moron who is easily manipulated, face to face, by relatively mundane* pedophile.

No "scholarly debate" post mortem. No grand brain trust to reframe Noam or Noam's thinking. Just straight up, Noam was a good-natured guy who inadvertently fell in with a pedophile the way your grandma might fall for a time share or Nigerian Prince scam.

*While very high profile, it's not like Epstein had stacks of bodies to his name *and* engaged in pedophilia or had freezers full of minors' body parts or anything.

[Medulla Oblongata]

"The Babylon Bee To Host Even More Patriotic Halftime Show Where Clarence Thomas Just Stands There And Reads Constitution"

"Take that, Kid Rock," said Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon. "We see your adorable little halftime show lineup, and we raise you Clarence friggin' Thomas. We have turned the patriotism up to eleven, my friends. Check and mate."

[mad.casual]

Sponsored by Coca-Cola

[Social Justice is neither]

The anti-white training Coca-Cola? No way. Now, I'd believe Mercedes or VW...

[mad.casual]

OT (apparently): Is anyone else getting "We didn't know she was that old/feeble!" vibes from the media coverage of LIndsey Vonn?

Sorry Lindsey, this is skiing, not football, and you aren't Dick Butkus, Patrick Mahomes, or Tom Brady.

[Rick James]

In defense of Vonn, the media spent *thinks* 6 years telling us Biden was the Best Biden Ever, fit, rested and ready, sharp as a tack, and whatever mumbling, stumbling, bumbling incoherency he engaged in was merely a late stage stylistic quirk... you know, like Neil Young's "Harvest Moon".

They can be forgiven for believing Vonn's (remembers Vonn documentary from 5 years ago) 80 yr old knees were up to the task. Hell, I believed it... kind of...

[mad.casual]

I totally get Vonn's perspective. I haven't lost a step in the last decade (and a half) either (knocks on wood). I said/keep saying it in front of the broodlings.

She wants to go down the mountain as a coach or commentator or whatever, fine. But even if her knees were 3D printed from titanium yesterday, she's not going to get anywhere near the podium and after a torn ACL, it really looks a lot like elder abuse.

Even right before the run they were saying how Breezy or Wiles or Aicher has youth, but not experience. Again, we aren't talking about Tom Brady beating a younger competitor strategically. It is/was a race based on physical capacity against 20 yr. olds. There's no amount of wisdom that overcomes a torn ACL right before the race.

[Mike Parsons]

"Again, we aren't talking about Tom Brady beating a younger competitor strategically. It is/was a race based on physical capacity against 20 yr. olds."

Ya, the apt comparison would be a retired running back, nursing an injury, vs a competitive one that's in their 20s.

Its so outlandish when you think about it. I really think everyone involved wanted the feel good story of the veteran hanging with the young-guns, and that narrative crashed roughly 70 mph into a wall of sorts. This is what happens with overly 'toxic positivity' environments. No one willing to stand up and say "ermmm....we can all see this is a bad idea...right?"

[Bubba Jones]

Vonn won a world cup race in December 25. As of January 17 Vonn was on top of this year's Downhill standings.

This took 20 seconds to google.

2025/2026 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup: Downhill Standings - Women (updated on 17 January)
Position
Skier
Points
1.
Lindsey Vonn (USA)
400
2.
Emma Aicher (GER)
256
3.
Kira Weidle-Winkelmann (GER)
232
4.
Laura Pirovano (ITA)
207
5.
Nicol Delago (ITA)
180

[charliehall]

Vonn has more titles than all three of those combined.

[Mike Parsons]

Mike Tyson also had more titles and knock outs, but got beat by Jake Paul in a sad match.

You cant do every sport forever, time and age are unforgiving

[mad.casual]

Mike Tyson also had more titles and knock outs, but got beat by Jake Paul in a sad match.

In a match that was scheduled to be exhibition until the 11th hour, still had 2 minute rounds, and used 14 oz. gloves.

Again, Vonn is/was supposed to have experience/wisdom. Doesn't really look good for her or the sport that she took some other female downhill skier's spot (or didn't?) in order to break her own leg that was iffy to begin with. As indicated, there's a case to be had for Mahomes or Brady, QBs on teams that had relied on for the better part of a season, or several, and whose injuries were "forced" and/or the result of the opposition's actions, but this is skiing.

Not really any less dumb (and maybe a little more) than if Brady had come out of retirement last night.

[Mickey Rat]

She was skiing hurt in an event where, if things go wrong, they go catastrophically wrong.

[Marshal]

The selection of Bad Bunny to headline the show sparked controversy in some corners of the right...and partly just because he's Puerto Rican.

This is a lie. Pathetic but completely expected.

For people who need something political to argue about

Notice the pretentious framing as if he's not one of the "people" who need something to argue about. The entertainment was picked so left wingers could call people they hate racist, and Britschgi was happy to play that role.

[Marshal]

Peak Britschgi:

The endless partisanship and culture-war bickering is tiresome.

Summary: Hyper-partisan culture warrior pretends to find the culture war "tiresome" despite relentlessly fighting it.

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

+1

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

Pffft… does this guy even use mass transit in a large urban area? If not, he is the problem he complains about. Duh.

I learned that here.

[Social Justice is neither]

Look, if evil conservatives would just roll over and die quietly then left-"libertarians" wouldn't be forced to vocally side with Marxists.

[Incunabulum]

>The selection of Bad Bunny to headline the show sparked controversy in some corners of the right, partly for his history of liberal statements, partly because they think he isn't popular, and partly just because he's Puerto Rican.

I guess the mask is slipping? If Britches thinks his past statements were 'liberal'?

[Minadin]

What was funny was when the TPUSA 'alternate' halftime show featuring a washed-up Kid Rock got 10 million live views and 25 million social media streams, which is apparently roughly 30,000 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premieres.

[Eeyore]

It's now the second most streamed show on Paramount. I think the negative press worked. I think if you are a card carrying queer you are now required to watch it in order to keep your gay card.

[JFree]

When Trump xed the dancing was disgusting, especially for young children that are watching around the USA and the world

Well - it made me realize that he and his elites wanted to use the opportunity of a Super Bowl to instead model a more righteous form of role model for the children of his goon cult. Say - by protecting Jeffrey Epstein.

Fortunately the Toilet Paper halftime show alt-modeled those immortal lyrics by Kid Rock Young ladies young ladies I like em underage see some say that's statutory but I say its mandatory for a children's movie. Showing how much the alt-right culture warriors love children.

[Public Entelectual]

Will Denmark do the deal if Trump offers Puerto Rico in exchange for Greenland ?

[vanessaa]

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