The Perennial Fried Computer Open Thread

LGF • Views: 30,964

Yes, that’s me pictured above. Two days ago my main desktop computer suddenly went supernova. I was about to start uploading the latest version of a project I’ve been working on, and both monitors flickered, then went dark. There was a sort of ominous click sound from the Mac Pro, and I was sitting there basically thinking, “Oh shit,” when the computer’s internal fan suddenly began running VERY loud in a way I’d never heard before.

Obviously not good.

So I held the power button for five seconds to force a shutdown. That worked. I waited a couple of minutes, pushed the power button hoping to hear the happy Mac startup chime, and nothing. The power LED came on, but nothing else happened. No hard drives spinning up. Silence. I was bereft. He’s dead, Jim.

Yes, I tried again, after waiting longer. Still dead.

Since this is a 2008 model Mac Pro, good luck finding someone who can repair it for a reasonable price, but I did speak to a guy who told me it sounded like something on the motherboard failed and overheated and set off the fan, and it would probably be cheaper to find a similar model on eBay.

That’s what I ended up doing. Got one that’s listed as “new” from a reputable seller, and it actually has almost twice the RAM and a bigger startup drive for a reasonable price. I’m pretty sure at this point that the internal hard drives in the dead Mac Pro are still OK, so I should be able to simply swap them into the replacement. So maybe it will be better in the long run, which is always nice if it happens.

This old warhorse lasted 12 years, so it had a good life. It was just its time to go.

In the meantime until the new box gets here, I’m using a MacBook Pro that’s almost as old as the computer that croaked, and it’s amazing how many things you don’t realize you’ve installed on your main computer until it dies and you don’t have them.

So that’s what I’ve been up to all day. What’s up with you?

Jump to bottom

313 comments
1
BigPapa  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:03:17pm

Sorry about your fried computer. I hope you get back to OK Computer ASAP.

2
PhillyPretzel  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:05:22pm

I know that feeling. I think I have mentioned when my Dell died and with only 3 hours of sleep I went to the King of Prussia Apple store in the middle of the holiday shopping season. I still remember giving that poor salesman a hard time until I told him the story of the dead Dell. I walked out of the Apple Store with a brand new MacBook Pro.

3
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:06:41pm
4
PhillyPretzel  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:08:11pm

re: #3 Dread Pirate Ron

Isn’t VP Pence in Colorado at the moment?

5
(((Archangel1)))  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:09:19pm

While i’m a PC dude whose experience with macbooks is rather limited (not many in this corner of the globe, and my experience is mostly repairing the family’s rigs), at the hardware level there’s not supposed to be much difference in principle.
So if you’re new laptop that’s the same as the dead laptop and the problem was the motherboard, swapping the HDD from the dead one to the new one should basically get you your old system back.
It’s worked well for me with Windows operating systems (most I ever needed to do was update a one or two drivers), so hopefully it’ll follow the same with Mac.

6
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:09:42pm

re: #4 PhillyPretzel

Isn’t VP Pence in Colorado at the moment?

Just left.

7
thedopefishlives  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:09:46pm

I mentioned before, I can empathize with the “you never know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone” part. When I got my gaming computer back up and running after 4 years of non-use, the patching was endless and it took several hours to install all the software it needed to be able to just run the VPN client to connect to my work laptop, where all my actual work is done. God forbid if I had to install all of THAT over again.

8
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:10:58pm

re: #4 PhillyPretzel

Isn’t VP Pence in Colorado at the moment?

Vail I think.

9
Nyet  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:11:26pm

Co-editing a Russian document collection on the Treblinka extermination camp.

10
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:12:50pm
This old warhorse lasted 12 years, so it had a good life.

Very good ROI.

11
Charles Johnson  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:16:42pm

re: #7 thedopefishlives

I mentioned before, I can empathize with the “you never know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone” part. When I got my gaming computer back up and running after 4 years of non-use, the patching was endless and it took several hours to install all the software it needed to be able to just run the VPN client to connect to my work laptop, where all my actual work is done. God forbid if I had to install all of THAT over again.

I spent a good part of today trying to install the Homebrew package manager on the Macbook laptop, so I could install some of the development tools I was using on the Mac Pro, but it really doesn’t want to work with this older OS and I still haven’t gotten it running.

I installed Homebrew on the old desktop machine years ago and have gradually upgraded it so that it still runs. But starting from scratch with it on an outdated OS is a bitch.

12
(((Archangel1)))  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:18:33pm

re: #7 thedopefishlives

Backups are your friend.
I make digital images of my system every 3-4 weeks - I start the backup process just before I turn in for sleep and wake up to a backed up system.
One of the most painful losses I had was 9 years ago when my computer HDD suffered internal mechanical failure and died. Lost so many important things in one go, including half of that month’s work project, at least one university project, a lot of personal photos and videos that weren’t backed up, content from a relative who passed away and more.

Also bitcoin I’d mined for months (was worth maybe $10 at the time, so was the least of my worries. Sadly stopped after that, to my eternal regret).

13
William Lewis  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:18:38pm
This old warhorse lasted 12 years, so it had a good life. It was just its time to go.

Macs are the only PCs I’ve seen that come close to real computer (aka Sun, DEC, etc) life spans.

Still, keeping a 68k mac going is a bit much magic these days so I only do emulation these days. Basilisk II gives me a Mac Quadra 950 (40mhz 68040) with 136 mb ram, 2 1gb disks and all my games and apps from the olden days. Only thing it doesn’t do is emulate the MMU so no Mach Ten or A/UX.

Makes a nice directory on my 64gb USB stick.

14
thedopefishlives  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:18:51pm

re: #11 Charles Johnson

I spent a good part of today trying to install the Homebrew package manager on the Macbook laptop, so I could install some of the development tools I was using on the Mac Pro, but it really doesn’t want to work with this older OS and I still haven’t gotten it running.

I installed Homebrew on the old desktop machine years ago and have gradually upgraded it so that it still runs. But starting from scratch with it on an outdated OS is a bitch.

Yeah. That’s definitely a thing. Some years ago, I had an older Mac Mini that we used as a build machine for our iOS projects at my company. We managed to break it once, and restoring the Xcode version on the outdated OS was … not trivial, as I’m sure you know now. In a lesser vein, I’ve had problems with deprecated packages on Linux Docker images that have broken builds more recently.

15
The Pie Overlord!  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:21:06pm

I have always kept two systems, laptop and desktop. When my desktop fried last summer, it turned out I just needed a new power supply. I bought a new Dell Inspiron to replace the desktop. If I want to retrieve stuff to the new system I have a 2012 Lenovo laptop which still works great.

I need to upgrade my website. It’s been online since 1997 and the last time I did a front-end overhaul was in 2011, changing all the javascript to CSS. It’s a history archive.

The FTP password is on the Lenovo.

Anyway that is my project for 2021. I mean, I am not working any more so I have no excuse except that I am lazy and would rather hang out at LGF.

16
Charles Johnson  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:21:56pm
17
The Pie Overlord!  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:24:40pm

re: #16 Charles Johnson

That stuff is scary. It’s not fun like a giant bubble bath. Some people in Australia lost their dog in that shit (but they found it & it was OK).

19
BigPapa  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:27:03pm

I abhor snobbery. But I have 4 computers. Because reasons.

The Beast is work, then there’s the work from home slice, then the work lappy, then the crappy lappy that angers me to no end.

20
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:27:51pm
21
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:30:23pm
22
Sherlock Hound  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:30:31pm

re: #19 BigPapa

I abhor snobbery. But I have 4 computers. Because reasons.

The Beast is work, then there’s the work from home slice, then the work lappy, then the crappy lappy that angers me to no end.

I have a Windows desktop, a Windows tablet, an Android tablet and a pile of Raspberry Pi boards and other assorted dev boards.

I can’t work with only one machine.

23
The Pie Overlord!  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:30:54pm

re: #21 Dread Pirate Ron

24
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:31:46pm

re: #23 The Pie Overlord!

25
Charles Johnson  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:33:03pm

re: #18 The Pie Overlord!

[Embedded content]

Dogs should never be allowed to frolic in foam.

26
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:35:30pm
27
Jack Burton  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:35:40pm

All of this arguing about 600 or 2000… it’s meaningless. Neither of these are what is needed. Other countries are giving people 2000 a month. Not once or twice. Sure anything helps a little. But when your rent for one month is almost as much or more than 2k… (and BTW I’m paying by far the cheapest rent of anyone I know in the county that isn’t in a studio apartment or just renting a room.)

All I hear is “Twice nothing is still nothing.”

Extending unemployment or getting something out to people monthly until this shit is over is the only thing that matters. The only plus from this particular argument is just how bad, evil, and stupid it makes the GOP and Trump look.

28
rhuarc  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:35:42pm

re: #19 BigPapa

I abhor snobbery. But I have 4 computers. Because reasons.

The Beast is work, then there’s the work from home slice, then the work lappy, then the crappy lappy that angers me to no end.

Maybe I’m the snob for saying this, but 4 computers in a single household seems like not a lot. I have 8 PCs and laptops (6 personal, 2 work). 5 or so tablets. 4 Raspberry Pis.

Granted I do work in the IT industry and not all those machines are actively used on any type of regular basis, but they are here. Yep, I am a snob. :)

29
BlueSpotinAL  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:36:51pm

re: #19 BigPapa

I abhor snobbery. But I have 4 computers. Because reasons.

The Beast is work, then there’s the work from home slice, then the work lappy, then the crappy lappy that angers me to no end.

All this computer talk reminds me that my PC build is 10 years old (except graphics card), and to start preparing for a new rig. It is hard to get rid of functional parts, so I have way too many old parts from prior builds.

MsRedSpot does PC laptops only. Hers started doing blue screen of death every time she touched it. I took it, installed Ubuntu, and hardly a problem since. The irony is that the laptop was an Asus zenbook purchased from Microsoft.

30
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:37:10pm

re: #27 Jack Burton

I don’t know what all the landlords are thinking. All of their tenants and everyone else’s tenants are about to be unable to make rent.

31
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:37:42pm

Today’s Covid numbers, Missouri not reporting.

32
thedopefishlives  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:37:56pm

re: #28 rhuarc

Not all my equipment is “computers”. I have 5 IBM-compatible PCs (two relatively modern towers and three ancient creaky laptops that are only really good for Web browsing); however, I also have two PS4’s, a PS3, a PS2, an Xbox One, and a Nintendo Switch as far as machines that are capable of connecting to my network.

33
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:38:00pm

How are evictions profitable for property owners?

34
thedopefishlives  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:39:11pm

re: #33 jaunte

How are evictions profitable for property owners?

In any ordinary time, evicting a deadbeat tenant is profitable because the space can then be rented to someone who can make the payments. However, in a pandemic, that market is suppressed; I don’t think the economics of that have been fully thought through yet, by anyone.

35
Nyet  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:39:14pm

re: #23 The Pie Overlord!

Romney?

36
teleskiguy  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:39:32pm

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

37
thedopefishlives  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:40:32pm

re: #32 thedopefishlives

Oh, and that’s not counting two smart TV’s which I added within the last year, either.

38
Jack Burton  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:42:06pm

re: #31 Dread Pirate Ron

Looks like the post thanksgiving peak started to go down and the Christmas surge in case is just starting.

Even people I know who *were* taking COVID seriously, did severely dumb shit over the holidays. It will take a miracle for there to not be a relative bloodbath over the next month or so.

39
William Lewis  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:42:12pm

re: #22 Sherlock Hound

I have a Windows desktop, a Windows tablet, an Android tablet and a pile of Raspberry Pi boards and other assorted dev boards.

I can’t work with only one machine.

Just sticking to hardware…
Windows 10/AMD Ryzen 5 2400G
Dell Decelleron Laptop, broken upgrade of FreeBSD (sigh…)
Sun Sunblade 2500 Silver
DEC Alphastation 200 4/233
Mac SE/30 - video board dead
IBM Thinkpad 760XL
Toshiba P75 laptop
Mac Mini G4

I have, alas, sold off way too much good stuff…

Sun Blade 100, SGI Octane 2, IBM RT/PC, Sun E4000, and far too many other good machines to count. I keep wanting another SGI but they’re hitting the point were even the R12000 machines can no longer do real world work but lord they’re elegant architectures. Still my old Sun can out perform them.

40
retired cynic  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:42:15pm

re: #36 teleskiguy

yMJhfo84aRKlegHZZ8S5y5dtAqo1k8rXtSbyu1rCQp7T5OeBk482ydRu27ynSAPZlAdEm5M1l0BOBAc85ce0ruwYBw9LbEICgsQhDc/FtDaJho9K57zQLMDTkBFXLfJq1UUSEhc4Cp/00DCqV+q5hSirCE6WWPVxTVZXUX+VAkSnWjTpPFRH321vbryOFfHLfy3S8eUjYLNuyfIqjyxlYb/DvZSgNyHhRSaHqthmBv1NTngLvRXg/oymxGAjTOJKNu9TZ9fF/LP25lrPRCxLCfKYSvPZxekG4R8kajLDHyo2KP31LoZgFw==

41
Jay C  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:43:25pm
“Yes, that’s me pictured above”

I thought you’d be taller….

42
danarchy  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:43:49pm

re: #28 rhuarc

Maybe I’m the snob for saying this, but 4 computers in a single household seems like not a lot. I have 8 PCs and laptops (6 personal, 2 work). 5 or so tablets. 4 Raspberry Pis.

Granted I do work in the IT industry and not all those machines are actively used on any type of regular basis, but they are here. Yep, I am a snob. :)

Heh, I won’t go into how many computers and tablets I have in my house, but let’s just say I currently have 5 laptops in my car.

43
teleskiguy  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:46:11pm
44
wrenchwench  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:47:51pm

re: #36 teleskiguy

[Embedded content]

mHYDdlk+5YDyrTtR6llBghSdVyJG9YnrH3wzwdbi2+FUB6+uLJh6+27kGDbsQxG+SKaukYCAqE3D2mjyFKW6UbovZfrr59CVWTDkJFNCLPua93p8lFh0KVCRHZ8IIxU/

45
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:47:58pm

re: #26 jaunte

I guess making bombs falls under the second amendment.

46
thedopefishlives  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:48:40pm

re: #45 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

I guess making bombs falls under the second amendment.

People have joked about the Second Amendment meaning that private owners should be allowed to have nukes, but let’s be honest, if the NRA had its way…

47
teleskiguy  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:48:52pm

re: #43 teleskiguy

48
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:49:07pm

re: #45 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

I get the feeling if he had had a darker complexion his lawyer wouldn’t have been able to deter the police from taking a closer look.

49
William Lewis  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:49:20pm

re: #39 William Lewis

And for giggles, on my USB stick are currently -

Hitachi & Steem - Atari ST & TT emulators
WinUAE - Amiga emulator
Previous - NextStep Emulator
Basilisk II - Mac 68k emulator
Qemu - mostly for SPARC emulation
Simh - PDP-10, PDP-11 & VAX emulation

I love playing with emulators :D

50
danarchy  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:50:35pm

re: #27 Jack Burton

All of this arguing about 600 or 2000… it’s meaningless. Neither of these are what is needed. Other countries are giving people 2000 a month. Not once or twice. Sure anything helps a little. But when your rent for one month is almost as much or more than 2k… (and BTW I’m paying by far the cheapest rent of anyone I know in the county that isn’t in a studio apartment or just renting a room.)

All I hear is “Twice nothing is still nothing.”

Extending unemployment or getting something out to people monthly until this shit is over is the only thing that matters. The only plus from this particular argument is just how bad, evil, and stupid it makes the GOP and Trump look.

Well they did extend the $300/week of enhanced pandemic unemployment insurance until early april. I think that should be where the argument is, for me that should have been in the neighborhood of $500/week. Sending a single stimulus check to a bunch of people who have not had a drop in income seems pointless.

51
The Pie Overlord!  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:50:40pm

re: #35 Nyet

Romney?

Rick Scott is also missing.

52
Hecuba's daughter  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:51:34pm

re: #35 Nyet

Romney?

Very strange — for some reason he isn’t appearing on certain lists of the wealthiest Senators. An article from 2018 specified his wealth was between 73.7 million and 271 million, more than enough to qualify for this list.

53
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:51:41pm

re: #28 rhuarc

Maybe I’m the snob for saying this, but 4 computers in a single household seems like not a lot. I have 8 PCs and laptops (6 personal, 2 work). 5 or so tablets. 4 Raspberry Pis.

Granted I do work in the IT industry and not all those machines are actively used on any type of regular basis, but they are here. Yep, I am a snob. :)

Most I’ve had at one time are two. Used to be a work laptop and a home desktop or laptop. Now it’s “current” laptop* and the previous one held as a backup.

* - Another Dell Inspiron owner here.

54
Jack Burton  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:53:53pm

re: #43 teleskiguy

I can guarantee this shit will stop from people with “positions” and things to lose if they start getting dragged into court and charged or fined. You can’t just dox or make up shit about companies and regular people like you can “public figures.”

The second Dominion decided… “OK, it’s lawsuit time you fuckos!” everyone but KRAKEN Powell (who is very probably insane), shut up about them really fast and spent days walking back all their bullshit while trying to get that memo out to their mindless meatbag followers about it.

55
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:56:28pm

re: #34 thedopefishlives

In any ordinary time, evicting a deadbeat tenant is profitable because the space can then be rented to someone who can make the payments. However, in a pandemic, that market is suppressed; I don’t think the economics of that have been fully thought through yet, by anyone.

One additional factor would be the difference in utility costs between an occupied and an empty apartment/property depending on who is paying for the utilities.

(Though I expect for many landlords granting some leeway in hopes the tenant can eventually catch up on payments is better than empty. Not to mention that contested evictions cost money.)

56
teleskiguy  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:57:41pm

This guy just died of covid.

57
thedopefishlives  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:58:22pm

re: #55 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)

One additional factor would be the difference in utility costs between an occupied and an empty apartment/property depending on who is paying for the utilities.

(Though I expect for many landlords granting some leeway in hopes the tenant can eventually catch up on payments is better than empty. Not to mention that contested evictions cost money.)

That is true; many managed properties around here collect utilities as part of the unit rent, which puts the burden of payment on the landlord. I had to pay my own utilities early, which was an awful lot of fun in a converted lake cabin that had a terrible winter draft (and a broken thermostat, though I didn’t know it until after I moved out).

58
Jack Burton  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:58:40pm

re: #50 danarchy

Sending a single stimulus check to a bunch of people who have not had a drop in income seems pointless.

This. Exactly.

59
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:59:03pm

re: #34 thedopefishlives

It surprises me, because as a decidedly non-galaxy brain person who is not a mega landlord I see broke people can’t rent.

60
FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt'n😷Trips  Dec 29, 2020 • 6:59:54pm

re: #56 teleskiguy

61
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:00:16pm

re: #52 Hecuba’s daughter

Very strange — for some reason he isn’t appearing on certain lists of the wealthiest Senators. An article from 2018 specified his wealth was between 73.7 million and 271 million, more than enough to qualify for this list.

Buried it off in trusts perhaps. Or the researcher simply had some very bad search criteria that missed joint accounts or something.

62
thedopefishlives  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:01:02pm

re: #58 Jack Burton

This. Exactly.

I’m gonna argue this one a little bit. If you’re still on your original pre-pandemic income, you could still see an increase in spending due to, e.g., with my kids home from school our grocery bills have greatly increased, which has put a strain on what were otherwise stable finances that offsets the gain from my not having to drive to work; contrariwise, you could also make the argument that giving such people a stimulus would help improve the economy because they would be willing to spend it on consumer goods, especially around this time of year, as opposed to having to put it into necessities. But I understand the sentiment you’re coming from, and there’s a strong argument to be made for it.

63
Dangerman  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:02:59pm

64
thedopefishlives  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:03:47pm

re: #63 Dangerman

[Embedded content]

Oh God, I see this picture and I think of the Mall of America and simpler times pre-pandemic and I almost want to cry.

65
danarchy  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:03:51pm

re: #59 jaunte

It surprises me, because as a decidedly non-galaxy brain person who is not a mega landlord I see broke people can’t rent.

Not everyone is broke, the pandemic has had very uneven effects. A lot of small landlords who only have maybe a single duplex or house to rent may even want to evict so they can unload the property. There are lot’s of private equity firms willing to buy at a discount. And if it is a single family home that is being rented, housing prices in many locations have been going up even during the pandemic. I know people getting above asking price within days of listing.

66
FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt'n😷Trips  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:05:48pm
67
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:06:16pm

re: #65 danarchy

Considering the progress of vaccinations, they must be working on a long time horizon.

68
teleskiguy  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:06:19pm
69
BlueSpotinAL  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:08:27pm

re: #65 danarchy

Not everyone is broke, the pandemic has had very uneven effects. A lot of small landlords who only have maybe a single duplex or house to rent may even want to evict so they can unload the property. There are lot’s of private equity firms willing to buy at a discount. And if it is a single family home that is being rented, housing prices in many locations have been going up even during the pandemic. I know people getting above asking price within days of listing.

Houses in my neighborhood sell within hours. The effect on income is very uneven, so stable job plus low interest rates plus lower spending on travel, eating out, etc = able to afford bigger house.

70
The Pie Overlord!  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:10:16pm
71
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:10:56pm
72
plansbandc  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:11:46pm

This just made me laugh a lot. It’s ridiculous.

73
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:13:25pm

re: #56 teleskiguy

This guy just died of covid.

[Embedded content]

He obviously wasn’t a manly Republican. Manly Republicans don’t die from COVID. 🙄

74
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:14:13pm
75
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:16:11pm

re: #74 Dread Pirate Ron

“it’s been 11 days since the Defense Department has granted a meeting to the Biden transition team”

The are specific individuals responsible for this.

76
Belafon  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:16:49pm

re: #75 jaunte

The are specific individuals responsible for this.

Donald Trump

77
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:17:08pm

re: #76 Belafon

And his willing minions.

78
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:17:21pm

Who should be named.

79
Romantic Heretic  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:23:28pm

re: #10 jaunte

Very good ROI.

It’s why I use Macs. I usually get 8 to 10 years of use out of them.

80
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:24:38pm

re: #74 Dread Pirate Ron

[Embedded content]

I’m really worried about an early national security crisis impacting the incoming administration. I’m sure they’re doing their best to prepare and respond to that. This is another reason why even if you hated the Bush administration and I did, you can’t deny how much worse the Trump one is.

81
The Pie Overlord!  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:25:37pm
82
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:26:23pm
83
Romantic Heretic  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:26:34pm

re: #17 The Pie Overlord!

That stuff is scary. It’s not fun like a giant bubble bath. Some people in Australia lost their dog in that shit (but they found it & it was OK).

Not to mention the sea snakes in the foam Down Under.

84
retired cynic  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:26:49pm

re: #71 jaunte

She ALMOST got it figured out!!

85
teleskiguy  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:27:39pm

I used to have beers at the Coyote Cafe every night after work.

86
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:27:41pm

No one at the Defense Department has resigned over the lapse in readiness caused by NOT briefing the transition.

87
sagehen  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:27:56pm

re: #52 Hecuba’s daughter

Very strange — for some reason he isn’t appearing on certain lists of the wealthiest Senators. An article from 2018 specified his wealth was between 73.7 million and 271 million, more than enough to qualify for this list.

Not if he transferred 3/4 of it to his kids and grand-kids.

88
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:28:14pm

re: #80 LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)

I’m really worried about an early national security crisis impacting the incoming administration. I’m sure they’re doing their best to prepare and respond to that. This is another reason why even if you hated the Bush administration and I did, you can’t deny how much worse the Trump one is.

Oh, like a bunch of Q-nuts making infrastructure attacks right after the inauguration of Biden?
///

89
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:28:48pm

re: #78 jaunte

Who should be named.

Look at who the political appointees are in DoD. That’s who is behind it. I’ve never worried about the military aiding Trump. They know even if the military brass is probably more conservative than Biden is, there’s mutual respect. The Trump appointees otoh serve the guy who mocked being a POW.

90
thedopefishlives  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:29:05pm

re: #85 teleskiguy

[Embedded content]

I used to have beers at the Coyote Cafe every night after work.

Who is that goddamned cheap? Anyone who has as much money as the Vice President must have can afford to tip generously. That he doesn’t is indicative of his lack of character.

91
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:30:55pm

re: #90 thedopefishlives

Also REALLY BAD at politics.

92
plansbandc  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:31:04pm
93
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:31:44pm

Think how cheap big tipping is at spreading good word of mouth.

94
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:32:03pm

re: #88 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)

Oh, like a bunch of Q-nuts making infrastructure attacks right after the inauguration of Biden?
///

That but also an international one. Funnily enough I read that a hotel in DC I’m quite familiar with closed down for the sixth because its hotel and adjacent bar are apparently a favorite spot of proud boys. It’s at a relatively cheap rate and walking distance to the WH. I still feel safe when I’m in DC but I honestly don’t look like the kinda person they target.

95
thedopefishlives  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:32:08pm

re: #91 jaunte

Also REALLY BAD at politics.

A reminder: The current Vice President of the United States is only such because he was about to lose his election as Governor of the State of Indiana. Let me say that again: A die-hard religious nutjob conservative Republican was going to LOSE THE GOVERNORSHIP OF INDIANA because he fucked up so hard that even the conservative Christians hated him.

96
calochortus  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:38:28pm

re: #73 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

He obviously wasn’t a manly Republican. Manly Republicans don’t die from COVID. 🙄

Well according to the Tweet, he died with Covid. Not of Covid. So he could still be manly and have died of something else.

97
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:41:36pm

re: #96 calochortus

Well according to the Tweet, he died with Covid. Not of Covid. So he could still be manly and have died of something else.

The only thing running through my mind is play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Can the LA Gov appoint a dem or is a special election required?

98
calochortus  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:44:58pm

re: #97 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

Can the LA Gov appoint a dem or is a special election required?

I don’t know, but I do know the Freepers are, for the most part, in disbelief that someone who is young and healthy could have died from Covid. They are trying to figure out what his comorbidity must have been. And why, oh why, is it always Republicans getting sick?
Must be a plot.

99
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:45:34pm
100
calochortus  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:46:50pm

re: #98 calochortus

Well, here’s someone who’s going to get booted off FR in no time:

o: Jan_Sobieski

Because the Dems wear masks.

39 posted on 12/29/2020, 7:42:37 PM by nwrep
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

101
Belafon  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:48:37pm

re: #98 calochortus

I don’t know, but I do know the Freepers are, for the most part, in disbelief that someone who is young and healthy could have died from Covid. They are trying to figure out what his comorbidity must have been. And why, oh why, is it always Republicans getting sick?
Must be a plot.

His comorbidity was being a Republican.

102
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:50:47pm
103
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:51:12pm

He stopped.

104
gocart mozart  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:51:49pm
105
KingKenrod  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:52:13pm

re: #97 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

The only thing running through my mind is play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Can the LA Gov appoint a dem or is a special election required?

Special election. Only Senators can be appointed.

106
gwangung  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:53:04pm

re: #103 jaunte

[Embedded content]

He stopped.

Because he was stupid and didn’t realize you can’t open up the economy before taking care of the virus.

107
Sherlock Hound  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:54:44pm

re: #49 William Lewis

And for giggles, on my USB stick are currently -

Hitachi & Steem - Atari ST & TT emulators
WinUAE - Amiga emulator
Previous - NextStep Emulator
Basilisk II - Mac 68k emulator
Qemu - mostly for SPARC emulation
Simh - PDP-10, PDP-11 & VAX emulation

I love playing with emulators :D

Yup. I have RSTS/E on one of my VM’s.

108
The Ghost of a Flea  Dec 29, 2020 • 7:59:44pm

re: #103 jaunte

If you have no episteme everything’s just a rhetorical exercise.

It’s like they’re take the “pull a line from the Bible out of context, use it to justify the thing you want” hermeneutic, and just apply it to reality.

109
Hecuba's daughter  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:02:54pm

re: #56 teleskiguy

This guy just died of covid.

[Embedded content]

I was reading a tweet that suggested he did wear masks most of the time but as a Republican, he had to attend events where most people were unmasked — and he may have felt pressure to be unmasked in those situations. Unfortunately, the behavior that may have helped to get him elected ended up killing him.

110
jaunte  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:03:07pm

re: #108 The Ghost of a Flea

Actual consequences for actions, or lack of must be quite surprising.

111
Jack Burton  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:03:33pm
112
A Cranky One  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:06:00pm

re: #42 danarchy

Heh, I won’t go into how many computers and tablets I have in my house, but let’s just say I currently have 5 laptops in my car.

Been following Hunter Biden around?

/

113
i(m)p(each)(again!)sos  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:06:01pm

re: #107 Sherlock Hound

My 12yo is fascinated with “antique” computers, which for him is any version of Windows before 7. I made the mistake of showing him emulators one day and now he has a laptop that can “be” anything from Win 1.0 to Vista.

But he’s starting to collect hardware, too. A friend gave him a working Gateway laptop that still runs Win95 and it’s the kid’s prize possession now.

114
Hecuba's daughter  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:08:52pm

re: #87 sagehen

Not if he transferred 3/4 of it to his kids and grand-kids.

I bet the list was derived from an old list that included Senators prior to the 2018 election; because Loeffler was so notorious, the person who created the new list added her — but didn’t realize it required additional updates, i.e. Romney and Rick Scott.

115
A Cranky One  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:09:30pm

re: #113 i(m)p(each)sos

Some say you get a warmer, more realistic experience when using floppy discs.

116
gocart mozart  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:12:06pm
117
William Lewis  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:12:33pm

re: #113 i(m)p(each)sos

My 12yo is fascinated with “antique” computers, which for him is any version of Windows before 7. I made the mistake of showing him emulators one day and now he has a laptop that can “be” anything from Win 1.0 to Vista.

But he’s starting to collect hardware, too. A friend gave him a working Gateway laptop that still runs Win95 and it’s the kid’s prize possession now.

Just wait till he discovers emulators for things like the Amiga or gets his hands on an old Unix workstation from any of the Real companies :D Get him a copy of Turbo C++ (it’s legally free on the Net - the company that bought out Borland released it) and he can start seriously hacking.

118
GlutenFreeJesus  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:17:08pm

Had a good first run with the Toro battery powered snow blower. It was the light stuff and handled it just fine with some battery to spare. Didn’t have to switch it out after doing my drive (6 car), sidewalk to front door, sidewalk to back gate, and sidewalks to both neighbor driveways. True test will be the heavy wet stuff, which I suspect I’ll need the second battery. I’ll see how it handles the city plow mound at the end of the driveway tomorrow. But so far, so good!

119
calochortus  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:32:50pm

Just had a little earthquake here. 2.8 but just 5 or 6 miles from us.

120
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:34:53pm
121
Rightwingconspirator  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:36:17pm

re: #119 calochortus

Just had a little earthquake here. 2.8 but just 5 or 6 miles from us.

So I look it up in my earthquake app. I find it, cool. 1 “felt it” report in. then I click the news tab at it says “Sorry, this earthquake was not severe enough to generate news”

Should it not say “Thankfully…” ?

122
Hecuba's daughter  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:37:01pm

Very depressing day — went to one of our favorite stores at our favorite mall for the last time. Today was the final day for Lord and Taylor. It was painful to see the store stripped bare of almost all merchandise and counters — just empty space almost everywhere. I had been lurking around the fine jewelry section but even with the 80% discount plus an additional 15% off, I couldn’t bring myself to spend that much money on a necklace or bracelet that I would seldom wear. I figured that the money would be better spent toward helping out the Georgia election, even though it’s unlikely either candidate will succeed.

Sigh. I just want January 6th to be over with Pence declaring Biden and Harris the victors.

123
calochortus  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:37:30pm

re: #121 Rightwingconspirator

So I look it up in my earthquake app. I find it, cool. 1 “felt it” report in. then I click the news tab at it says “Sorry, this earthquake was not severe enough to generate news”

Should it not say “Thankfully…” ?

Very thankfully.

124
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:45:43pm
125
Belafon  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:58:10pm

My college son was commenting on this:

The original stimulus, and the $600 one, doesn’t give him anything or us anything for him since he’s an adult but not on his own.

126
Sherlock Hound  Dec 29, 2020 • 8:59:43pm

Aftershock in Croatia: When the ground falls out from under your press conference.

127
Belafon  Dec 29, 2020 • 9:01:47pm
128
The Ghost of a Flea  Dec 29, 2020 • 9:09:32pm

re: #124 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

129
Michele: Out of the closet, Into the fire  Dec 29, 2020 • 9:20:15pm

And to the Lizards Nation as well. Unlike our Host, I have a problem balancing the two.

130
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 29, 2020 • 9:24:43pm
131
EstebanTornado1963  Dec 29, 2020 • 9:25:49pm

Am supposed to feel something for this guy who was at a White House party maskless?

132
Targetpractice  Dec 29, 2020 • 9:31:08pm

Man, boss, I’m sorry to hear that your computer di…wait, it was a Mac? Oh, well, no great loss.

////(just kidding, no ban, pls!)

I’ve averaged about 4-5 years between computers, so getting almost 1.5 decades out of one is pretty impressive. My turnover rate means I have this weird habit of always skipping whichever troubled version of Windows that Microsoft is having its users beta test and ending up with the “stable” version. I went from Win98 to XP (skipping ME), from XP to Win 7 (skipped Vista), and the most recent upgrade meant I missed Win 8 and went straight to Win 10.

133
KGxvi  Dec 29, 2020 • 9:33:43pm

Late entry for word of the year:

Bonkersphere

134
Targetpractice  Dec 29, 2020 • 9:37:13pm

re: #85 teleskiguy

[Embedded content]

I used to have beers at the Coyote Cafe every night after work.

This is modern conservatism for you: Thinks $5 is a “big tip,” $600 is enough to survive months on, $2000 is “too much” to give out to everybody, and believed that $1200 should support American families for seven weeks.

135
The Ghost of a Flea  Dec 29, 2020 • 9:41:38pm
136
Targetpractice  Dec 29, 2020 • 9:43:29pm

re: #95 thedopefishlives

A reminder: The current Vice President of the United States is only such because he was about to lose his election as Governor of the State of Indiana. Let me say that again: A die-hard religious nutjob conservative Republican was going to LOSE THE GOVERNORSHIP OF INDIANA because he fucked up so hard that even the conservative Christians hated him.

There’s more to it than that. Trump wanted Ivanka as his VP and the party said “No,” then they concocted an excuse to hold his private jet on the ground long enough to sneak Pence aboard and have him make an hour-long pitch for the job that consisted almost entirely of insults about Obama and Hillary. So while the story they sold the press was that Pence was chosen because of his talents and experience, the reality was that he got the job because he appealed to Trump’s most base and bullying instincts.

137
Dr Lizardo  Dec 29, 2020 • 10:04:15pm

This is amazing. And when the robot uprising comes, we can die content knowing that our new robot overlords will dance on our mangled corpses with style.

Do You Love Me?

138
Hecuba's daughter  Dec 29, 2020 • 10:05:50pm

re: #136 Targetpractice

There’s more to it than that. Trump wanted Ivanka as his VP and the party said “No,” then they concocted an excuse to hold his private jet on the ground long enough to sneak Pence aboard and have him make an hour-long pitch for the job that consisted almost entirely of insults about Obama and Hillary. So while the story they sold the press was that Pence was chosen because of his talents and experience, the reality was that he got the job because he appealed to Trump’s most base and bullying instincts.

The story I had read was that Trump wanted Christie but Bridge-gate and the unwavering opposition of Jared doomed the Christie nomination. Manafort wanted Pence.

139
Jack Burton  Dec 29, 2020 • 10:06:39pm

re: #134 Targetpractice

This is modern conservatism for you: Thinks $5 is a “big tip,” $600 is enough to survive months on, $2000 is “too much” to give out to everybody, and believed that $1200 should support American families for seven weeks.

And if they have millions they *need* a tax cut or they’ll be ruined and everyone else with them.

140
sagehen  Dec 29, 2020 • 10:06:56pm

re: #124 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

[Embedded content]

141
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 29, 2020 • 10:18:21pm
142
Belafon  Dec 29, 2020 • 10:19:25pm

re: #137 Dr Lizardo

This is amazing. And when the robot uprising comes, we can die content knowing that our new robot overlords will dance on our mangled corpses with style.

[Embedded content]

I think a dance-off for control of everything is very fair. African Americans will run the planet, robots will be regional leaders, and us white people will be at the level we were supposed to be.

143
mmmirele  Dec 29, 2020 • 10:22:45pm

re: #34 thedopefishlives

In any ordinary time, evicting a deadbeat tenant is profitable because the space can then be rented to someone who can make the payments. However, in a pandemic, that market is suppressed; I don’t think the economics of that have been fully thought through yet, by anyone.

While I don’t know what it would be like for small landlords (i.e., people who own a fourplex), I can tell you based on experience that apartment complexes with a few hundred units are loaned on based on the assumption that they’re going to be running in the 90 percent + occupancy range. Part of the loan package is to show how the loan is profitable with different occupancy levels. And the assumption is always that at minimum, it’s going to be 90 percent occupied. Or higher. There are reasons for having a high occupancy in apartment complexes besides wanting to maximize return on the investment; for some reason complexes with fewer renters tend to come across as well, *creepy*.

So there are a lot of factors at work here. Yeah, so you evict a lot of people from your apartment complex—who is going to rent in a half-ghost town? And certainly evictions are not a pleasant experience for those who remain, who might flee for some place more amenable. On the other hand, the investors in the loan pool that the loan was sold into are expecting some sort of return and not getting it is going to make them tetchy to not get it. Granted, their money is locked in, but that loan is eventually going to come due and it may be hard to refinance the loan. It’s such a mess. Let me be clear: I think evicting right now is genuinely destabilizing to families and neighborhoods, but you can’t help but talk about the other impacts. I’d hate to be an apartment complex manager right now, it’s got to suck rocks, being pressured by your company to get rid of the “deadwood” as soon as possible, but (especially in a larger complex) actually living on site and gee, things are getting tense.

And this is without the massive destabilization that would come from dumping hundreds of thousands or millions of families on the street. in January.

144
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 29, 2020 • 10:24:09pm
145
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 29, 2020 • 10:30:32pm
146
Belafon  Dec 29, 2020 • 10:48:47pm

They’re running Doctor Who all week on BBC America, leading up to the new episode on Friday. “Planet of the Dead” is on, and episode from 2009 about the bus that travels to a wormhole and ends up on a planet that has been ravaged by flying, stingray looking creatures. One of the characters on there was played by Daniel Kaluuya, who played the main character in Get Out.

147
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 29, 2020 • 11:30:37pm
148
PrairieQueen  Dec 30, 2020 • 12:02:23am

re: #43 teleskiguy

Off the top of my head, there’s already been a plot to capture and kill a governor and various targeted officials and election workers have had to go in hiding. This is how the rough and ready GOP with their legions of gun-toting, steroid addled, fatasses plans to intimidate people into cooperation. They equate people fearing for their safety as the weakass Libs, and they’re going to exploit the hell out of it for fun and profit.

There are lot of Dems that own guns. It’s not an exclusive club. All it’s going to take is one to use a gun to protect their self to change the narrative and escalate this shit into an individual staving off an insane militia. That said, hell yes I’d shoot a person or group of people who came to harm me, but why should anyone have to risk life and limb to simply exist? Why is this intimidation shit not being quashed?

149
Decatur Deb  Dec 30, 2020 • 12:07:57am

re: #147 Dread Pirate Ron

Really? What has Cuba done to deserve that?

Survived.

150
PrairieQueen  Dec 30, 2020 • 12:17:09am

re: #109 Hecuba’s daughter

I suppose someone could still get COVID wearing a mask and doing their best to social distance because COVID is an opportunistic motherfucker. Total isolation would be the only surefire way not to get it.

Whatever he did or didn’t do, he caught and he died. Now, if this was my brother or sister or mom or favorite cousin or best friend, I’d care a lot, but he’s not. I care moderately if he wasn’t an asshole. If he was an asshole, then let’s throw dirt on him and move on because AFAIC, it’s no loss.

151
Dread Pirate Ron  Dec 30, 2020 • 12:19:21am
152
steve_davis  Dec 30, 2020 • 12:27:48am

re: #85 teleskiguy

[Embedded content]

I used to have beers at the Coyote Cafe every night after work.

that’s roughly 12%. It isn’t overly generous, but it’s also fine.

153
PrairieQueen  Dec 30, 2020 • 12:31:40am

Those frisky Muslim extremists. Ooops. Probably not.

154
PrairieQueen  Dec 30, 2020 • 12:35:09am

Actually, there was an earlier bomb threat in Tacoma too. Something in the water?

155
Eventual Carrion  Dec 30, 2020 • 1:10:07am

re: #113 i(m)p(each)sos

My 12yo is fascinated with “antique” computers, which for him is any version of Windows before 7. I made the mistake of showing him emulators one day and now he has a laptop that can “be” anything from Win 1.0 to Vista.

But he’s starting to collect hardware, too. A friend gave him a working Gateway laptop that still runs Win95 and it’s the kid’s prize possession now.

I have an old Gateway with Windows 3.11 for Workgroups loaded on it he would love. Still fired up last time I tried it.

156
John Hughes  Dec 30, 2020 • 1:56:16am
Since this is a 2008 model Mac Pro, good luck finding someone who can repair it for a reasonable price

There’s some guy in Delaware who might be able to do it.

I think he’s called John Paul Mac Isaac. Probably not very busy at the moment.

157
John Hughes  Dec 30, 2020 • 2:06:18am

re: #26 jaunte

Police then went to Warner’s home, but he didn’t answer the door after they knocked several times.

Always nice to know how dedicated the boys in blue are.

158
Nojay UK  Dec 30, 2020 • 2:19:57am

re: #113 i(m)p(each)sos

But he’s starting to collect hardware, too. A friend gave him a working Gateway laptop that still runs Win95 and it’s the kid’s prize possession now.

My oldest working laptop (1989 Compaq Lt Elite 4/50CX) runs Win 3.11, plays Solitaire like a boss.

159
Ace-o-aces  Dec 30, 2020 • 2:21:52am
160
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Dec 30, 2020 • 2:38:06am

re: #147 Dread Pirate Ron

Mike Pompeo may redesignate Cuba a ‘State Sponsor of Terrorism’ as his final act as Secretary of State

Cuba has done nothing to deserve that designation, but when Biden rescinds it, they can accuse him of being soft on Communism/Terrorism

161
Decatur Deb  Dec 30, 2020 • 2:41:09am

Just plowed through a 280 comment thread on Freep. The death of the young Louisiana congressman-elect has badly shaken the Covid howler monkeys. A few semi-sane voices are speaking with new confidence.

162
thedopefishlives  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:09:03am

re: #161 Decatur Deb

Just plowed through a 280 comment thread on Freep. The death of the young Louisiana congressman-elect has badly shaken the Covid howler monkeys. A few semi-sane voices are speaking with new confidence.

Suddenly, many realize they may be mortal after all.

163
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:11:49am

re: #162 thedopefishlives

Suddenly, many realize they may be mortal after all.

That neither Jesus nor Conservative Principles will sustain their alternate reality bubble.

164
teleskiguy  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:12:40am

re: #152 steve_davis

that’s roughly 12%. It isn’t overly generous, but it’s also fine.

Dude. Don’t. Just fucking don’t. Goddamn it, just. Fucking. DON’T. You obviously have no fucking clue what it’s like to work in the service industry, or the service industry at a world class ski resort for that matter. 20% at the bare fucking minimum.

165
teleskiguy  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:15:01am

12% tip at a restaurant is not fucking fine, especially right now.

166
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:19:05am

re: #165 teleskiguy

12% tip at a restaurant is not fucking fine, especially right now.

In Germany, it would be a reasonable tip, but

a) a 15% service charge is built into the bill and
b) even restaurant workers have health insurance and a minimum of 20 days per year paid holiday

167
Decatur Deb  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:22:14am

re: #162 thedopefishlives

Suddenly, many realize they may be mortal after all.

re: #163 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

That neither Jesus nor Conservative Principles will sustain their alternate reality bubble.

All that, and without an election to win they no longer need the disease to be a hoax. The first couple weeks of the Spring onset, Freep was as likely to go either way. Once they got the word from the golden throne, simple description of the pandemic’s progress became fake news.

168
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:23:45am

re: #161 Decatur Deb

Just plowed through a 280 comment thread on Freep. The death of the young Louisiana congressman-elect has badly shaken the Covid howler monkeys. A few semi-sane voices are speaking with new confidence.

Why indeed?

Why do republicans always get Covid, but Democrats do not.?.?

27 posted on 30.12.2020, 04:35:35 by Jan_Sobieski (Sanctification)

169
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:26:03am

re: #165 teleskiguy

12% tip at a restaurant is not fucking fine, especially right now.

I don’t know about the tipping system in the US, but that’s a solid tip elsewhere. Which is because, as WZ pointed out above, the whole social circumstances are very different.

170
Decatur Deb  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:28:06am

re: #168 Nyet

Why indeed?

Yup. And a Freeper actually brought up the differing impact and healthcare access of minorities. That wouldn’t have happened a couple months ago.

171
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:28:41am

re: #170 Decatur Deb

To: Jan_Sobieski
Because the Dems wear masks.

39 posted on 30.12.2020, 04:42:37 by nwrep

172
teleskiguy  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:28:41am

re: #169 Nyet

I don’t know about the tipping system in the US, but that’s a solid tip elsewhere. Which is because, as WZ pointed out above, the whole social circumstances are very different.

Servers and bartenders get paid less than $5/hr, their income is mostly all tips.

173
thedopefishlives  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:29:17am

re: #169 Nyet

I don’t know about the tipping system in the US, but that’s a solid tip elsewhere. Which is because, as WZ pointed out above, the whole social circumstances are very different.

In the US, restaurant workers can be paid as little as $2.13/hr; basically, they’re paid minimum wage, but tips are part of their wages, so an employer can subtract that from their hourly pay down to the aforementioned minimum. Customarily, 15% is considered a “minimum” tip at most places, though that is an old social standard that hasn’t accounted for increases to cost of living and the complete lack of increase in minimum wages over the years. Myself, I tip above 25% here in the US, but that’s because I can afford it and because I’ve learned the power of generous tipping.

174
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:31:53am

re: #170 Decatur Deb

Yup. And a Freeper actually brought up the differing impact and healthcare access of minorities. That wouldn’t have happened a couple months ago.

Maybe natural selection taking its toll.

175
thedopefishlives  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:32:45am

re: #172 teleskiguy

re: #173 thedopefishlives

Hopefully this also explains the “I’m outraged because a huge party came in and left $0 tip/a pile of Chick tracts” threads that have cropped up on social media over the years. When you bust your ass to take care of a large group of diners, which often draws your attention away from other tables, and then they stiff you on a bill of several hundred dollars, your chances at taking home a better paycheck are slim to none. It’s an incredibly evil thing to do to someone.

176
Decatur Deb  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:33:13am

re: #173 thedopefishlives

In the US, restaurant workers can be paid as little as $2.13/hr; basically, they’re paid minimum wage, but tips are part of their wages, so an employer can subtract that from their hourly pay down to the aforementioned minimum. Customarily, 15% is considered a “minimum” tip at most places, though that is an old social standard that hasn’t accounted for increases to cost of living and the complete lack of increase in minimum wages over the years. Myself, I tip above 25% here in the US, but that’s because I can afford it and because I’ve learned the power of generous tipping.

In Italy you leave the coins or insignificant folding cash. Their labor laws recognize the difference between service and servitude.

177
teleskiguy  Dec 30, 2020 • 3:33:45am
178
Dangerman  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:18:59am

re: #165 teleskiguy

12% tip at a restaurant is not fucking fine, especially right now.

-and if you’ve obviously got the goddamned money
-and of you’re part of the administration that is barely doing anything to help anyone

179
Thanos  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:25:17am

Good morning all, some lucky lizards might have had “Lizard People” on their Nashville bomber bingo card…

180
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:27:54am

Lizard people? They’re onto us!

181
Dangerman  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:36:41am

re: #180 Nyet

Lizard people? They’re onto us!

cheese it, the cops….

182
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:47:51am

re: #148 PrairieQueen

Off the top of my head, there’s already been a plot to capture and kill a governor and various targeted officials and election workers have had to go in hiding. This is how the rough and ready GOP with their legions of gun-toting, steroid addled, fatasses plans to intimidate people into cooperation. They equate people fearing for their safety as the weakass Libs, and they’re going to exploit the hell out of it for fun and profit.

There are lot of Dems that own guns. It’s not an exclusive club. All it’s going to take is one to use a gun to protect their self to change the narrative and escalate this shit into an individual staving off an insane militia. That said, hell yes I’d shoot a person or group of people who came to harm me, but why should anyone have to risk life and limb to simply exist? Why is this intimidation shit not being quashed?

Because it plays to their power fantasies and the GOP narrative.

Combined with the GOP and media essentially not being willing to admit error. If the media started going full-bore on right-wing intimidation, racist behavior by the police, and how that has to change now and in the future then you’d see quite the shock as the “new” reporting collided with the echo chamber. And the media suspects that they’d lose profits if they attempted this.

183
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:50:52am

I just saw this notification. Trump is moody. And this differs from every other day in what way?

I like it. The thought of metaphorically pissing on his corn flakes daily gives me joy.

184
Ming5000  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:53:40am

re: #183 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

A feel good article:
(CNN)His mood darkened as soon as he walked into his members-only club Mar-a-Lago, three days before Christmas, according to multiple sources. The changes to his private quarters, many of which were overseen by his wife, first lady Melania Trump, were not to President Donald Trump’s liking, and he was mad about it, according to a source familiar with the President’s response.

185
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:53:46am

re: #169 Nyet

I don’t know about the tipping system in the US, but that’s a solid tip elsewhere. Which is because, as WZ pointed out above, the whole social circumstances are very different.

Tipping is very entrenched and essentially a necessity in the USA since wait staff can be paid less than the usual minimum wage elsewhere since tipping is pretty much expected.

And depending on the practice at a particular establishment tips are pooled and/or split with other service personnel like the cooks.

And at someplace like a ski resort the local property (and other) prices probably have the local service people saddled with higher expenses than usual for the region, and odds are they’re commuting a decent distance as well.

186
Patricia Kayden  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:55:20am

re: #179 Thanos

Lizard people? I’ve heard of crab people.

crab people song

187
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:55:56am

re: #184 Ming5000

A feel good article:
(CNN)His mood darkened as soon as he walked into his members-only club Mar-a-Lago, three days before Christmas, according to multiple sources. The changes to his private quarters, many of which were overseen by his wife, first lady Melania Trump, were not to President Donald Trump’s liking, and he was mad about it, according to a source familiar with the President’s response.

LOVE IT.

188
Decatur Deb  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:56:10am

re: #181 Dangerman

cheese it, the cops….

Men in Black was a documentary. Now look at this pen.

189
Patricia Kayden  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:58:24am

re: #184 Ming5000

Trump’s mood darkens because of changes to his private quarters but he could give a dang about ever increasing COVID-19 deaths/infections, lagging vaccinations, the Nashville bombing, etc. It’s all about him.

190
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Dec 30, 2020 • 4:59:16am

re: #175 thedopefishlives

Hopefully this also explains the “I’m outraged because a huge party came in and left $0 tip/a pile of Chick tracts” threads that have cropped up on social media over the years. When you bust your ass to take care of a large group of diners, which often draws your attention away from other tables, and then they stiff you on a bill of several hundred dollars, your chances at taking home a better paycheck are slim to none. It’s an incredibly evil thing to do to someone.

What I have discovered when dining in large groups is that the cheapskates often massively underpay their share of the tip, or pull a Mr Pink and justify leaving no tip at all.
Which leaves other people to pick up the slack, a hefty undertip, and potentially some sort of confrontation over the tip (which I have seen). And I have slipped servers some extra money on the sly more than once after a manager did a minimal tip on a company-paid meal.

I’ve seen a number of restaurants counter this by putting a 18% mandatory tip/service surcharge on groups larger than six; which I see as being largely defendable due to the extra effort required to properly serve a large group. (Unnoticed many times that servers/cooks need to work harder to get entrees out to everyone at the same time, juggle drink service, etc. etc.)

191
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:00:43am

re: #177 teleskiguy

[Embedded content]

It’s odd how that stuff tracks back to the Old West. And then ignores that the towns that wanted to become “civilized” started implementing “gun-free zones”.

192
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:02:33am

re: #184 Ming5000

A feel good article:
(CNN)His mood darkened as soon as he walked into his members-only club Mar-a-Lago, three days before Christmas, according to multiple sources. The changes to his private quarters, many of which were overseen by his wife, first lady Melania Trump, were not to President Donald Trump’s liking, and he was mad about it, according to a source familiar with the President’s response.

A bit of petty revenge on her part? I presume she has some grip on this point on what a lot of his pet peeves in that regard are.

193
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:05:32am

re: #185 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)

Tipping is very entrenched and essentially a necessity in the USA since wait staff can be paid less than the usual minimum wage elsewhere since tipping is pretty much expected.

And depending on the practice at a particular establishment tips are pooled and/or split with other service personnel like the cooks.

And at someplace like a ski resort the local property (and other) prices probably have the local service people saddled with higher expenses than usual for the region, and odds are they’re commuting a decent distance as well.

If you’re going to a restaurant right now and tipping less than 25% you’re a major asshole. The servers are literally risking their lives to stay alive, be fed and housed.

I do SkipTheDishes occasionally and tip them 20+% because I don’t have to go out and put myself at risk.

Pence’s tip was downright offensive.

194
thedopefishlives  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:05:37am

re: #191 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)

It’s odd how that stuff tracks back to the Old West. And then ignores that the towns that wanted to become “civilized” started implementing “gun-free zones”.

Fun historical fact that you probably know but many people do not: Tombstone, AZ, where the Earps and Doc Holliday confronted the Clantons and their Cowboys at the O.K. Corral, was one such gun-free zone. Wyatt, a deputized lawman, was pursuing the Clantons because he believed that they had carried guns into the town, as well as on suspicions of murder and theft.

195
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:11:03am

re: #192 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)

A bit of petty revenge on her part? I presume she has some grip on this point on what a lot of his pet peeves in that regard are.

TBH, it’s unlikely anything is going to make him happy right now. He’s a loser and it’s killing him.

And I’m living for that.

196
steve_davis  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:19:58am

trying to figure out navigation system in new Mazda 3. PDF is 84 frickin pages long. just had to email the dealership to ask if they could mail me a copy of the manual. I don’t mind reading pdf’s to learn how to do short tasks, but I really want the manual in my hand when I’m out in the car trying to figure out how stuff works (2021 Mazda 3 is a helluva car, by the way. Lovin’ it so far).

197
A Cranky One  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:22:14am

198
lawhawk  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:28:00am

re: #141 Dread Pirate Ron

NYC is prepping to reopen the Javits Center as an overflow covid19 facility because of the coming onslaught.

All because far too many people aren’t masking, aren’t social distancing, and decided that they wanted to travel/see family/ignore common sense, and oh yeah, the more virulent infectiousUK strain is here in the US too as a Colorado man with didn’t travel was diagnosed with the new strain.

Updated: swapped infectious for virulent. It’s definitely more infectious, but not necessarily more virulent.

199
lawhawk  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:30:25am

Pollard was caught spying for Israel. He was sentenced to life in prison in the US for violating the Espionage Act.

Trump pardoned him.

That’s a theme.

Trump pardons war criminals.
Trump pardons treasonweasels.
Trump pardons cronies.
Trump pardons people Trump think will personally benefit Trump.

200
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:48:57am

Train the military to give shots. Vaccinate 24/7 in as many places as possible throughout every state. Follow up with everyone to ensure they get the second dose.

Fuck trunk and every one of his equally incompetent cohorts.

201
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:52:29am
202
sagehen  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:54:15am

re: #200 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

[Embedded content]

Train the military to give shots. Vaccinate 24/7 in as many places as possible throughout every state. Follow up with everyone to ensure they get the second dose.

Fuck trunk and every one of his equally incompetent cohorts.

If we also do 2 million a week, it will take 3 years to get our entire population.

203
Mike Lamb  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:55:23am

re: #200 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

[Embedded content]

Train the military to give shots. Vaccinate 24/7 in as many places as possible throughout every state. Follow up with everyone to ensure they get the second dose.

Fuck trunk and every one of his equally incompetent cohorts.

At this point, it is deliberate. If this was December, 2019, and Trump could help himself by getting everyone vaccinated by summer, 2020, it would have happened, easily. Now, he’s just trying to fuck with Biden and the 80MM+ that didn’t vote for him.

204
thedopefishlives  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:56:40am

re: #202 sagehen

If we also do 2 million a week, it will take 3 years to get our entire population.

I think I read somewhere in this thread last night, or maybe the previous thread, that the US needs to vaccinate something on the order of 3.5 million PER DAY to achieve a herd immunity figure of 80% by June 2021.

205
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:57:43am

re: #201 Nyet

206
lawhawk  Dec 30, 2020 • 5:58:29am

re: #204 thedopefishlives

At the current pace, it’d take 10 years to get herd immunity.

We need to be vaccinating several million a day to get to that goal within the next year.

207
lawhawk  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:12:47am
208
danarchy  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:21:26am

re: #169 Nyet

I don’t know about the tipping system in the US, but that’s a solid tip elsewhere. Which is because, as WZ pointed out above, the whole social circumstances are very different.

IMO it depends. If he sat down and was actually served it is atrocious. If someone delivered it to him it is atrocious. If he ordered 3 sandwiches and a drink went to the restaurant to pick it up himself and left, it is fine.

209
Dangerman  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:22:28am

Mmm, fried computer.
Does it come with two sides and a soft drink?

210
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:22:51am
211
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:23:51am

re: #208 danarchy

IMO it depends. If he sat down and was actually served it is atrocious. If someone delivered it to him it is atrocious. If he ordered 3 sandwiches and a drink went to the restaurant to pick it up himself and left, it is fine.

I don’t see pence doing takeout.

212
lawhawk  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:25:29am

re: #208 danarchy

IMO it depends. If he sat down and was actually served it is atrocious. If someone delivered it to him it is atrocious. If he ordered 3 sandwiches and a drink went to the restaurant to pick it up himself and left, it is fine.

It’s customary in the US to tip for sitdown service. 20% is considered an acceptable tip (2x what he put down).

Considering that restaurant workers are paid less than minimum wage with the expectation that tips make up the difference, this is atrocious but entirely predictable.

There’s a reason that tipping isn’t done in places like France. They get paid living wages to point that you could make a career of being a waiter. Here, restaurant staff aren’t valued, and while some restaurants have tried to institute no-tipping and incorporate the tips into the actual cost of service, they’ve met mixed results.

213
Dangerman  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:25:57am

re: #184 Ming5000

A feel good article:
(CNN)His mood darkened as soon as he walked into his members-only club Mar-a-Lago, three days before Christmas, according to multiple sources. The changes to his private quarters, many of which were overseen by his wife, first lady Melania Trump, were not to President Donald Trump’s liking, and he was mad about it, according to a source familiar with the President’s response.

Evictions looming left and right.
3000 sq feet. Not big enough for two people and a kid.
Wow

214
lawhawk  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:26:34am

re: #209 Dangerman

And cookies for dessert.

215
Dangerman  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:29:11am

re: #193 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

If you’re going to a restaurant right now and tipping less than 25% you’re a major asshole. The servers are literally risking their lives to stay alive, be fed and housed.

I do SkipTheDishes occasionally and tip them 20+% because I don’t have to go out and put myself at risk.

Pence’s tip was downright offensive.

216
Dave In Austin  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:30:26am

re: #165 teleskiguy

12% tip at a restaurant is not fucking fine, especially right now.

I tip carry out now where I didn’t in the past. Always 20% unless they suck.

217
thedopefishlives  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:31:02am

re: #208 danarchy

IMO it depends. If he sat down and was actually served it is atrocious. If someone delivered it to him it is atrocious. If he ordered 3 sandwiches and a drink went to the restaurant to pick it up himself and left, it is fine.

Pickup orders have to be packed; the only difference between that and delivery is that there’s no delivery driver. That takes time and effort away from serving, in normal circumstances, and in current circumstances, some restaurants may still be figuring out how to do this since that may not have been a thing they did before.

218
Dangerman  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:37:46am

re: #211 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

I don’t see pence doing takeout.

Not personally, no

219
Dangerman  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:39:12am

re: #216 Dave In Austin

I tip carry out now where I didn’t in the past. Always 20% unless they suck.

Ditto. They’re staying open for us

220
Eclectic Cyborg  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:46:37am

We already know Trumpism is a fucking plague but this NPR article really nails how far reaching the effects are…

Ten years ago, Dr. Kristina Darnauer and her husband, Jeff, moved to tiny Sterling, Kan., to raise their kids steeped in small-town values.

“The values of hard work, the value of community, taking care of your neighbor, that’s what small towns shout from the rooftops, this is what we’re good at. We are salt of the earth people who care about each other,” Darnauer says. “And here I am saying, then wear a mask because that protects your precious neighbor.”

But Darnauer’s medical advice and moral admonition were met with contempt from some of her friends, neighbors and patients. People who had routinely buttonholed her for quick medical advice at church and kids’ ballgames were suddenly treating her as the enemy and regarding her professional opinion as suspect and offensive.

COVID-19 cases in the county started to climb. Meanwhile, other small Kansas towns flared into some of the pandemic’s hottest hot spots.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Darnauer says. “Because we say, this is what we value. And then when we actually had the chance to walk it out, we did it really poorly.”

The pushback was too much. Darnauer resigned her position as Rice County medical director in July. Some friends reached out to support her, and her bonds with other local health care professionals strengthened, but she felt disrespected and betrayed by the ascendant anti-mask portion of the community. Darnauer says the pandemic has exposed a rift that won’t be forgotten.

“Hard things should bring us together,” Darnauer says. “And instead, this hard thing has driven a wedge between us.”

That wedge is splitting off health care workers from communities that desperately need them.

More than a quarter of all the public health administrators in Kansas quit, retired or got fired this year, according to Vicki Collie-Akers, an associate professor of population health at the University of Kansas. Some of them got death threats. Some had to hire armed guards.

“These are leaders in their community,” Collie-Akers says. “And they are leaving broken.”

Completely destroying their communities to own the Libs. Assholes.

221
Florida Panhandler  Dec 30, 2020 • 6:57:50am

re: #199 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

Pollard was caught spying for Israel. He was sentenced to life in prison in the US for violating the Espionage Act.

Trump pardoned him.

That’s a theme.

Trump pardons war criminals.
Trump pardons treasonweasels.
Trump pardons cronies.
Trump pardons people Trump think will personally benefit Trump.

I’m getting the uneasy feeling that Trump will be fleeing to Israel soon, extradition treaty or no. He will bank on the corrupt Bibi not honoring the treaty.

The reason Trump will flee to Israel is because Trump has realized the next step in his Con Game is to position himself as the Second Coming Christ figure by relocating to the mythological center of the Apocalypse. A lot of Christian marks will buy into it and the money will flow. And they will get even crazier and desperate.

222
Belafon  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:06:34am

re: #221 Florida Panhandler

I’m getting the uneasy feeling that Trump will be fleeing to Israel soon, extradition treaty or no. He will bank on the corrupt Bibi not honoring the treaty.

The reason Trump will flee to Israel is because Trump has realized the next step in his Con Game is to position himself as the Second Coming Christ figure by relocating to the mythological center of the Apocalypse. A lot of Christian marks will buy into it and the money will flow. And they will get even crazier and desperate.

I could see Trump doing that, and then freaking out when Netanyahu is finally arrested.

223
John Hughes  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:07:14am

re: #166 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

In Germany, it would be a reasonable tip, but

a) a 15% service charge is built into the bill and
b) even restaurant workers have health insurance and a minimum of 20 days per year paid holiday

Ditto France.

224
Belafon  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:09:54am
225
🌹UOJB!  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:10:04am

re: #144 Dread Pirate Ron

[Embedded content]

Memories of Grandma Bacon telling me about the 1918 pandemic when she worked for the Navy Department in DC. So many people died that the DC government used eminent domain to take over warehouses and other private property to stack corpses until they could be cremated. Funeral homes were overloaded and DC had police assist morticians with handling the corpses. Crematoriums ran at full capacity.

Oh and on top of that Wilson lay in the White House incapacitated from a stroke while his wife was calling the shots…freezing out Vice-President Marshall…

226
Jay C  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:12:04am

re: #222 Belafon

I could see Trump doing that, and then freaking out when Netanyahu is finally arrested.

And then freaking out even more when he finds that Bibi’s successor sends him a “Hebrew lesson” that’s a copy of the extradition treaty…

227
John Hughes  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:13:42am

re: #172 teleskiguy

Servers and bartenders get paid less than $5/hr, their income is mostly all tips.

That would be illegal in France — the “SMIC horaire brut” (hourly minimum wage) is EUR 10.15 (EUR 8.03 net, after social charges).

(EUR 8.03 is USD 9.87).

(Still pretty shitty amounts though).

228
Belafon  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:15:43am
229
🌹UOJB!  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:16:27am

re: #175 thedopefishlives

Hopefully this also explains the “I’m outraged because a huge party came in and left $0 tip/a pile of Chick tracts” threads that have cropped up on social media over the years. When you bust your ass to take care of a large group of diners, which often draws your attention away from other tables, and then they stiff you on a bill of several hundred dollars, your chances at taking home a better paycheck are slim to none. It’s an incredibly evil thing to do to someone.

Don’t get me started about those asinine Chick tracts…

230
Eclectic Cyborg  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:17:04am

President Not my damn problem is at it again:

231
Belafon  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:18:41am
232
sagehen  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:19:07am

re: #226 Jay C

And then freaking out even more when he finds that Bibi’s successor sends him a “Hebrew lesson” that’s a copy of the extradition treaty…

He’ll try to convert, so as to make use of the Law of Return… he’s astonished to discover that converting to Judaism is not quick or easy.

“I thought just a sprinkle of water, say the magic words…”
“Christians take those kind of shortcuts. Jews… don’t.”

233
🌹UOJB!  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:21:02am

Another day, Another Karen

Woman declares UPS store her ‘private residence’ as she flips out over mask policy

rawstory.com

234
The Pie Overlord!  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:24:02am

re: #232 sagehen

He’ll try to convert, so as to make use of the Law of Return… he’s astonished to discover that converting to Judaism is not quick or easy.

“I thought just a sprinkle of water, say the magic words…”
“Christians take those kind of shortcuts. Jews… don’t.”

He’ll try to get around that by using Jared & Ivanka.

235
plansbandc  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:25:43am

re: #165 teleskiguy

You are right. It’s not fine. It isn’t even fine if we aren’t in a pandemic.

236
Dangerman  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:27:54am

re: #220 Eclectic Cyborg

We already know Trumpism is a fucking plague but this NPR article really nails how far reaching the effects are…

Ten years ago, Dr. Kristina Darnauer and her husband, Jeff, moved to tiny Sterling, Kan., to raise their kids steeped in small-town values.

“The values of hard work, the value of community, taking care of your neighbor, that’s what small towns shout from the rooftops, this is what we’re good at. We are salt of the earth people who care about each other,” Darnauer says. “And here I am saying, then wear a mask because that protects your precious neighbor.”

But Darnauer’s medical advice and moral admonition were met with contempt from some of her friends, neighbors and patients. People who had routinely buttonholed her for quick medical advice at church and kids’ ballgames were suddenly treating her as the enemy and regarding her professional opinion as suspect and offensive.

COVID-19 cases in the county started to climb. Meanwhile, other small Kansas towns flared into some of the pandemic’s hottest hot spots.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Darnauer says. “Because we say, this is what we value. And then when we actually had the chance to walk it out, we did it really poorly.”

The pushback was too much. Darnauer resigned her position as Rice County medical director in July. Some friends reached out to support her, and her bonds with other local health care professionals strengthened, but she felt disrespected and betrayed by the ascendant anti-mask portion of the community. Darnauer says the pandemic has exposed a rift that won’t be forgotten.

“Hard things should bring us together,” Darnauer says. “And instead, this hard thing has driven a wedge between us.”

That wedge is splitting off health care workers from communities that desperately need them.

More than a quarter of all the public health administrators in Kansas quit, retired or got fired this year, according to Vicki Collie-Akers, an associate professor of population health at the University of Kansas. Some of them got death threats. Some had to hire armed guards.

“These are leaders in their community,” Collie-Akers says. “And they are leaving broken.”

Completely destroying their communities to own the Libs. Assholes.

trump talks to me. he says it like it is.*

dems wont listen to us, understand our problems, help us maintain our ‘small town lifestyle’. they only talk down to us.

* in truth, Donald Trump and people like him do not ‘speak to you’; they lie to you and you either don’t know or don’t care to know.

237
Jay C  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:28:14am

re: #232 sagehen

“I thought just a sprinkle of water, say the magic words…”
“Christians take those kind of shortcuts. Jews… don’t.”

And wait til he finds what other sort of “shortcut” (in Donny’s case, probably quite literal) is required for conversion….

238
thedopefishlives  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:28:24am

re: #229 🌹UOJB!

Don’t get me started about those asinine Chick tracts…

I used to go to restaurants with people who thought that was acceptable. I avoided going with them as much as possible after that.

239
Dangerman  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:29:28am

re: #228 Belafon

[Embedded content]

this thing gets way too much use

240
plansbandc  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:29:37am

re: #201 Nyet

Cue a massive amount of outrage surpassing the outrage over beating a person.

241
lawhawk  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:29:38am
242
Dangerman  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:30:46am

re: #230 Eclectic Cyborg

President Not my damn problem is at it again:

[Embedded content]

this is immensely stupid
worse that it’s the actual president of the united states

243
The Pie Overlord!  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:31:20am
244
Semper Fi  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:33:06am

Deleted.

I’m gonna have breakfast instead of ranting.

245
Shiplord Kirel: Fan of USPS, Goodyear, and Oreo  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:38:05am

re: #229 🌹UOJB!

Don’t get me started about those asinine Chick tracts…

I could write a book about these cargo cult Christians and their crazed materialism. They think it’s a sin to be so poor that you need to wait tables.
I am very hard on clueless, arrogant, striver-class “prosperity” wannabes when I meet them, I admit it. They treat working people like shit and they deserve some payback. “Oh, so you worship money? Bow before your better, peasant!” They are dirt under foot.

Once had a sniveling old drunk of a salesman come into my office trying to peddle something. He asked for me, then had the gall to correct an employee for referring to me by my first name. I wanted to throw him out a window. I did tell him to get the hell out, and get a decent suit while he was at it.

246
sizzzzlerz  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:39:44am

re: #115 A Cranky One

Some say you get a warmer, more realistic experience when using floppy discs.

Only if you use the gold plated ribbon cables.

247
John Hughes  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:40:48am

re: #196 steve_davis

trying to figure out navigation system in new Mazda 3. PDF is 84 frickin pages long.

Wow, so short. Manual for our Hyundai is 300 pages long.

248
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:42:09am

Bye bye asshole.

249
sizzzzlerz  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:43:20am

re: #134 Targetpractice

This is modern conservatism for you: Thinks $5 is a “big tip,” $600 is enough to survive months on, $2000 is “too much” to give out to everybody, and believed that $1200 should support American families for seven weeks.

And yet believe those whose incomes are in the top 1% deserve more tax cuts.

250
The Pie Overlord!  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:43:53am

You lost, fucker.

251
nines09  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:45:23am

Back when me and my wife were starting out, she was a cocktail waitress first and then a bar manager at our local Holiday Inn. Back when they had bands and crowds. She did quite well.
Then in 1982 they started taxing tips. Then they started taxing tips at a predetermined rate they said was the going rate for the area. You could actually lose on a slow night.
Then when she was bar manager MADD pushed enough people to have Pennsylvania pass a law stating if a waitress or barkeep served a person, who then went on to have an accident, they could be held responsible.
Having had to come and scope out the clientele on the nights my wife thought she may have a problem, and I was home, and been in bars of every stripe and brand, you never know if the people coming in were drinking elsewhere. And that some people are fine right up to the drink that makes them not fine.
$2.83 is the hourly wage in Pennsylvania and I think it was much less back in the 80’s.
Then remember that some places pool tips. It all goes into a jar and split at the end of the night. It’s great when you work with a schmuck who can’t keep up.
When I drove truck I ate at all manner of joints. Just had to be able to park my rig somewhere. I ALWAYS tipped heavy, because I know what the waitresses are up against and I also know that for some it’s all they got.
So keep in mind that low hourly rate, and tip your server well.
Oh and there are some joints that “skimmed” tips as a house tip. Yes. Owner took tip money because only by his or hers tender heart do you have your job.
So add it up and ask yourself what YOU would consider fair and equitable when you eat out.
I watched guys drop 50 cents on the counter after spending over 10 bucks and being an absolute pig.
And if you want to be remembered and get good service, tip well.

Oh and as far as Pence goes, he’s the fucking vice president of the USA and very well off.
He couldn’t just throw a $20 up there? It’s going to break him?
Dick.

252
John Hughes  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:47:16am

re: #212 lawhawk

It’s customary in the US to tip for sitdown service. 20% is considered an acceptable tip (2x what he put down).

Considering that restaurant workers are paid less than minimum wage with the expectation that tips make up the difference, this is atrocious but entirely predictable.

There’s a reason that tipping isn’t done in places like France.

Only cheap fucks don’t tip for a sit down meal in France. Not much, usually at least the coin change, maybe a small bill. There is also a 15% service charge included in the bill.

We don’t tip much outside of restaurants, bars and taxis though.

253
John Hughes  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:48:46am

re: #252 John Hughes

Whoops, I forgot — we used to tip the person who took your ticket at the door in a cinema, around a franc or so. But that was a long time ago.

254
John Hughes  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:50:51am

re: #220 Eclectic Cyborg

The values of hard work, the value of community, taking care of your neighbor, that’s what small towns shout from the rooftops,

Yeah. There’s a difference between “shouting from the rooftops” and just walking the walk.

255
Florida Panhandler  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:54:45am

re: #236 Dangerman

trump talks to me. he says it like it is.*

dems wont listen to us, understand our problems, help us maintain our ‘small town lifestyle’. they only talk down to us.

* in truth, Donald Trump and people like him do not ‘speak to you’; they lie to you and you either don’t know or don’t care to know.

“Trump talks to us… blah blah blah”

Real meaning: Trump serves our own sense of entitlement, white supremacism and xenophobia on a big platter to us and we love it. Consequences be damned.

256
John Hughes  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:55:13am

re: #220 Eclectic Cyborg

Completely destroying their communities to own the Libs. Assholes.

Frankly I don’t think these people ever had, or ever will have a community. They just have a place where they temporarily accept people who conform and viciously turn on anyone who goes against what they have been told is acceptable behavior while lying to everyone, themselves included about how they are the salt of the earth and those “urban” people are the devil’s spawn.

257
William Lewis  Dec 30, 2020 • 7:59:41am

So. My water pipes do have electrical tape on them. But there is no power going to them so they froze up. Seems I have a bad circuit breaker apparently. Aggravating. OTOH at least the maint crew goes “call the electrician” at that point rather than doing it themselves.

258
🌹UOJB!  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:02:50am

re: #251 nines09

Oh yes, I remember when President Pruneface signed the law that taxed tips. Friend working at a Las Vegas casino told me his fellow workers were LIVID mainly because they lived off of the tips.

259
TedStriker  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:05:25am

re: #180 Nyet

Lizard people? They’re onto us!

re: #181 Dangerman

cheese it, the cops….

260
nines09  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:06:34am

re: #258 🌹UOJB!

Oh yes, I remember when President Pruneface signed the law that taxed tips. Friend working at a Las Vegas casino told me his fellow workers were LIVID mainly because they lived off of the tips.

It’s why some places have a minimum 15%-20% gratuity added on. And groups of 8 or more are charged more, because of jerkoffs stiffing the staff.

261
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:08:37am
262
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:11:35am

I’m honestly surprised that there hasn’t been class action lawsuit against Fox.

263
Jay C  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:15:09am

re: #236 Dangerman

Right: those “small-town values”….
Yeah, it’s nice to imagine that places like Sterling, KS embody a lot of societal positives. like:

“The values of hard work, the value of community, taking care of your neighbor, that’s what small towns shout from the rooftops, this is what we’re good at. We are salt of the earth people who care about each other,”

Except that what the idealists seem not to get (especially if they move in from elsewhere) is that all these great attitudes and “values” also come with a downside: that said values often ONLY apply within the “community”, that the inclusion in said “community” is usually highly selective, relentlessly conformist, intolerant of dissent/deviation from the “standards” - and, in the 21st Century, rigidly and relentlessly politicized into a sort of “authoritarian communitarianism”, decked out in flags, of course…

Interesting: Sterling, KS (pop. <2300) is the second-largest town in Rice County (pop. <10,000): said county’s population having been recorded as (at the most-optimistic reading) stagnant or declining since the mid-20th Century. Almost like people don’t want to live there: wonder why….

264
Belafon  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:17:10am

re: #262 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

I’m honestly surprised that there hasn’t been class action lawsuit against Fox.

[Embedded content]

January 22, 2001, Fox: 405,000 people died on the first day of Biden’s presidency, and only 3 million people have been vaccinated. Why has he failed to properly respond to the pandemic?

265
Jay C  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:18:32am

re: #262 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

I’m honestly surprised that there hasn’t been class action lawsuit against Fox.

[Embedded content]

Well, I think we can guess the horse’s opinion…..

266
Jay C  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:21:08am

re: #263 Jay C

Dammit: #263 chopped off part of itself after I corrected a typo..

Interesting: Sterling, KS (pop. <2300) is the second-largest town in Rice County (pop. <10,000): said county’s population having been recorded as (at the most-optimistic reading) stagnant or declining since the mid-20th Century. Almost like people don’t want to live there: wonder why….

267
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:21:48am
268
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:22:46am

re: #261 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

As a background piece of context, one should remember about the low-level wingnut dupes wondering about why it’s only Rs that allegedly get sick.

269
lawhawk  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:23:52am
270
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:25:09am

re: #264 Belafon

January 22, 2001, Fox: 405,000 people died on the first day of Biden’s presidency, and only 3 million people have been vaccinated. Why has he failed to properly respond to the pandemic?

Same reason why 9/11 happened on Obama’s watch?

271
A hollow voice says,1st round on points. Onward!  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:26:44am

Western good morning! (Where’s jeffryw?)

Latest fashion in tattoo…
272
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:27:40am

re: #271 A hollow voice says,1st round on points. Onward!

dat ass

273
TedStriker  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:28:55am

re: #271 A hollow voice says,1st round on points. Onward!

Western good morning! (Where’s jeffryw?)

[Embedded content]

re: #272 Nyet

dat ass

I like big butts and I can not lie

274
lawhawk  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:28:58am

re: #270 Nyet

Same reason why 9/11 happened on Obama’s watch?

And Hurricane Katrina.

275
nines09  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:32:57am

re: #274 lawhawk

And Hurricane Katrina.

Pearl Harbor too.

276
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:34:50am
277
nines09  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:35:26am

I hope this is Trump every night from here to rigor mortis.

278
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:36:30am
279
🌹UOJB!  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:39:04am

re: #278 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

[Embedded content]

Others get the $600.

I get a rock.

280
danarchy  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:44:49am

re: #279 🌹UOJB!

Others get the $600.

I get a rock.

Are you not getting it because your income is too high or some other weird loophole? I didn’t get the first one and I won’t get this one either, which is fine because I don’t need it.

281
Teukka  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:45:17am

Didn’t see if this got posted yet. Massive landslide in Norway.

Multiple People Unaccounted For as Huge Landslide Strikes Norwegian Town

TL;DR 15 still unaccounted for, 100s of evacuated.
thelocal.no

282
A Three Hour Tour  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:48:12am

re: #237 Jay C

And wait til he finds what other sort of “shortcut” (in Donny’s case, probably quite literal) is required for conversion….

Circumcision for non-Jewish males has been standard medical practice in the United States for decades.

Trump’s old enough that it could go either way, but the medical establishment adopted the practice of routine circumcision for infant males first in the big metropolitan areas before it spread out to the rural areas.

283
🌹UOJB!  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:53:09am

re: #282 A Three Hour Tour

Circumcision for non-Jewish males has been standard medical practice in the United States for decades.

Trump’s old enough that it could go either way, but the medical establishment adopted the practice of routine circumcision for infant males first in the big metropolitan areas before it spread out to the rural areas.

According to Stormy Drs would have a hard time finding his tiny ding dong…

284
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:54:24am

- I’ll pray for you.
- No, I’LL pray for YOU!

285
🌹UOJB!  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:55:20am

re: #284 Nyet

- I’ll pray for you.
- No, I’LL pray for YOU!

And Pulpit Pimps PREY on your wallet, purse, credit & debit cards…

286
Teukka  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:56:44am

re: #284 Nyet

- I’ll praey for on you.
- No, I’LL praey for on YOU!

FTFY.

287
jaunte  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:57:09am
288
jeffreyw  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:57:26am

Good morning!

1

289
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:57:26am
290
Alephnaught  Dec 30, 2020 • 8:59:09am

So that’s the House of Commons voted for the Brexit deal, and it’s now at the House of Lords, who will probably back it (albeit with a smaller majority) later tonight.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government has nominally voted against the Brexit deal with a statement criticising its effect on the Scottish economy.

Although Westminster is supposed to take on board Scottish decisions in this area, it doesn’t have to, so it almost certainly won’t. So this is likely more a declarative and political gesture on the part of the Scottish Government, and its likely rejection by Westminister will be held up by independence supporting parties (SNP, Greens, etc.) as more evidence of why Scotland needs to go independent. (Elections for the Scottish Parliament are coming up in May 2021.)

291
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:00:20am

re: #290 Alephnaught

secede secede secede

292
🌹UOJB!  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:04:12am

re: #290 Alephnaught

End Result of Brexit—A Free and Independent Scotland along with a United Ireland. And the sun finally sets on the British Empire…

293
Alephnaught  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:06:10am

re: #291 Nyet

secede secede secede

Technically, that is possible, but a lot of people look at the mess Ireland had to go through to get not even 100% of its country independent, and would rather Scotland not take the same path to independence.

EDIT for clarity.

294
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:12:34am

re: #276 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

[Embedded content]

Not to mention the fact that there are county health departments out there working hard to minimize how often you get “bad fajitas”.

295
jaunte  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:14:12am

Senator Josh Hawley invites 81 million volunteers and contributors to his upcoming defeat.

296
🌹UOJB!  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:14:54am

re: #276 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

When it comes to Laura Loomer let KKKrazy KKKaren continue making an ass of herself oh, and don’t wear a mask Loony Laura. ESPECIALLY don’t wear that mask!

297
🌹UOJB!  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:17:17am

re: #295 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Senator Josh Hawley invites 81 million volunteers and contributors to his upcoming defeat.

Let him violate the 3rd section of the 14th Amendment along with the 126 Republican Assholes in the House. Their seditious action disqualifies them from their Congressional seats.

298
Alephnaught  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:18:17am

re: #292 🌹UOJB!

End Result of Brexit—A Free and Independent Scotland along with a United Ireland. And the sun finally sets on the British Empire…

Arguably, the first step to a united Ireland was the Good Friday Agreement, which normalised key laws between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland along the lines of EU laws. But that was okay at the time because both countries were then in the EU.

Come January 1st, thanks to the Brexit deal, which states that NI must follow EU laws in order to follow the Good Friday agreement, Northern Ireland must more closely follow the same laws as it’s southern neighbour than those of the UK, so it’s already partially unified.

Small wonder the Unionist parties in Northern Ireland voted against the deal today.

299
Teukka  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:20:27am

Quote of the day:

300
John Hughes  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:20:57am

re: #291 Nyet

secede secede secede

If Scotland unilaterally secedes it will never be allowed to join the EU.

If it leaves the UK after a legal referendum it will be allowed to join the EU.

301
jaunte  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:33:20am
302
garzooma  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:33:54am

re: #299 Teukka

Quote of the day:

[Embedded content]
Atrocity merely arms the future for more atrocity. It is self-perpetuating upon itself — a barbarous form of incest. Whoever commits atrocity also commits those future atrocities thus bred.”

Speaking of which, this was in the Washington Post on Christmas Eve:

YEREVAN, Armenia — Yuri ­Asryan lived alone on his small farm in a village in southern Nagorno-Karabakh. The 82-year-old was a quiet, well-liked man, locals told an Armenian lawyer who documented Asryan’s death after videos surfaced depicting atrocities in the conflict over this disputed region in the Caucasus.

The farmer did not flee the village, Azokh, when Azerbaijani forces swept in to seize it from ethnic Armenian control during the recent six-week outbreak of fighting. His last moments are shown in a video that surfaced on a Telegram channel this month: He is held down by men in uniforms resembling those worn by Azerbaijani troops, one of whom saws into Asryan’s neck with a knife in an apparent decapitation.
[…]

Videotaping, for more effective arming.

303
Rightwingconspirator  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:34:05am

re: #291 Nyet

secede secede secede

Good point, but ends well so rarely.

304
🌹UOJB!  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:34:42am

re: #301 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Hmmmm, wonder why J0el 0$teen isn’t opening up his Swiss bank account to feed the hungry?????

305
jaunte  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:36:03am

re: #304 🌹UOJB!

Those smile-whitening treatments aren’t cheap.

306
Nyet  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:36:16am

re: #300 John Hughes

If Scotland unilaterally secedes it will never be allowed to join the EU.

If it leaves the UK after a legal referendum it will be allowed to join the EU.

sure, I mean the second one

307
Teukka  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:36:53am

re: #302 garzooma

Speaking of which, this was in the Washington Post on Christmas Eve:

Videotaping, for more effective arming.

Bingo.

308
Alephnaught  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:39:36am

re: #300 John Hughes

If Scotland unilaterally secedes it will never be allowed to join the EU.

If it leaves the UK after a legal referendum it will be allowed to join the EU.

That’s another good point. I mean, look at what happened to Catalonia when it tried to secede from Spain. It appeared to do everything by the book, including a referendum, which it won. However, it tried to get around the fact that the Spanish constitution explicitly names the regions of Spain that make up the country. That means that if you’re a region of Spain that wants to secede, then there needs to be an amendment to the constitution that removes that region’s name. That requires ratification from the Spanish Parliament, and obviously some other regions might not be in favour, and vote it down. The EU’s response to the poltical mayhem after the Catalonian indyref was: “It’s an internal political matter”, and stood by whilst the rest of Spain clamped down on the Catalonian independence movement.

It’s not so hard for Scotland in constitutional terms- there’s not an actual hard and fast UK constitution, and the Acts of Union, by which Scotland and England/Wales unified their Parliaments, state that both parties are free to leave. However, the political mayhem that would ensue if Scotland did a Universal Declaration of Independence, without putting it through a measurable democratic and legal process, would make it very hard if not impossible for the EU to allow it in the club. After all, if a country cannot follow the laws, how can it follow EU laws?

EDIT: I see Nyet’s clarified their point, thanks!

309
Florida Panhandler  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:39:51am

themoscowtimes.com

Looks like Putin is being Putin. New limits on the press, speech, and on internet forums.

The silence from Snowden and Assange is deafening. It’s amazing what implied threats by autocrats can accomplish towards cowards like these. It turns them into allies.

Coincidentally, everything Putin is currently doing to place limits on the Press, online forums and Libel laws mirror the same policies Trump wants implemented.

310
Teukka  Dec 30, 2020 • 9:41:29am

re: #302 garzooma

I credit the Dune novels written by Frank Herbert as profoundly mind-opening ones, that taught me how to think outside the box, lightyears outside it. And not just for profound quotes and wisdoms like the above, but for concepts such as “Missionaria Protectiva” and “Panoplia Propheticus”.

311
Thanos  Dec 30, 2020 • 10:00:33am

re: #295 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Senator Josh Hawley invites 81 million volunteers and contributors to his upcoming defeat.

Over in the state of Misery, that kind of posturing will keep him elected. Remember, this is a state where many fly the confederate flag above the U.S. flag.

312
John Hughes  Dec 30, 2020 • 10:34:59am

re: #306 Nyet

sure, I mean the second one

Ok, then you don’t want to use the “S” word.

313
Florida Panhandler  Dec 30, 2020 • 2:48:05pm

re: #311 Thanos

Over in the state of Misery, that kind of posturing will keep him elected. Remember, this is a state where many fly the confederate flag above the U.S. flag.

Most Republican voters now choose their government officials not for any sort of civic competence, but as a big “Fuck You” to the world-

… similar to how North Korean “Juche” philosophy and Putin’s Russia operate.


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