Saturday Stuff

Robert Reich gives us a warning about the AI bubble potentially bursting, similar to other wild speculation in the past (the dot.com bubble in the ‘90s, the housing bubble in ’08, to say nothing of the Great Depression), and this time around, it definitely isn’t a guarantee that taxpayers will be left to clean up the mess, nor should we, I wish to emphasize...didn’t know affected companies were doing trillions of dollars in deals with each other, but sadly, that fits the awful pattern also...I mean, it wouldn’t be so potentially bad if the rest of our economy were doing well, but that definitely isn’t the case (AI accounting for 92% of GDP growth? Ugh)...we also learn that 37 states have granted tax exemptions for building those wretched AI data centers, which poses a whole other nightmare as far as the environment is concerned...



...and speaking of those damn data centers, I’m going to revisit TYT with Cenk and Ana even though I said I wouldn’t because they’re covering this important story also...we learn that there currently is a conflict with Virginia farmers in conflict with AI as they try to eke out a livelihood as our economy utterly tanks (and leave it to this Dagen McDowell person on Fix Noise to tell these farmers to SHUTUP SHUTUP SHUTUP SHUTUP AND GET WITH THE PROGRAM!!!...and once more, Bernie Sanders is on the correct side of an issue as he is here)...didn’t know data centers could consume 10% of power usage in the whole damn country...not sure exactly why they turned to Billo The Clown and his ridiculous “war on Christmas” stuff (yeah, corporations are distracting us through their media lickspittles to get us to fight each other), but I think this would have been a better segment if they’d done a little more research on exactly how these damn data centers are destroying communities...



...and shifting gears a bit, we learned recently that wingnut eminence grise Norman Podhoretz recently shed his mortal coil and now resides somewhere in the afterlife (here)...I guess I’m supposed to think of something good to say, but I really can’t...as you watch the clip of this warmongering old fart in ’07 calling for bombing Iran (awfully generous with the blood of other people’s kids), keep in mind that, years later, President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated a nuke treaty with that country (here)...as others would say about Podhoretz, rest in piss...



...and Jimmy Kimmel discusses the recent “liar side chat” with the Tangerine Toddler...we find out that Jack Smith presented his findings on Cantaloupe Capone trying to influence the 2020 election results behind a closed-door committee chaired by Gym Jordan, so OF COURSE everything was above-board (#joke)...and oh yeah, those ridiculous White House wall plaques are indeed like “Dickipedia” (and gee, wouldn’t it be nice to know how much THOSE cost)...and oh yeah, apparently because they can’t think of any other pressing business, the Repug-run U.S. Senate had a hearing with FCC chair Brendan Carr where Ted “Podcast!” Cruz could make a fool of himself yet again (well OK, I guess the hearing mattered to some degree...and good job poking fun at that “Melania” idiocy)...and nice work also by Mark Hamill to have a little fun with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (not sure if I’ll catch the Spongebob Squarepants movie or not, to be honest)...



...and in case anybody was wondering if I was running out of seasonal stuff...well, don't worry - still a few items left :-).

Friday Stuff

Farron Cousins lets us know that economists are warning that we’re on the brink of a recession, and depending on what we know about the data (which likely is being rigged by our ruling cabal of sycophants and bottom feeders), we may in fact be in one already (and Justin Wolfers is definitely an economist I trust on this stuff)...and as far as this BS about no prices going up is concerned, let me ask you why a pound of bacon that use to cost $6 has risen by 50 percent, along with the fact that a bag of Dunkin’ Donuts ground roast coffee is now $14.99 when it used to cost about $7 (both prices at our local Giant supermarket...and once more, Ground News definitely is worth it)...

...and I guess, instead of an old man yelling at clouds, we were treated to a typically unhinged rant from Combover Caligula on Wednesday night about his supposedly wonderful economy...Jen Psaki brings the reality perspective (with Vaughn Hillyard and Catherine Rampell, who in particular really “brings the receipts”)...and oh yeah, that $1776 number supposedly appropriated by our failed steak and vodka salesman represents funds already appropriated by Congress (here), and economists believe those wretched tariffs have cost families about $1700 per year as noted...Hillyard mentions those typically ridiculous plaques at the White House for prior presidents designed to make Democrats look bad and Repugs look good, of course (once more, because there are no actual adults in this administration, except maybe for this Susie Wiles person, who I’m sure will have a book published soon)...I wondered why the hell Pumpkin Pol Pot decided to do this nonsense NOW, with Christmas around the corner (that awful speech I mean), and when Hillyard mentioned the season finale of “Survivor,” it suddenly makes sense that Cheetoh Hitler believed he would get the lion’s share of that audience, though I’m sure he didn’t...and I personally don’t think this SCOTUS will go against #47 on his tariff madness, but if they do (as someone else noted), companies are going to line up to try and recoup those costs, which will drive our economy further into recession – love to be wrong...



...and Trevor Hayes of More Perfect Union discusses the criminals who bought Cantaloupe Capone, including the three behind Bitcoin, the founder of the “dark web” (Ross Ulbricht) which trafficked in all manner of narcotics and illegal products and services, the guy behind Binance (Changpeng Zhao) who was sent to prison for money laundering and fined millions, and others (report by journalist Jacob Silverman)...report revisits $131 million in crypto used by the Gropenfuhrer for the ’24 presidential election (once more, love and kisses to the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR for Citizens United), as well as the $40 million dumped into Bernie Moreno’s U.S. Senate campaign against Sherrod Brown...oh, and it looks like Don The Con is trying to clean up with this World Liberty Financial outfit, with Steve Witkoff’s help (Emoluments clause? What emoluments clause?); if the voters in this country ever decide to hand federal congressional power to Democrats, this in particular should be investigated non-stop...it looks like Binance created some kind of a crypto-currency (a “stablecoin”) used by this WLF outfit; and oh yeah, this Saudi prince sends $2 billion to WLF to be basically laundered and sent to Binance, getting $2 bil in USD stablecoins in return – ultimately, the Emirati government gets a $2 bil share in Binance, leading to an SEC case against Binance getting dropped and those stinking NVIDIA chips going to the UAE...and oh yeah, let’s not forget Justin Sun, this Tron blockchain guy whose product is used for money laundering; Sun spent $75 mil on a WLF token and his multibillion-dollar fraud case gets thrown out by Trump’s SEC...also, there’s this ultra-shadowy group called Aqua1 Financial in China that figures into this...and just remember that some of this WLF currency went to Chinese crime gangs and the Sinaloa cartel...if your head is spinning a bit after watching this, don’t worry, because mine was too...



...well, at least we have Mr. Newberger to give our clueless, flatulent meat sack the treatment he deserves...



...and here are more seasonal tunes (and RIP Raul Malo of The Mavericks).

Thursday Stuff

David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us about ICE agents in Minneapolis getting taunted by protestors, some of whom threw snowballs at vehicles driven by these thugs...of course, these glorified, Paul Blart rent-a-cops with weapons respond by shooting pepper spray...oh, and they also ran into a protestor with their SUV, knocked this person down and had a good laugh...if you want to see alleged tough guys who are about as tough and rugged as a box of waffles, look no further...that bulbous, flatulent orange meat sack is actually right about this country being at a “tipping point,” but definitely not in the way he pretends to imagine (and my God, the f*cking accordion hands again!!...)...



...and Ali Velshi (sitting in for Lawrence O’Donnell) reminds us that Don The Con has no plan for you if you’re facing economic hardship...sounds like nearly half of this country is sinking, trying to afford the basics and dealing with an economy that is going straight to hell in the proverbial handbasket...oh, and it looks like Repug U.S. House Rep Rob Bresnahan from our beloved commonwealth has been feathering his own filthy nest with stock trades while stating publicly that he wants to ban stock activity (sounds like Bresnahan is a case study for why people get disgusted with politicians – here)...and oh yeah, it looks like PA’s Bresnahan, Ryan Mackenzie and Bri-Fi (along with Mike Lawler of New York) are siding with the Dems on a discharge petition in the House to reinstate the ACA credits as noted here, not because these three have any principles, but because they know how badly their party f*cked up in letting the credits expire in the Big, Obnoxious Garbage Bill that the Tangerine Toddler signed into law (and about the vote on the discharge petition, why am I not surprised by this?)...



...meanwhile, we get a dose of reality from Dem U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern on what the lapsing of ACA credits truly means...



...and Stephen Colbert reminds us that it’s not the holidays without Melania Trump (well, maybe in hell I suppose - here)...



...and if you guessed that it's time for more seaonal selections, then treat yourself to a Starbuck's Mistletoe Latte (I mean, I'm not offering to pay for it, but enjoy it anyway).

Wednesday Stuff

Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us how the elites in this country pit us against each other to rob us blind...and OF COURSE, DHS tries blaming immigrants for this country’s many ills, which is straight out of the authoritarian playbook (and kudos once more to Pramila Jayapal for speaking truth to stoo-pid)...and as far as I’m concerned, if you’ve done something to get under the skin of Matt Yglesias, you’re on the right track...I don’t know much about this Peter Schiff guy, though I believe his take on the rich and our economy is utterly wrong...the Oxfam guy makes a pretty damn compelling IMO argument for a wealth tax at long freaking last...I didn’t know that 36 percent of billionaire wealth is derived from inheritance, but that does seem to fit...and oh yeah, Leon (“I Care”) Cooperman, the hedge fund manager, really is that big of a leech, fake emotionalism notwithstanding...important to note not just how these bottom feeders basically make us recoup what they don’t pay in taxes, but also how private equity buying up rental housing has put home ownership out of reach, in particular for those in their 20s and 30s looking to get started (and veterinary care too??? No bottom for these scumwaffles)...I’m glad Figueredo found a way to work in data centers, since I think they pose a huge threat to our quality of life also...didn’t know Mark Zuckerberg drove Hawaiians off their own freaking land so he could build a pleasure palace...this clip should be viewed by (among others) all of these conservative centrist boomers in bedroom communities in Bucks County (and elsewhere) in places such as Solebury, Buckingham, Perkasie, Quakertown, etc. who are conditioned to defer to the one percent in the way Figueredo describes (NSFW/H)...



...and Kyle Kulinski comments on the shooting at Brown University, with at least 2 dead and 9 injured (looks like it’s time not to politicize gun violence again...SMDH), and also the shooting on the beach at Sydney, Australia, which was a much worse mass casualty event unfortunately (and I’ll admit that one of these things is not like the other because Australia takes the mass proliferation of guns seriously)...Kyle’s video shows gunfire in real time though no one is hit in this segment (Update: Aside from the shooters I mean), just to warn you in advance...and I also don’t know how good Destiny would be at running the FBI, but his intellect is off the charts, so whatever he DID do would be pretty well grounded in reality (and I realize I haven’t done “Do-Gooders And Dregs” posts here for 10 years, for those of you keeping score at home, but if I did, Ahmad El Ahmad would be the Do-Gooder Of The Year for his bravery here)...and I couldn’t give a sh*t about anything Candace Owens or Laura Loomer have to say, or this Riley Gaines person “chasing clout” no doubt, and that rabbi blaming Palestinians for this should STFU (NSFW/H also)...



...and this New York Times clip discusses how U.S.-Somali citizens in Minnesota are protecting themselves against ICE raids; the nurse practitioner interviewed used to be proud of carrying her US passport, but now she does so to keep from getting hauled off to some black site where God knows what will happen to her...oh, and a gentleman who served in the Army National Guard for six years and also on his town’s city council is also interviewed (another American of Somali descent)...after watching this clip, I think anyone who voted for Dementia J. Trump should be made to wear a shirt with a “T” on it for the rest of their lives, forcing them to advertise what utter numbskulls they truly are (I could also think of worse punishments, but I don’t want to get flagged for bad language)...



...and I’m in the mood to try and lighten things up a bit here...this clip from The Daily Show takes a page out of “The Shop Around The Corner,” “You’ve Got Mail,” and all of those cloying info-mercial-like Hallmark programs that proliferate this time of year (the ending is absolutely spot-on IMO...mildly NSFW/H also)...



...and here are more tunes for the season.

Tuesday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen gives us Dear Orange Leader’s typical nonsense response to a reporter’s good question (for a change) about the fact that 24 million people will see their health insurance go through the roof without ACA subsidies...I honestly didn’t know that HSAs cannot legally be used to pay insurance premiums, but that figures when it comes to our utter joke of a health care system in this country (and here’s an admittedly nutty thought; if Dementia J. Trump allegedly doesn’t want insurance companies to be comped, then I guess that means he supports Medicare For All...???)...one of Cohen’s many great points is that ACA enrollees are largely in states that stoo-pidly voted for Combover Caligula, but anybody who thinks that #47 actually cares about helping the people who voted for him must also believe that Jesus wrote the Ten Commandments and rode a triceratops during the Stone Age; also, I think the “ACA death spiral” argument that Cohen mentions is very much a feature of this scam from Cheetoh Benito and not a bug...



...and correspondent Rosa Flores files the following report in this segment with Katy Tur of MS NOW on the Tyson plant closure in Lexington, Nebraska (3,200 jobs lost in a town of about 11K, and right in the middle of the holidays of course)...and by the way, I’m sure the chaotic trade nonsense from Our Treasonous Orange Pustule is in play here where it comes to the thinning cattle herd which affected this move, but I haven’t been able to track down any kind of a “cause and effect” from #47 – however, I’ll just operate under the same rules as the wingnuts who took Biden to task for the supposedly crippling inflation of 3 precent (at least what we have now) along with anything negative whatsoever that applies to our economy and blame Cheetoh Hitler anyway (here)...



...and Belle of the Ranch tells us how state senate Repugs in Indiana successfully pushed back on Cantaloupe Capone’s redistricting nonsense, with more Repugs voting against it than voting for it (and it looks like Don The Con’s threat to primary those who didn’t do his bidding didn’t land so well...c’est dommage...and oh yeah, maybe it’s not a good idea to launch “swatting” attacks in an effort to win hearts and minds, you orange numbskull; no wonder they told you to “kick rocks,” as Belle correctly puts it...”voters will remember who didn’t stand up to bad policy” indeed)...



...and I thought these were kind condolences from Seth Meyers over the horrific deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner...“We have to do everything we can to not make setting an example a lost art” indeed...



...and yep, you guessed it - time for more seasonal tunes.

Monday Stuff

John of The Damage Report tells us of Wonder Boy Jared Kushner’s (and Paramount’s) attempted hostile takeover of Warner Bros., with Don The Con pretending not to know anything (well, maybe he isn’t pretending)...John makes the GREAT point that the media double standard here is beyond ridiculous when compared with the Bidens (in terms of no follow up questions)...John is also incredibly right about the fact that all of this (even the Netflix offer) needs more goddamn oversight, but good luck with that when the ”party of Lincoln” is in charge, and he’s also on the money about needing some kind of a “truth and reconciliation” committee when these villainous cretins are no longer in charge (meaning the regime of Pumpkin Pol Pot)...



...also, Erielle Reshef on MS NOW informs us that the Gropenfuhrer's TSA wants to look at the social media history going back about 5 years for anyone arriving in this country (w/ Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for USA Today, and with former Hakeem Jeffries aide Michael Hardaway also)...I apologize for including a clip of that demented orange meat sack rating about Dem U.S. House Rep Ilhan Omar, but once more, I think attention must be paid on occasion to this madness...good point that the rhetoric from Our Demented Orange Toddler is driving people out of political life, which is a net negative as far as yours truly is concerned...and unfortunately, I think Spencer Cox is right (a bit) in that those people who view politics as some kind of a WWE contest need to take a look in the mirror, but I’m not hopeful that that will happen...



...and Thom Hartmann lets us know that the Senate just voted down a Dem bill to extend ACA subsidies for 3 years, along with a bill to provide $1500 to HSAs, the latter of which to me is utterly useless unless you’re already rich...oh, and the HSA increase couldn’t be used for abortions or gender affirming care because of course...I hope Thom is right about the discharge petition in the House that could extend ACA subsidies for three years, but I have no reason to be optimistic with these cretins in charge, sadly...



...and this is where I try to add a clip that is somewhat humorous, but I absolutely can’t do that today given the awful news of the horrific deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife...I’m not sure it’s possible to properly do justice to Reiner’s impact mainly as a film director, producer, and political activist – this clip barely scratches the surface on that, but I realize it was filmed when the news first broke...I’m sure more detailed commemorations will follow in the days and weeks ahead (and sympathies to family and friends of course)...



Update: Oh, OK...I guess the rule of “we must be ultra-reverential towards murdered celebrities” (which I’m basically OK with) that was more or less agreed upon after Charlie Kirk’s killing now gets sh*tcanned because Reiner was a lib...got it (here).

...and here are more seasonal numbers.