HorsesAss.Org

Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza!

by — ,

Parody Project: ♫ Hang up your robe Judge Thomas ♬

Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Sarah Huckabee’s nineteen thousand dollar scandal ♬

Electoral Dysfunction:

Seth Meyers with some political news

Roll Call: Congressional hits and misses of the week

Jimmy Kimmel: The week in unnecessary censorship

Anarchists, Nihilists, and Other Rudderless Трамп Cultists:

John Oliver: Homeschooling

WaPo: More than 1,150 guns were seized in K-12 schools last year

Desi Lydic speaks to real-life Florida men

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Comments

  1. 1

    “Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Friday that all citizens of Gaza are responsible for the attack Hamas perpetrated in Israel last weekend that left over 1,200 people dead.”

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/israel-gaza-isaac-herzog_n_65295ee8e4b03ea0c004e2a8

    Hey, even if 2 million innocent Gazans die of thirst and starvation in the coming weeks, Herzog will be able to claim his government is only one-third as murderous as the Nazis, and none were worked to death in a gulag.

  3. 3

    I was wondering how many ballots for speaker this time. Haven’t even got to the floor vote yet.

  4. 4

    Russia’s proposed 2024 budget includes funding for Social Fund payments of $225 per month to families of 102,700 Russian soldiers removed from active duty rolls by Ukraine.

    https://www.newsweek.com/russia-death-toll-ukraine-war-1834486

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: Someday they’ll get a monument in Red Square, too, inscribed with the names of “the fifty heroes who gave their lives for the Motherland in the fight against Ukrainian fascism.” Nearby is the monument to the ten Soviet soldiers lost in the Soviet-Afghan tree planting and school building expedition from 1979-1989.

  8. 8

    @5,

    Is big waste.

    We make Soylent Green to sell at GUM instead. 6000 rubles.
    Gift wrapping available.

  10. 10

    Trailer for Season 4 of For All Mankind,

    https://youtu.be/kBcqdqYxZVg?si=WVHpoSBWsfC_MLK_

    Season 3ended with détente between 4 Spacefaring operations at tge Happy Valley Mars Camp. US, USSR, NorthKorea(when their guy was found, it was a shocker to fans of the show, not to mention the crews of the others), and private operator Helios. Helios is run by an Elon Musk type.

    In the finale, Johnson Space Center was Renamed after a pioneering female astronaut killed in the bombing of Mission Control by Anti-NASA Extremists. Among their gripes was the potential end of a major Texas industry, as tge Energy Transition is in full swing as the result of the knock-on effects of a continuing space race.

    https://youtu.be/kBcqdqYxZVg?si=WVHpoSBWsfC_MLK_

    Will be interesting to see how the election of 2000 goes. I’m assuming President Wilson, a former Astronaut, was impeached. As her husband of convenience gets in a scandal, she addresses the nation, and comes out. By the way, in the Alt 1992 election, she beats Clinton, and yes, Perot was running. The Soviet moon landing has an interesting arc with the Presidency. It happens as Senator Edward M Kennedy was planning to attend a party on an island, he goes back to Washington. Beats Nixon in 72, loses to Reagan in 76. Then it’s Gary Hart in 84.

  12. 12

    In NZ, looks like the Center-Right nationals are ahead, but will have to see how their potential coalition partners fare, as the votes are counted. Under MMP, it’s imperative that all voters party votes are counted. Figured Labor would be in trouble, 3rd and 4th terms are an uphill climb in NZ.

    IN Australia, voters are voting on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum. Compulsory voting applies to the referendum, any enrolled Australian voter who doesn’t owe, $20 fine. Since it’s a Constitutional Amendment, an interesting formula for passage. Yes can get a majority and still lose. It needs a majority of the states too. Then the territories, their votes count nationally, but not in the state total.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-13/voice-vote-how-referendums-work/102952584

    Not all Indigenous Australians are on board with the proposal. Some believe a treaty is necessary.

  13. 13

    “Israel has ordered the entire population of northern Gaza to evacuate south, a warning that leaves more than 1 million people to decide whether to abandon their homes. Hamas urged Gazans to ignore it. Following the order, 70 people — mostly women and children — were killed after Israeli airstrikes hit convoys of Palestinian evacuees heading south in Gaza.” — NBC News update

    “Civilians living in northern Gaza have been told by the Israeli military to use two roads to head south today, according to a spokesperson. In a statement posted in Arabic on X, formerly Twitter, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Avichay Adraee said two routes can be used between the hours of 10am and 4pm local time (7am to 1pm GMT) ‘without any harm’.” — BBC News update

    The dumbasses either can’t read a clock, don’t have a clock, or all the clocks have stopped working because there’s no electricity. In any case, light ’em up for breaking curfew. — IDF

  14. 14

    13)Probably weren’t, or were scared to, pick up leaflets dropped. Tough situation. Israel has a missile designed to reduce collateral damage, but Hamas hides behind civilians, so the CEP can be very narrow and the Delilah would still kill civilians. Worse if fuel or stored munitions are within the blast.

  15. 15

    Boo-fucking-hoo. I feel terrible for the victims of the Hamas atrocities and their grieving families. I feel for innocent Palestinian civilians, too. But I feel nothing for this guy. I won’t shed a tear for him.

  17. 17

    Jim Wright

    If the Freedom Caucus thought Kevin McCarthy was oblivious their demands for action…
    …wait ’till they find out just how hard Jim Jordan can ignore pleas for help.

  18. 18

    Secretary of State to Israel: “Try not to hurt too many civilians as you lay waste to Hamas.”

    Blinken urges protection of civilians on both sides amid green light for ground incursion

    An American official says that the US did not ask Israel to slow or hold off on the evacuation plan. The official said the discussions with Israeli leaders did stress the importance of taking into account the safety of civilians as Israel’s military moved to enforce the evacuation demand.

    The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about internal discussions, says the Israeli leaders acknowledged the guidance and took it under advisement.

    Well, if the Biden administration doesn’t have any expressed concerns about a genocide, there must not be any concerns bout a genocide.

    FINISH THEM.

  19. 19

    @ 7

    But no worries; Hakeem Jeffries points out that after 16 years in Congress, Jordan still has yet to pass a single bill.

    One of the criticisms of John Kerry in 2004 is that he had done so little as a Senator, if measured by the number of authored bills that passed and were signed into law that actually got anything done.

    In 20 years as a senator (1985-2004), Kerry passed 11 bills or resolutions, if Factcheck.org be believed. These include the naming of a federal building and these four beauties:

    S.J.Res.158: To make the week of Oct. 22 – Oct. 28, 1989 “World Population Awareness Week.” (1989)
    S.J.Res.160: To renew “World Population Awareness Week” for 1991. (1991)
    S.J.Res.318: To make Nov. 13, 1992 “Vietnam Veterans Memorial 10th Anniversary Day.” (1992)
    S.J.Res.337: To make Sept. 18, 1992 “National POW/MIA Recognition Day.” (1992)

    Oh. He also got permanent residency for a Korean chick with a marijuana arrest on her record.

    Those are six of the 11 – a building, four recognition days, and a visa for a doobie-rollin’ Asian chick who married a soldier.

    Enough to make him president, said Democrats.

    Now, shall we do Bernie Bernie Sanders in 2016 next? Pretty sure his authored bill success was zero.

    You’re a bloviating, useless fool, Robinhood Dumbfuck Rabbit.

  20. 20

    Assistance the US will provide to Israel might actually successfully take out Hamas, or at least reduce it to an entity with visibility and success akin to our own Code Pink.

    My president might actually be pulling strings that results in actual “freedom of Palestine”. From Hamas. It’s the only chance Palestinians will ever have for their own state. It’s reality.

    Biden needs an enduring win for people to remember, instead of all of the fuckups that have marred and otherwise will define his presidency. He’s running out of time, and he’s not running for re-election.

    This – eradication of Hamas from Gaza, enabling a true peace effort – might be it.

  24. 24

    There’s no real point in whining about the status of the Rafah crossing if Hamas won’t let anyone use it.

    Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, said in a televised speech that Palestinians will not leave Gaza or the West Bank and migrate to Egypt.

    “Our decision is to remain in our land,” Haniyeh added, while addressing Egypt in that part of the speech.

  25. 25

    “FINISH THEM.”

    With the understanding of course that half of “them” he wants “finished” are children.

    This is such a flattering look for someone watching all this unfold from a recliner in front of a television surrounded by empty pizza boxes and beer cans.

  26. 26

    The troll has much at stake in Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza.

    He once very sincerely pretended to be Jewish during a residency to get out of on-call between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

  28. 28

    @18 I’m not against the evacuation order. Clearing the battlefield of civilians before engaging the enemy is militarily and morally sound. The Biden administration, represented by Blinken, recognizes this; they’re smart guys, especially compared to the intellectual and moral midgets comprising your tribe.

    And even those midgets are smarter and more moral than you, who can’t do any better than “kill ’em all and let God sort ’em out,” which is the bottom of the intellectual and moral barrel.

  29. 29

    @19 I’ll roll with Kerry and Sanders not being president, and Jordan not being speaker. You?

  30. 30

    @20 I’m 100% for eradicating Hamas, freeing Gaza from its grip, a Palestinian state, and a major foreign policy victory for Biden that would aid his re-election.

    We’re both greedy capitalists, and now it looks like we’re both Democrats, too. Welcome aboard. I might even be persuaded to overlook your past stupidity if you stay on board, but you’ll need to drop the “kill ’em all and let God sort ’em out” horseshit.

  32. 32

    @25 “This is such a flattering look for someone watching all this unfold from a recliner in front of a television surrounded by empty pizza boxes and beer cans.”

    Good place for him. Certainly much better than, say, in a clinic attending to sick brown-skinned children. I want him to stay right where he is.

  33. 33

    At least with NZ, the parties get the seats I. Proportion to the party vote. Recent provincial election in Manitoba, New Democrats had about 45%, incumbent Progressive Conservative Party 41%, Liberals about 11%. Using Winner Take All, the NDP won nearly 60% of the seats. MMP would have helped with a regional disparity of the Manitoba legislative Assembly. 2/3 of the seats are in Winnipeg. The districts are drawn by a commission.

    https://www.fairvote.ca/04/10/2023/manitoba-election-voters-cheated-by-first-past-the-post/

    Later this month, Switzerland has their parliamentary elections. Most likely, the Swiss People Party, an anti-immigration party will expand its share to nearly 30%. There are some interesting parts of the Swiss system. Parties put up list of candidates, voters can do whatever they want to the order. Not like a candidate in their preferred party, cross them off the list. Like @ candidate even more, vote for them twice. Those cumulative votes can override tge order the party picked. Also will be interesting to see if both Green Parties hold onto their 2019 gains. Change in how Bern works comes slowly, and they don’t alter the Magic Formula in how tge parliament votes for the governing Federal Council based on performance at one election.
    https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/2023-swiss-federal-elections—how-to-complete-ballot-papers-correctly/48736578
    Tge type of PR Switzerland uses is called a Free List, the most open of the type known as Open List. Also, the threshold is based on how many seats a Canton has, Zurich having the most, a few sparsely populated cantons only have one. Israel is the Opposite, 120 seats elected nationally, Closed list, threshold around 3%. Voters have to pick a party ballot, and accept the order the party members selected in the Primary.

    Saw a tweet from the incoming Manitoba Premier pretty much siding with Israel and supporting the Jewish community in his province. Some weren’t happy, probably thinking because he is Canada’s first First Nation Premier, he’ would support the other side.

  34. 34

    “A blast has struck a convoy on an evacuation route in Gaza, killing a number of people including several children, after a stark deadline ahead of a possible Israeli ground assault.

    “The IDF told civilians in and around Gaza City Friday that they must move south to avoid being caught up in Israeli military operations and announced a six-hour evacuation window on Saturday. …

    “Videos authenticated by CNN showed a scene of extensive destruction following Friday’s blast on Salah Al-Deen street. A number of bodies, including those of children, can be seen on on a flat-bed trailer that appears to have been used to carry people away from Gaza City. There are also a number of badly burned and damaged cars.”

    https://www.aol.com/news/tens-thousands-flee-south-bombarded-055253302.html

    There seems to be no doubt at all that a bunch of Gaza refugees obeying Israel’s evacuation order got blown up. Nothing in the article above says the Israelis did it (e.g., Hamas might have); or, if they did, that it was deliberate (as opposed to a wayward munition). Fog of war.

    Note: This post is a calculated and premeditated attempt to trigger the Whidbey Freak. Let’s see if he takes the bait.

  35. 35

    This is such a flattering look for someone watching all this unfold from a recliner in front of a television surrounded by empty pizza boxes and beer cans.

    For someone who hates both Jews and Arabs, it’s probably as good as it gets.

    Too bad the dumbfuck ran out of pizza and beer.

  36. 36

    @35 “Too bad the dumbfuck ran out of pizza and beer.”

    We could take up a collection for a delivery to his rathole, so he doesn’t have to come out. And post a cat at the entrance, so he doesn’t.

  37. 37

    “Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov was arrested early Friday for openly carrying a handgun at a pro-Palestine protest, triggering calls for her ouster and the launch of an ethics investigation that could jeopardize her future as an elected official.”

    Today’s quiz: Is she a Democrat or a Republican? The answer is here.

  40. 40

    Stadler getting another North American contract. The FLIRT Multiple Unit is a good design, originally an Electric Multiple Unit for Stadler’s home market of Switzerland, the design adapted for modified North American rules is propulsion agnostic, with Diesel, Battery Electric, Diesel-Hybrid, and now Hydrogen. Tge first ones under this order will most likely be used on the Sacramento Section of the San Juoquin.
    https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/stadler-california-sign-deal-for-hydrogen-trainsets/

  42. 42

    Republicans have two big incentives to cut a deal with Democrats on electing a speaker: Unelectable Gym Jordan, and —

    “Embattled Rep. George Santos, the New York Republican who is currently under indictment for alleged fraud, reportedly threatened Saturday to resign from his position if Republicans reach a deal with Democrats to elect a speaker of the House.”

    https://www.rawstory.com/santos-threatens-to-quit/

    Man, his colleagues should TAKE that deal!!! Like right now!! It’ll save them a lot of trouble and embarrassment down the road.

  45. 45

    It’s Saturday night in the food court at the Texas State Fair. Somebody sees someone he knows that he has a beef with. At least two, possibly three, innocent bystanders are now in the hospital with gunshot wounds. This scenario was brought to you by the NRA and the Texas GOP governor and legislature.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/state-fair-of-texas-evacuated-after-shooting-suspect-in-custody-police-say/ar-AA1idN78

    Don’t visit, and for God’s sake don’t live in, TexAss. The people who run TexAss are crazy. Nobody is safe there.

  46. 46

    45 – So, who is safe in King County these days? You allow criminals to get away with all types of violent crimes and blame decent people for the actions of a bunch of sub-humans who should all be euthanized. Fuck you.

  48. 48

    Now before y’all pass judgment on “the police,” I want y’all to remember that police officers are individuals, and should be judged by their individual actions, not collectively. I also want y’all to remember that police officers are human, therefore we cannot and should not expect them to be perfect and godlike; rather, we should judge them by the reasonable standards of behavior applicable to human beings generally. That said,

    “A former Connecticut police officer is suspected of being a serial burglar and committing 30 or more thefts in three states, including the community he had patrolled until recently. A newly unsealed warrant says former Glastonbury Police Officer Patrick Hemingway is believed to have targeted safes and cash registers at restaurants and businesses in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.”

    https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/connecticut-police-officer-suspected-burglaries-3-states-103982542

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9cSZ6VlneA

    Lock him up.

  49. 49

    Imagine the cop patrolling your neighborhood on the night shift is breaking into and looting businesses instead of protecting them. Betrayal of trust! Official misconduct! Does that deserve extra time behind bars? Absolutely. Lots of it.

  50. 50

    48)It’s when they commit crimes outside of official duties that the Blue Wall of Silence cracks. Even then, the right jury will acquit, or cause a mistrial.

  51. 51

    49)Worse, the Gwaltny case out of Barstow. If the San Bernadino prosecutor had moved the state trial to LA, good chance of a conviction. After several hung juries, the Feds took over. The officer had killed a female motorist he had pulled over and raped. He was literally a predator with a badge.

  52. 52

    If you spend any amount of time on the interwebs you’ll run into thousands of MAGAts who will tell you the greatest president in the world did such great things and then Biden came along and shut down the Keystone Pipeline and the United States lost all the oil production.

    Let’s start with the stupid, Keystone was never built, a court ruling that they actually had to do the Environmental Reviews Congress tried to exempt it from and then the Trump administration tried to exempt it from, the company building it pulled the plug because of the extreme delay caused by actually doing the legal reviews to get it approved so the Biden Administration cancelled the permit that a court had just said was not legally granted in the first place….oh, and it was transporting CANADIAN oil and was never planned for shipping U.S. Produced oil.

    and now:

    The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration reported that American oil production in the first week of October hit 13.2 million barrels per day, passing the previous record set in 2020 by 100,000 barrels. Weekly domestic oil production has doubled from the first week in October 2012 to now.

  53. 53

    Good news for Queen YLB, as the state with the eighth-most violent city in the world, Louisiana, will once again be governed by a Republican.

    This means that violence in NOLA can be blamed on the GOP by silly twats like Queen YLB.

    Congrats!

  54. 54

    HA libbies enjoy pointing out that Tesla’s Cybertruck still isn’t ready for sale. Perhaps there’s a reason that Tesla is taking its time.

    “Sales of the F-150 lightning electric pickup were off about 46% during third quarter due to slower-than-expected demand and downtime at the plant” [CNBC – 10/04/2023]

    Ford sold 6,464 F150 Lightning EVs in Q3 2022, but sales in Q3 2023 fell to just 3,503 which annualizes to only 42,000 per year. Ford executives think pretend they’re going to sell hundreds of thousands of EV pickups per year, but demand has already imploded. Even worse, a great many of the recent Lightning sales are to governmental fleets. Consumers have rejected this product.

    As for “downtime at the plant” affecting sales of the F150 Lighting EV, an ideal supply of vehicles on dealer lots is 60 days’ worth, Ford dealers are currently choking on a 97-day supply of Lightnings nationwide with 3,632 for sale. “Downtime” is not retarding sales.

    Meanwhile, Ford has suddenly canceled all further deliveries to dealers of 2023 model year F150 Lightnings that are not already pre-sold.

    I see the Rivian trucks on the road here and I just wonder why there’s any interest at all in them. They have a small bed, sucky ground clearance, and don’t seem to offer more than an EV sedan. The Rivian SUV makes a little more sense, although not a whole lot more.

    An EV truck needs to be able to tow significant distances in heat and in cold. An EV truck needs a decent-size bed. EV trucks that fall short of this will be expensive bookends, as Ford is learning.

  55. 55

    Amazing, isn’t it, how monetary funding to Palestinians is used only for peaceful purposes, and not a dime ever goes to support this:

    “They are a mini-army,” said a source close to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. He said the group had a military academy training a range of specialisations including cyber security, and boasts a naval commando unit among its 40,000-strong military wing. (Reuters)

  56. 56

    @ 54

    I was unfair about the Rivian truck in one respect and wish to correct.

    An air suspension is standard and can adjust the ground clearance from eight to 14 inches.

    I’ve seen two of them in parking lots and eye-balled the ground clearance, which is a couple of inches less than full-size trucks. I was unaware of the air suspension system.

  57. 57

    Funny, isn’t it, watching unions strike because they insist that Ford unionize a battery plant the company now does not want to build, because demand for Ford EVs is never going to be sufficient to justify building a battery plant.

    Hey, at least all those 2023 F-150 EVs Ford won’t be shipping out can be reclassified as 2024 F-150 EVs, so that it looks like there are fewer prior-year model trucks just sitting around waiting for the dealer to wholesale them.

  58. 58

    Oregon Rail Heritage Center opened up the restored turntable this weekend. Last time I was down there, they had the chalked outline where it would go. but good to hear this piece of steam era infrastructure has been restored and installed. Now if only Oregon Pacific had kept enough track in good condition to handle the weight of SP4449, the Museum could be able to fulfill its mission.

    With the potential of Caltrain’s electric operations starting within a few years, would be great to see a steam locomotive at the festivities, and SP4449 is the best operating ex Southern Pacific steam locomotive. Problem is UP definitely won’t allow it, they don’t allow non UP steamers on their lines. I admire UP844’s history, but it didn’t operate in regular service on the Peninsula line, 4449 and other SP Golden State series 4-8-4s did. The reason 4449 is in Portland was SP promised Portland a steam locomotive, and 4449 was literally at the front of the line.

    https://www.portlandtribune.com/townnews/fencing/historic-train-turntable-project-opens-to-the-public-in-portland/article_2a0d7c00-687b-11ee-bf30-5bae2841a89b.html

    The Oregon Electric Railway Museum is about to get a price of
    Portland Transit History, as TriMet is about to put their Type 6 LRVs in service, replacing the original Type 1s. Shame the ORHC isn’t getting one, they mainly host operable vehicles, they got no room for an electric LRV to run, although the MAX Orange Line passes by.

  60. 60

    “CNN host Jake Tapper pushed back on Sunday after Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley tried to blame President Joe Biden for Republicans’ inability to elect a House Speaker.”

    https://www.rawstory.com/jake-tapper-nikki-haley/

    Good God. Honestly. And this stupid woman is running for president? Even Doctor Dumbfuck’s horse can do better than that (although I doubt he can).

  61. 61

    @53 “This means that violence in NOLA can be blamed on the GOP by silly twats like Queen YLB.”

    Well, I guess if urban violence can’t be blamed on those in charge, then that makes you a silly twat, doesn’t it?

  62. 62

    @55 Translation: If you donate $1 to UNICEF for baby’s milk for Palestinian mothers, you’re supporting Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel.

    Ever wonder why everyone thinks you’re a dumbfuck?

  63. 63

    @58 Steam locomotives were dirty, polluting, high-maintenance machines whose reciprocating drive rods pounded the crap out of tracks and roadbeds. No wonder railroads got rid of them.

  65. 65

    @ 60

    Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley tried to blame President Joe Biden for Republicans’ inability to elect a House Speaker…

    No, she added GOP chaos to Democrat chaos and concluded that the nation is unsafe because of it.

    She deflected the question, and poorly so IMO, but didn’t blame Biden for the Speaker idiocy.

    Too bad you chose to read RawStory rather than watch CNN, Robinhood Dumbfuck Rabbit.

  66. 66

    Corrupt motherfucker in the White House.

    Ethical concerns are casting a shadow over President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection amid ongoing investigations into his son Hunter Biden and a presidential impeachment inquiry, with a new poll showing that 35% of U.S. adults believe the president himself has done something illegal.

    An additional 33% say they think the president behaved unethically, but not illegally. And 30% say Biden did nothing wrong, according to the poll.

    More Americans think Biden broke the law than think he did nothing wrong.

    68% of the poll respondents think he’s a POS because of what he did, illegal or not.

  68. 68

    @66 Translation: The dumbest 35% of Americans believe GOP lies. Is it surprising, or unexpected, that “Stop the Steal” morons believe this evidence-free bullshit? I’d be surprised if they didn’t. I’m not surprised you do, too.

  69. 69

    American Graffiti’s “blonde in the Thunderbird,” Suzanne Somers, has died. She was 76. She rejected conventional treatments for breast cancer, and, well …

    Doctor Dumbfuck won’t make it to 76. Equine syphilis is a progressive brain-eating disease, as his recent posts demonstrate.

  70. 70

    63)Most Diesels didn’t need the turntable. Not sure if the Roundhouse is still in the Interbay Yard, work in that neighborhood but don’t take the D line anymore.

    Why I was hoping for the 4449 to be at the CalTrain electrification opening is the history. It’s the longest operating commuter train on the West Coast, If Sillicon Valley didn’t happen, SP would have gotten the discontinuance request approved. San Mateo County opting out of BART also helped. Will be interesting to see if tge battery train set they are purchasing for the Gilroy run works, haven’t seen a Double Deck battery EMU before, most of the ones running or on order in Europe are single deck.

    Progress on the Caltrain Electrfication is overshadowed by other projects and their problems, although perhaps they should be bragging about the progress more. HSR will be running on this line to get to SF. BART to San Jose isn’t helping either, but can’t blame BART itself, they didn’t want it. Santa Clara County opted out in the Sixties, now they are wanting the benefits of the line, but still not joining BART. SF, Alameda and Contra Costa aren’t funding the project. Santa Clara County VTA is on the hook.

  71. 71

    Dead campaign walking:

    “Former Vice President Mike Pence’s 2024 campaign faces a potentially existential cash squeeze, with debt already piling up. … [The] numbers reveal a campaign under serious strain, operating on completely different financial terrain from that of his rivals, and … raise questions about his ability to continue to compete in the GOP primaries. Racking up debt, in particular, has long been a sign of presidential campaigns in trouble — and potentially on the verge of ending.”

    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/mounting-debt-threatens-mike-pences-campaign-rcna120458

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: Hated by Republicans, rejected by Democrats, Pence gets no love. His big mistake was deciding to be a Republican. If he were a Democrat only half the country would be against him. Nobody likes Republicans, not even Republicans.

  73. 73

    @70 I’m old enough to remember working steam, and riding on streetcars as a kid. Dear departed Pop Rabbit, who grew up on a farm, told me he had a Model T in high school. Back then they were transportation, not collector cars.

  74. 74

    Waiting to see the vote totals out of Poland. Exit Polls show the incumbent party with 38%, the largest share. That’s the only good news for them in the exit polls. The opposition, led by a former PM, has a better chance at forming a coalition government. In Poland, no party can be Pro Russia and hope to win much above the electoral threshold.

  75. 75

    Even if Law and Justice Party has lost tge majority, they will probably get the first chance at forming a coalition, but they may not be able to. It will be an interesting few weeks to few months.

  76. 76

    How to get kicked off the bench:

    “Houston bankruptcy judge David R. Jones resigned from the bench [Friday] while under a misconduct investigation by a federal appeals court over his failure to disclose his yearslong romantic relationship with a bankruptcy lawyer who had business before his court.

    “Jones’s resignation from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston comes after the appellate court that appointed him found probable cause that he committed misconduct by failing to disclose his romantic relationship with bankruptcy lawyer Elizabeth Freeman.

    “Jones told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that he and Freeman have been in a relationship for years and live together at a home in the Houston area. Neither Jones nor Freeman had previously disclosed their relationship in court while Freeman worked on major corporate reorganizations that he oversaw … in Houston’s bankruptcy court, a premier venue for troubled companies to restructure debt. …

    “The bankruptcies that Freeman worked on and that Jones oversaw included some of the largest Chapter 11 cases of recent years, such as retailers JCPenney and Neiman Marcus and oil-and-gas driller Chesapeake Energy. … Jones approved more than $1 million in legal fees billed by Freeman over 16 corporate bankruptcy cases from 2018 to 2021 when they shared an address, the Journal found through a review of court records.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/houston-bankruptcy-judge-jones-resigns-under-misconduct-investigation/ar-AA1ifHwl

    I suspect both of them will come under professional license review, too. Now what about Thomas and Alito? Shouldn’t their professional licenses be reviewed, too? Or can disbarred lawyers sit on SCOTUS?

  77. 77

    68,

    It’s a panel survey.

    Panel surveys have some virtues when trying to measure change and trend over time. They have some gigantic flaws when attempting to model an electorate a year out. Gigantic.

    Since the panel is composed of individual respondants who have agreed (often with compensation) to participate over a series of surveys, it has a very large selection bias in comparison to large randomized surveys. These are individual respondants who are “for some reason” very highly motivated to have their voices heard and give input to the survey.

    Because these are often very costly surveys to conduct, the data scientists who conduct them are under a lot of pressure to get good, useful information. This can lead to survey design that is cumbersome, very large, and that covers a very wide range of issues. This sort of design is known to introduce survey bias. Respondants can be influenced by the survey. And they can succumb to survey fatigue.

    Finally, because panel surveys require respondants to participate over a long series, the panels are often limited in size. Here, AmeriSpeak Omnibus panel relies on about 1000 individual respondants to produce the results that are giving the deeply stupid troll today’s jizz-fest.

    One hundred and sixty million people voted in the last presidential election. Only 37% of those eligible voted in all three of the most recent elections. Seven straight years of complete domination by Donald Trump have left the Republican Party weakened, divided, at war with itself, and unable to muster competent leadership or any response to their own consistent failure. With no track record, no alternative charismatic leadership, no alternative vision to offer voters, and having committed themselves to deeply unpopular policies from which they cannot escape, the party has similarly committed to putting all its diminishing political hopes into LAPTOP.

    With a razor thin ungovernable majority in the House they made the most of it while they could. But as the defections of now dozens of moderate, Biden district House Republicans are now demonstrating, that has probably run its course. The show trials have petered out. The witness lists have thinned to including bloggers and weirdos. The public has lost interest and turned away. It worked about as well as it could, considering there was nothing to go on. But now it’s done. And it ain’t enough. Not by a long shot.

    For a long time one big unanswered question was “how would President Biden respond?” It now looks like he just won’t have to. It never really landed. And remaining silent has effectively deprived Republicans of oxygen and attention. The campaign has no strategy to respond to LAPTOP. It doesn’t need one.

    As for Hunter Biden, it’s looking increasingly as if his current lawyer’s decision to take the fight to the DOJ, once the DOJ betrayed the five years of cooperation they had been given. Special Counsel Weiss is stuck stalling and making excuses. While federal judges grow impatient and the lawsuits challenging the investigtion gain momentum. The two key witnesses produced by the House have been unable to substantiate or find any corroboration for their claims. And both now appear at significant risk of losing their whistleblower protection status.

    It’s certainly not a nothing burger. But considering that Trump launched this crusade as far back as 2015, and that subsequent to that he enjoyed unified, unchallenged control of all the relevant agencies, and branches, the sheer weakness of the product is a fitting testiment to Republican incompetence. It’s a SALACIOUS PICS PACKAGE of gobsmacking clumsiness and ineptitude. They had years to put this bullshit together and the full weight, authority, and funding capacity of the United States government and all its agencies. And what they have to show for it is a checkbox on a gun form. The disappointment must be unbearable.

    But for all that, it isn’t going to move the needle. Not a bit.
    And you’d need a slightly better poll than this one, with perhaps a few more than 1,000 “scientifically weighted” survey junky weirdos to show it if it ever had.

    I fondly look forward to whatever spell checking the trailer captive television addicted incel troll offers. Thanks for that. And I thank him for taking a victory lap around LAPTOP more than a year ahead of the election. Great idea.

  78. 78

    @16 “Roger, you the man rabbit!”

    Don’t blame you for not wanting anything to do with the Heterosexual Neanderthals that think they are men.

  79. 79

    @78 Well, among other things, they shoot at my relatives and run over them with cars.

  81. 81

    “Biggest failure by the Israeli government”

    Thanks Bibi!

    Not something I said, but an Israeli couple.

    If you’re gonna blame Biden on Trumps withdrawal agreement failure then Bibi must take the blame here.

  82. 82

    60 minutes . Great piece on Desantis drop of migrants in Martha’s Vineyard.

    We all knew DeFuckHead is a POS as big as Bob,

  84. 84

    DeFuckFace just gave them an opportunity to provide legal status as citizen

    How funny! Snd they’re probably not paying $4.00 a gallon of gas

  85. 85

    @80

    Yeah, whatever the fuck that is.

    Any fucking heterosexual Neanderthals kill their honeys today?

  89. 89

    @ 77

    It’s a panel survey.

    He’s correct. I’ll revise:

    35% of respondents whom The AP and the University of Chicago find credible believe that my corrupt, incompetent, senile fossil of a president broke the law along with his felon son. 68% of respondents whom AP and the University of Chicago find credible believe that, at minimum, my corrupt, incompetent, senile fossil of a president behaved unethically along with his felon son.

    Who am I to question the wisdom of the University of Chicago? Barack Obama’s favorite terrorist worked there, after all.

  90. 90

    Ruben Gallego, who expects to take down the Kirsten Sinema, split with his wife when she was 9 months pregnant.

    Arizona congressman, Phoenix vice mayor announce divorce on social media
    Dec 21, 2016, 4:48 PM

    “I will focus every ounce of energy I have preparing for the birth of our son in January and being the best possible mother I can for him,” Kate Gallegos’ post read. “Thank you for respecting our request for privacy.”

    Ruben Gallego shared his wife’s post and added two sentences.

    “I’m sad to announce that my marriage is ending. Kate and I hope to keep this a private matter and appreciate your respect for our privacy,” his post read in full.

    https://ktar.com/story/1399208/arizona-congressman-phoenix-vice-mayor-announce-divorce-social-media/

    The Democrat primary season in Arizona should be interesting, no?

  91. 91

    @89 Nobody’s questioning the University of Chicago’s wisdom. It’s Trump’s gullible supporters whose wisdom we’re questioning, and you’re one of ’em.

  92. 92

    @90 Divorce — not a crime.

    Fraud, stealing classified documents, election interference — crimes.

    Guess which candidate Doctor Dumbfuck disses, and which one he serially votes for? Spoiler: Dumbfucks are gonna dumbfuck.

  94. 94

    America has a crime problem, too, not helped by an organization (the NRA) and political party (GOP) trying their best to arm criminals like this guy.

  95. 95

    @ 94

    … (the NRA) and political party (GOP) trying their best to arm criminals like this guy.

    He wasn’t a criminal until he brandished the weapon, Robinhood Dumbfuck Rabbit, and his right own a gun is protected by the Constitution. You must have skipped Con Law back in the community college law school days.

    You seem unconcerned about the 461 people shot and killed in blue city Chicago this year, while awfully concerned about a single event in blue city PDX last week, Robinhood Dumbfuck Rabbit. Why is that?

  97. 97

    35%

    Three hundred and fifty of the one thousand nerds who signed up to participate in a panel extending over many months and many surveys.

    How many VDare subscribers and authors of Turner Diaries self-pub fan-fic nobody can say.

    But just as he has so many times before with so many humiliating losers over the last six years, our incel troll, like nearly every partisan Republicans, is hanging it all out on this one.

    And just as before, it’s because at this point he and they have no other choice.

  98. 98

    91,
    Nobody’s questioning the University of Chicago’s wisdom

    I’m not questioning.

    I’m mocking.

    I’m mocking the fantabulous ignorance and stupidity of taking the responses of 350 panel participants in 2023 and using them to model the 2024 swing electorate in Georgia and Arizona.
    It’s one of the dumbest things the troll has done in a while. Including the TSLA debacle.

  99. 99

    Hey, we’ve got a child-murdering terrorist of our own, right here in Chicago USA:

    “A Chicago-area landlord was arrested and charged with murder and hate crimes after authorities said he stabbed and killed a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounded his mother, allegedly because the tenants are Muslim.

    “Joseph M. Czuba, 71, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the Will County, Illinois, Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

    “The sheriff’s office said Czuba did not make a statement to detectives but investigators determined the victims were ‘targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.’ …

    “The boy was stabbed 26 times and succumbed to his injuries, the sheriff’s office said. The 32-year-old woman, who had more than a dozen stab wounds, is recovering at the hospital and is expected to survive, the office said.”

    https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/15/us/chicago-landlord-attack-muslim-boy-mother/index.html

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1ONwPh2sZs

  100. 100

    @95 “He wasn’t a criminal until he brandished the weapon, Robinhood Dumbfuck Rabbit”

    Er, not exactly: “Court records show that Hammond … has a criminal history in Illinois including charges of assault, vandalism, trespassing and domestic battery. ”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12631749/Astonishing-moment-wealthy-Portland-businessman-SHOOTS-tourist-visiting-crime-ridden-city-drivers-seat-Mercedes-seconds-murdering-man-road-rage-incident.html

    Oh, and by the way, he committed a crime just by possessing the gun.

    https://www.dailydot.com/irl/oregon-bans-domestic-abusers-guns/

  105. 105

    More about the Portland “road rage” suspect:

    The admitted shooter is a trust-fund baby. His grandparents owned “numerous business interests, properties, hotels, a golf course, nursing homes, fast food franchises, gas stations, warehouses, and a considerable amount of cash … estimated at about $125 million.”

    “They had six children and 15 grandchildren …. [W]hen they died, they gave control of their assets to one of their sons but established trusts for their children and grandchildren. ‘For the next decade, various members of the family engaged in disagreements and protracted litigation over the control and disposition of the family assets,’ the court records say, adding that lawsuits were filed against the child who was controlling the trusts. … A settlement was eventually reached but Hammond accused other family members of coercing him into it …. The case was dismissed.”

    News media accounts describe the admitted shooter as a “businessman.” His business was a cryptocurrency exchange. When he filed for bankruptcy this year, he described himself as unemployed.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/geoffrey-hammond-aka-jeffrey-mandalis-5-fast-facts-you-need-to-know/ar-AA1iflo0

    I’ll hazard a guess that he’s the black sheep of a prominent midwestern business and political family (an uncle was a Cook, county commissioner and state senator). Well, if he wasn’t before, he is now.

  106. 106

    He wasn’t a criminal until he brandished the weapon,

    Yeah, he was.

    He had multiple charges and pleas in Illinois including assault, vandalism, trespassing and domestic battery. The guy is a complete scum bag.

  107. 107

    @106 This guy should be Exhibit A in the upcoming SCOTUS case concerning whether domestic abusers have a constitutional right to possess guns.

  108. 108

    The Second Amendment doesn’t say criminals and domestic abusers have a right to guns. It does say something about well-regulated militias keeping and bearing arms. Everything else about gun rights is made up.

  109. 109

    I’m waiting for gun advocates to argue that stricter gun laws wouldn’t have prevented the Illinois landlord from stabbing the 6-year-old Muslim boy 26 times.

  110. 110

    108 – Yes, and I’m one of the well regulated militia. I carry most of the time because I believe putting down a violent criminal is the right thing to do, no matter what his or her life experience has been. I don’t give a shit about their situation and upbringing. If he or she threatens violence, the eating a lead-burger is an appropriate result.

  111. 111

    @110 I gladly negotiate plea bargains for vigilantes for my usual fee.

  114. 114

    113)Probably did then, unless it was a stake in the bigger company. Will be interesting to see how the brand survives the bankruptcy. Here in the Rainier Valley, it was the Rite Aid across from the Sick’s Stadium site that closed, instead of the Bartells down the street. Probably because the latter is a smaller footprint. The few times I shopped at the University Way Bartells before it closed, it was a dump. Shelves not stocked, coolers out of service.

  115. 115

    Was checking on Poland’s results, still counting, turnout was higher than expected. Heard of long lines at polling stations hours after the closed in Worclaw. Law and Justice looks to be in trouble but full results will not be available for days.

  116. 116

    He had multiple charges and pleas in Illinois including assault, vandalism, trespassing and domestic battery. The guy is a complete scum bag.

    Scummy Mums for Fascists – he’s just how we like them, heterosexual and angry violent scum POS people.

  118. 118

    107,

    Good luck with that.

    Alito leads a court convinced that having every person riding the subway in New York armed with a 33 round Glock with a switch will make the subways safer.

    I agree that assholes like the gun-humping crypto-bro make a better case for why more guns ≠ safety. But you’ve got to overcome 20 seasons of Gunsmoke piped into little Sammy’s fevered brain as he sat on the floor three feet from the RCA shoving Fruit Loops into his face in Suburban New Jersey.

Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?

Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!

Follow Goldy

[iire_social_icons]

HA Commenting Policy

It may be hard to believe from the vile nature of the threads, but yes, we have a commenting policy. Comments containing libel, copyright violations, spam, blatant sock puppetry, and deliberate off-topic trolling are all strictly prohibited, and may be deleted on an entirely arbitrary, sporadic, and selective basis. And repeat offenders may be banned! This is my blog. Life isn’t fair.