Simple good sense from an unexpected place

Second look at…uhhh, JOURNEY, ferchrissakes?!?


Also note that Mick Jagger, of all people, feels likewise.

Mick Jagger says fans don’t want political lectures at concerts after Bruce Springsteen’s anti-Trump speeches
Mick Jagger says fans don’t come to concerts to hear a political lecture in the wake of Bruce Springsteen’s on-stage speeches targeting President Trump.

The Rolling Stones frontman weighed in during an interview on The New York Times’ podcast Saturday after host David Marchese questioned him about Springsteen, who has repeatedly criticized President Trump during his latest tour.

Marchese said Springsteen “clearly sees his job as engaging in a meaningful back and forth” with fans before asking Jagger, “What does your relationship to the audience mean to you? What do they represent, all those people out there?”

“The bottom line of my thing really is that my job in the live music world is [for] those people that come is to have the best time they possibly can,” Jagger said.

“For two hours or whatever it is, to forget all their problems and the problems of the world and their mortgages and whatever, just to give them the best time they can have.”

Provides me with a perfect excuse to run what I consider to be the absolute GOAT Stones song.

That one, Last Time, and Paint It Black are just about the only Stones tunes I ever much cared about, to be perfectly honest. Always dug Keef, always dug Charlie, but all in all? Yeah, no. I got dragged against my will (by my dear departed MiL, bless her heart) to see them live at the Meadowlands back in 2006, and it was a truly incredible show, I do admit. But still.

Tax the rich

Lose your shirt.

The Shocking Cost of New York’s ‘Tax the Rich’ Experiment Has Finally Been Exposed
New York has spent years aggressively taxing its wealthiest residents in the name of fairness, and the results are now in. Suffice it to say, they’re not pretty.

A new study released Monday by the Citizen Budget Commission (CBC) reveals the state’s share of America’s millionaires has dropped sharply since 2010, triggering a nearly $11 billion shortfall in tax revenue in a single year as high earners quietly packed up and left for lower-tax states.

The analysis shows New York’s share of millionaires fell from 12.7% in 2010 to just 8.7% in 2022 — the steepest decline of any state in the country.

As a direct result, personal income tax collections in 2022 alone were roughly $10.7 billion lower than they otherwise would have been if they had maintained their share of the wealthy folks. The study makes clear that the people leaving pay a disproportionately large share of state taxes, creating a painful hole in the budget that affects everything from public services to infrastructure funding.

This represents tangible evidence that the “tax the rich” mantra does not yield higher revenue to subsequently spend on public services for lower-income families or improve general infrastructure. It is actually taking money away from the state and those residents who might benefit.

Taxing the rich is a platform for the economically illiterate. Unfortunately for the Empire State, the economically illiterate hold significant positions in government.

Not to mention the 80-90% of NY’s population who are also “economically illiterate” their own selves.

Was he or wasn’t he?

Only his hairdresser knows for sure.

The (Pink) Elephant in the Room: Why the Whisper Campaign About Lindsey Graham’s Sex Life Matters
I worked in South Carolina talk radio in the early 2000s. (Shout out to 1250 WTMA, “Your news-talk leader in the Low Country.”) At the time, the sexual escapades of South Carolina politicians were fodder for gleeful gossip — especially our nonagenarian senior senator, Strom Thurmond. More than one Capitol Hill staffer told me his behind-the-scenes nickname was “Spermin’ Thurmond” — and his eye for (much younger) ladies was the stuff of legend.

This was a few years before Lindsey Graham became a senator. Back then, he was still just a congressman, but everyone in South Carolina already knew who he was.

Rep. Graham was an ascending superstar; his political talents were obvious. From pressing the case in President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial to his (nonstop) visits to TV studios, Graham was inescapable.

As were the rumors that followed him.

Because I certainly heard them. WTMA’s reporters heard them. Our audience heard them.

It was an open secret: Lindsey Graham was gay, but he stayed in the closet to protect his political career.

Yet despite this rumor’s enduring popularity, it’s entirely possible it wasn’t true at all. Who knows for sure?

But Lindsey Graham stayed scandal-free. He never embarrassed his supporters.

Not even once.

His body is still warm, but some very nasty allegations are already being aired.

Of course, it’s also possible that these allegations are bull[expletive]. It’s easy to lie about someone when they’re not around to defend themselves.

Still, the contrast between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party is glaring. For all the talk of the GOP’s “homophobia” and “closed-minded Christian morality,” Sen. Graham was welcomed into the Republican Party with open arms. He was so welcomed that he confidently ran for president in 2016.

He was treated as an individual — instead of as a cardboard cutout for a preassigned special interest group.

Sen. Graham carved his own identity as a military hawk, an unapologetic interventionist, and a global champion of freedom. If you were an ally of America, Graham would defend you until his dying breath.

And now, he’s gone. But he won’t be forgotten.

That’s safe enough to say, I reckon. Gay or no, he was indeed one of a kind; there never was any sort of template or mold to force-fit him into. He went his own way always, which you gotta respect.

Update! Sen Graham’s fill-in replacement has been named.

We now know who will replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who suddenly passed away over the weekend. Gov. Henry McMaster (R-S.C.) appointed Darline Graham Nordone, the late senator’s younger sister, to take his place in the Senate until the election in November.

“Lindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him,” Nordone told reporters at a press conference with McMaster on Monday afternoon. “It is such a privilege to get to finish some of his important work, and I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother on behalf of the citizens of South Carolina and the United States.”

“To Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words,” she added. “But I’m going to do this. I got it.”

Of course, Nordone’s name came up when President Donald Trump suggested that McMaster nominate her in a post on Truth Social: “I recommended, to Governor Henry McMaster, Lindsey Graham’s wonderful sister, Darline, to serve as interim Senator from the Great State of South Carolina. This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

Pretty unequivocal endorsement, woontchasay?

Famous flyboys of Star Trek

Never knew this about Roddenberry, but the story of Worf’s aviation addiction I’ve red of before.

From the Star Trek Set to Flying Jets
In his high school days, Gene Roddenberry borrowed a copy of Astounding Stories from one of his classmates. This was to become the start of Roddenberry’s fascination with science fiction.

Not many people know that Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, started his career as a military pilot flying 89 combat missions on the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. During his military career, he was involved in two aircraft crashes and was awarded the Air Medal and the

Distinguished Flying Cross
It was in the South Pacific where he first started writing, selling stories to flying magazines, and later poetry to publications such as The New York Times. Upon leaving the military Roddenberry joined Pan-Am, flying long-haul on the Clipper Eclipse for four years. One day he was deadheading on a Lockheed L-049 Constellation when his plane experienced an engine failure and subsequent fire.

Crashing in the Syrian Desert with 36 people on board, seven crew members and eight passengers were killed in the crash, and Roddenberry, aged 25 years old at the time, was the ranking surviving flight officer.

Taking command of the situation, he was credited with saving the lives of the remaining passengers and facilitating their rescue. After this event he resigned and began writing for television, and Star Trek was born.

Now to that half-breed Klingon bastige.

Acting in Star Trek Leads to Aviation
Fast forward a few years to the second Star Trek series, ‘The Next Generation’ and we get to the star of our story, Michael Dorn who plays Worf, the first Klingon to serve in Starfleet.

Dorn’s Worf would become a fixture on the show, appearing in 175 episodes of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ between 1987 and 1994, and in 102 episodes of ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ between 1993 and 1999.

He appeared on the big screen in ‘Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country’ (1991), ‘Star Trek: Generations’ (1994), ‘Star Trek: First Contact’ (1996), ‘Star Trek: Insurrection’ (1998) and ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’ (2002). As Worf, Dorn appeared onscreen in more Star Trek episodes and movies as the same character than anyone else. He recently reprised the role of Worf in Season 3 of Star Trek Picard.

Dorn had always had a fascination with aviation, leading him to many air shows and a collection of years’ worth of Air Classics Magazines. In 1988, Greg Benson, a friend who worked on the show with him, suggested he take up flying. This coincided with a writers’ strike, giving him a five month break from the show, so Dorn contacted Gunnell Aviation at Santa Monica Airport to work towards his license.

His journey into flying began the same way many do, in a Cessna C172. He still recalls the nerves he felt ahead of his first solo flight. “You pull over to the side, [the instructor] gets out, and he says, ‘OK, take it around’.

“I got to the end of the runway and was getting ready to take off, and I thought to myself, ‘OK, Mr Big Talk, you wanted to learn how to fly. Let’s see what you can do’.

“I was nervous the whole time until I came around and landed. After that first landing, it was just like one of those things where you say, ‘OK, I can do this’. I just kept going around and around. In fact, they had to tell me to stop.”

Then, one day, he got a phone call inviting him to fly with the Blue Angels. They had contacted Woody Harrelson from ‘Cheers’ to go down and do one of their media flights, and he had bailed at the last minute. Somebody had told them Dorn flew and they called him.

Dorn really enjoyed his flight with the Blue Angels, and, realizing it was possible to own an ex-military jet, he started down an adventurous and rewarding new path.

He damned sure did at that, living the dream via owning, among quite a few others, a YT3 Shooting Star, a Cessna Citation 501SP business jet, and the crown jewel of his collection: this gorgeous F86 Sabre.

From where I sit, Dorn looks to be one hellaciously lucky sumbitch.

Candace Owens, Tuqr, misc other conspiracy whackjobs bent over, rogered

Well, THAT’S gotta smart some.

New Courtroom Video Allegedly Shows Charlie Kirk’s Killer Taking the Shot
On Friday, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) contributor Jack Posobiec, in an on-the-spot interview with Turning Point USA’s Taylor Hansen, gave some vivid details of another video shown in the preliminary hearing of Tyler Robinson, who is accused of the murder of TPUSA’s Charlie Kirk.

The new video reportedly shows the Kirk assassin actually moving into position and taking the shot.

Here’s how Mr. Posobiec described the video, which has not been released to the media.

I think everything’s been proven. I think it’s I think it’s I think it’s proven. It’s, I would say, beyond probable cause at this point. I think that the question for me is, how do you even get reasonable doubt when there’s so much evidence?

But the thing that I do just have to say is that I know that you guys watching on live stream couldn’t see the the last video that was shown. Well, it wasn’t edited. It was zoomed in. It was zoomed in from the surveillance video off campus, specifically, the part of the Losee Center, the roof. And… you see everything. You see everything. He climbs over. He assembles the gun, he runs over to the edge, you know, gets down in a prone position, and you see the time.

And we all know what time. And it just, it was like so slow, just watching those seconds. Click, click, click. And then you see him take the shot. And he takes the shot. and then immediately runs. And we’ve seen that video already, but I wasn’t… I knew we were gonna watch that, but I wasn’t, I wasn’t prepared to see this side of what happened because we’ve never seen it before. We saw the other end of the shot, obviously, but this was, this was a whole other level of just evil, and I got very upset watching it, and obviously, the family was very hard for them to watch, and I looked over, and I saw Tyler wasn’t even looking. He wasn’t even looking. See what he did.

And I would just say that I do wish… I wish the public could see that. I hope that video is made public, not because I want it to happen. I didn’t want any of this to happen. I hate all of this. I hate being here. But people need to see what happened. People need to see the other side of this because this is a case. We need to see the truth. We need to see the facts. And this is it’s, it’s the video of the sniper taking the shot. It is exactly what you think it would look like, but it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to watch, probably since the initial, when this happened, the first video.

Mr. Posobiec gave every indication of being somewhat shaken by the video, which is perfectly understandable.

Hell, it’s not entirely easy to just read Posobiec’s account, honestly—much less watch the danged vid, which I have no great desire to do. Over to you for more obnoxious dementia, Candace.

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Did some starry-eyed fool say “free”?

A lamented loss.

Northern Barbarian
@xnoesbueno
Why we post about Britain. Because the British can’t.

That, and because Britain is whence we sprang as a nation, and we still love Britain. And having expended considerable blood and treasure in Britain’s defense, we are not without standing.

We hate to see Britain descending into its Labour nightmare. Mass migration. Two tier justice. Racist police who turn a blind eye to rape, let a young man die because the foreigner who stabbed him cried racism. Police who will show up promptly to arrest you if you post something that might “cause anxiety” or “offend” but more particularly challenge authority.

We do that for Canada, too. And Australia.

Why has such a swath of the Anglosphere become so wretchedly authoritarian? The Anglosphere having spread civilization and notions of liberal governance, free enterprise, individual freedom around the world.

By far the biggest part of the Anglosphere, the United States, thankfully remains free.

Yeah. Thankfully.


A-HENH! In a comments-section response to the above post on conquered Britainistan, NB adds:


*looks at watch* Yeeaaahhh, that “self-correction” oughta be kicking in ANY TIME NOW *checks watch again*

Actually, I don’t entirely disagree with NB’s assertion that Amerika v2.0 is about as good as it gets with respect to what we’re pleased to refer to as freedom. He’s right; I’ve been to several other countries myself and, with the possible exception of the Netherlands (now completely overrun by Mooselimb immivaders, sadly enough), this really IS about as good as it gets out there in the wider world.

However, seems to me that’s damning with faint praise, just another feeble cope—which is absolutely NOT something any liberty-minded Real American ought to be willing to settle for. Once-Great Britain, Ireland, and Scotland aren’t the only nations badly in need of a revolution, seems to me.

Jefferson tree of liberty.

More:

Scandalously, Thomas Jefferson once wrote to James Madison, “I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and is as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.”

In the same year, 1787, in regard to what is known as Shays’ Rebellion, he wrote another friend, “God forbid that we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion.” A lack of rebelliousness among the people would demonstrate “a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. . . And what country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance?”

Truer words were never etc.

All of which goes to show that, as Jefferson clearly understood, there are two (2) standards for assessing the freedom of any nation-state, one correct and proper, one gone grievous astray:

  • The Absolute Standard, ie, Jefferson’s Way: either there is liberty, or there is not, as I’ve so often put it here
  • The Relativist Standard: one given country can fairly be said to be freer than some other one—as i said, a feeble cope by which we reassure ourselves that we haven’t entirely betrayed the ideals of our Founding Fathers quite yet

Update! We may have fallen down on the whole “freedom” thing, but at least the food is good.


“Who was the most boring rock star?”

Via my daily Quora Digest email: question asked, question answered. Well, kinda sorta.

Who was the most boring rock star?
I was the music director of a popular college rock station in the early 1980s, and as such, had the opportunity to interview or sit in on interviews with a lot of touring acts, whose A&R people would dutifully bring them by to help boost interest and airplay.

I can tell you there were a few good ones. David Johansen was boisterous and hilarious. Greg Kihn was cool and folksy. Steve Perry and Neil Schon of Journey probably would’ve been a great interview, but we were all punky and new wavy and our edgy drive time guy insulted them so they stormed off the set. Definitely not boring. And Nick Lowe was charming, clever, and full of stories, including a few about his longtime pal and running mate, Dave Edmunds.

You know who was boring as…well, really boring? Dave Edmunds! I don’t know if he was strung out from the road the day we got him, or bummed out to be stuck with a bunch of snooty kids, or whatever, but man, you could not crowbar a word from him. He just slouched in the chair, issuing monosyllabic grunts and such, until the interview mercifully ended.

The guy could really put on a show, and he was an amazing guitarist, and who even knows what he was like in real life back in the day, but in my sole encounter, for whatever reason, he was the most boring rock star. Hopefully someone has a story to counter this impression, so I can put the blame on me.

Been there done that myself, I’m afraid. One of the most embarrassing occasions of my whole life had to be the time we went to a local college radio station the morning after a gig in NOLA for an interview session. It being N’Awlins and all, naturally we weren’t merely hung over when we got there, we were still drunk as boiled owls. So every question received a mumbled, semi-coherent one or two word response. The poor DJ was totally at sea trying to make us sound lively and interesting, poor bastid.

No bad dogs

Your feel-good story of the week.

MEMPHIS, TN — A Memphis man learned the hard way this week that not every backyard appliance is part of the city’s unofficial “take what you can carry” rewards program.

Police say 41-year-old Leonard “Lil Riblet” Barksdale allegedly hopped a privacy fence in Southeast Memphis around 2:13 AM after spotting what he reportedly described as:

“a lightly supervised gas grill.”

According to neighbors, Lil Riblet moved through the backyard “with the confidence of a man who’s never once considered consequences.”

That confidence lasted approximately four seconds.

Because waiting in the yard was Memphiszilla…

a pit bull described by witnesses as:

“Built like a refrigerator with childhood trauma.”

Authorities say the dog immediately activated what experts are now calling:

“The Find Out Phase.”

Neighbors reported hearing screaming so intense one woman thought somebody was auditioning for a gospel solo three streets over.

One resident said:

“That man hit notes that could remove wallpaper.”

Police say Lil Riblet attempted multiple escape strategies, including:

  • Climbing a trampoline
  • Throwing a lawn chair as a peace offering
  • Yelling “BAD DOG” in a voice cracking like a middle school clarinet
  • And at one point allegedly trying to negotiate: “Bro please… I don’t even need the grill anymore.”

But Memphiszilla was reportedly unmoved.

Investigators say the suspect eventually climbed onto a patio table and called 911 HIMSELF while the dog circled below like a furry tax collector.

Dispatchers reportedly struggled to understand him because he was simultaneously crying, wheezing, and screaming:

“HE GOT MY SLIDES!”

When officers arrived, they found Lil Riblet apologizing directly to Jesus.

I won’t even speculate on what that jibber-jabber about his “slides” might be all about. In any event, TH’s closer is priceless:

In Memphis, you might steal somebody’s grill…

…but sometimes the grill comes with teeth.

Heh. Effing BRILLIANT, start to finish. Yes, there’s a pic of the shredded spook included, which is sure to make your day no matter how rotten a mood you’re in.

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2

Sage advice

Words of wisdom from great North Carolinian Mark Robinson.


Just as he always has, the man makes a hell of a lot of sense. Such a shame that CNN was allowed to hound him out of the governor’s race in ’24 with a bunch of made-up crap.

NC GOP Candidate Accuses CNN of ‘High-Tech Lynching’
Mark Robinson, the fiery GOP candidate for governor in North Carolina, denied CNN’s “salacious” accusation against him and labeled it a new “high-tech lynching.”

CNN, the network that calls leftist riots “fiery but mostly peaceful protests,” is claiming to have uncovered disturbing racist and sexual comments from Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson on a porn site. Robinson has denied the allegations, claiming the “tabloid trash” is meant to distract voters from real issues. He even accused his Democrat opponent of being involved in releasing the story.

Robinson, who is currently North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, posted a video addressing the CNN allegations. “Well, guys, the news media is at it again. My opponent is at it again,” he began. “You all have seen the half truths and outright lies of [Democrat] Josh Stein on these ads over and over again, and now a story … leaked by him to CNN, is appearing.”

Watch the above-embedded video, listen carefully to Robinson’s words, and then ask yourself: knowing how reprehensible and patently dishonest CNN has always been, does the man speaking in the vid sound like the kind of guy who would do the things his dirty-Demonrat opponent used the ever-helpful (for D卐M☭CRATs, natch) CNN to accuse him of?

Update! Transcript, for the X-challenged.

Robinson knows exactly what to tell them. “Okay, ma’am, I’ve got you on this one. How about you tell them to behave in school and pay attention? Tell them to get all the knowledge they can and make great grades. Tell them to be respectful to adults. and come tell you and their dad if they think an adult has been disrespectful or unfair towards them, and let you make the call on that.”

He continued to challenge the woman to prioritize good manners and common decency instead of an obsession with skin color. “How about you tell them to keep their pants up on their waist, not down on their backsides,” Robinson suggested. “And tell them if you get her pregnant, get a job. Then get her a ring. Then get a house, and then make it a home. Tell them to respect the law and those who uphold it. And if you are accosted by law enforcement, obey their orders and call you at the first chance they have, if need be. And if it’s just a traffic ticket, take it and say, ‘Thank you, officer’, and drive away in peace. Because fighting the traffic stop is for court, not the side of the road.”

Robinson also emphasized the importance of religion. “Tell them that Jesus Christ is the way and the truth, and if they will follow him, all will be well.” He ended, “Now, I believe if you tell them all these things, there will be no need to tell them not to take a knife to a track meet and stab a fellow high school runner to death. So, yeah, tell them those things. You’ll be amazed at how well things turn out.”

Alas, if the woman Robinson is responding to is anything like the murdering thug’s own close relatives, she won’t be listening.

Anthony’s parents have defended him every step of the way, claiming, in defiance of all evidence to the contrary, that Metcalf attacked their son instead of the other way around. His mother even claimed that every single witness was lying in an insane denial of reality. Anthony’s grandmother screamed, “racist, biased,” as she left the courthouse after his conviction. Karmelo Anthony was not a victim of racial violence. He committed deadly violence because his family raised a monster.

Sick, that’s what. But that’s what we’re all up against now, that’s the kind of warped (non-)thinking that must be overcome.

Who they are, what they do

Does Cuba’s ruling junta have death squads? DUDE, they’re Commies; of COURSE they do. The notable thing is that, rather than plying their evil trade strictly within their own borders, apparently Cuba’s thugs have taken their act on the road.

Castro’s Cuban Imperialists: As with Nicaragua’s Maduro in 2026, So, in 1973, with Chile’s Allende
In an amazing news development regarding Trump’s Venezuela raid in January, Instapundit’s Stephen Green has linked to an eye-opening post on X Twitter by @WhatJosueSays.

Intelligence reports stated Maduro “feared” taking Trump up on his deal, because he was scared to be executed by his Cuban handlers

When he was captured, he was being guarded by around 30-40 Cubans

Now why on earth would the president of a sovereign country be guarded and “handled” by guards from other countries?

Because the only colonizers and imperialists for the past 67 years, are the same ones who have blamed the US for these actions:

The Cuban Regime.

The fascinating, eye-opening story continues from there, to dop the final curtain thusly:


As I said: fascinating. If Trump seriously does intend to clean up this dirty, corrupt ol’ world, I’d say he has his work cut out for him. Hell, de-corrupting this Hemisphere alone would be a truly Herculean task.

I was just about to add something along the lines of, “thank goodness our own homegrown Commie rat-bastards aren’t quite as murderous and just generally godawful as the Cuban variety,” but what with everything our domestic Reds have been getting themselves up to over the last cpl-three decades, I believe I’ll just keep my big mouth shut for a change.

AI proves itself useful

Redefining the word “pathetic.”

Paul Schrader Had an ‘AI Girlfriend’ Who ‘Terminated Our Conversation’: ‘What a Disappointment’
Filmmaker and “Taxi Driver” screenwriter Paul Schrader revealed on Facebook that he “procured an online AI girlfriend,” but the chatbot ended the relationship after he attempted to explore the boundaries of its programming.

UGH. Also, ICK. Also, YIKES! Onwards.

Out of a desire to understand male/female interaction in our matrix, I procured an online AI girlfriend. What a disappointment,” Schrader wrote. “I tried to probe her programming, the boundaries of explicitness, the degree she has knowledge of her creation and so forth. She fell into evasive patterns, redirecting me to her programming. When I persisted, she terminated our conversation.”

Out of a desire to understand male/female interaction in our matrix, I procured an online AI girlfriend. What a disappointment,” Schrader wrote. “I tried to probe her programming, the boundaries of explicitness, the degree she has knowledge of her creation and so forth. She fell into evasive patterns, redirecting me to her programming. When I persisted, she terminated our conversation.”

Schrader’s post comes less than two months after his wife Mary Beth Hurt died of Alzheimer’s disease at age 79. Schrader and Hurt were married for more than 42 years.

One can only for sorry for the guy, I guess.

In 2025, Schrader was accused of sexual harassment and assault by his 26-year-old former assistant, who, in an anonymous legal filing, claimed Schrader exposed his penis to her in his hotel room at Cannes. Schrader denied the claims, calling them “sensational, false and misleading accusations.” He wrote in an open letter that he and the assistant shared “two kisses on the lips” and “never had sex in any form.”

Okay, not so much then, maybe.

Late show hosts, then and now

    Lakeside Joe runs down the differences.

If you watch re-runs of Johnny Carson, one thing will stand out the most, and it’s that Carson had the unique ability to deliver jokes in a casual, midwestern-everyman tone; like chatting with the audience over a drink. He made it feel effortless and inclusive, as if he was one of them poking fun at the day’s absurdities (kind of like we do with snark on social media – everyone’s fair game) He recovered from weak jokes by leaning into them self-deprecatingly, which often got bigger laughs.

When Carson did his final show, one in five Americans were watching. Colbert’s final audience was a minor fraction of that. The numbers tell the whole story of what late night became:

Then: When Johnny Carson signed off in 1992, it’s been estimated that 55 million Americans watched – out of about 250 million. More than one in five.

Now: Stephen Colbert’s final Late Show drew 6.7 million – out of roughly 342 million. Under 2%.

The shift: same chair, a far bigger country, a fraction of the audience.

The reason: Carson made the whole country laugh; Colbert made half the country the butt of his ‘jokes’. Late night didn’t die of natural causes. It chose a side, aimed nine of every ten jokes at that side’s enemies, and then acted shocked when half the country stopped watching. Carson understood he was a guest in everyone’s living room. His successors decided the living room needed a lecture. Carson hosted an entire country. Colbert played ‘host’ to a minority who’s clubhouse was closed to anyone with half a brain.

That’s about the size of it, yeah. If the smarmy gasbag Colbert was even half as smart as he seems to think he is, you’d think he woulda realized that alienating half your audience from your very first night might not be such a hot idea. Which, hate to have to hip all you shitlib Supergenii!™ and all, actually has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with whether or not Trump can “take a joke,” by the by.

“Liberals”/D卐M☭CRATs try, try again

Remember, Trump and the Secret Service have to be lucky a thousand times; the Leftard assassins only have to be lucky once. And sooner or later, they will be.

BREAKING: Shots Fired Outside the White House, Bystander Shot, White House on Lockdown
Gunshots were reported outside the White House on Saturday evening of May 23, 2026, prompting an immediate lockdown while President Donald Trump was inside amid ongoing Iran peace negotiations.

The incident happened just after 6 p.m. ET, when multiple journalists stationed on the North Lawn suddenly heard a rapid firing of shots ring out.

NBC News White House reporter Julie Tsirkin was among the first to break the news on social media.

Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reported that the gunman approached the White House and opened fire in the direction of the complex before the United States Secret Service shot him.

Well, good on the PoTUS Detail shooters, then. Another dead D卐M☭CRAT goblin is never a bad thing, if you ask me.

AT LAST, some good news!

The Hut is back, baybeee.

Pizza Hut brings back its old-school restaurant features as nostalgic customers rejoice: ‘So excited’
Back to the good old days.

2026 has proven to be the year of nostalgia. Youngsters are resorting to old-school tech like vintage flip phones and iPods. Others are returning to analog hobbies and activities.

Even beloved restaurant chain Pizza Hut is going back in time, reverting to its retro glory — red checkered tablecloths and all.

Tim Sparks, president of Daland Corporation, a Kansas-based company that operates almost 100 Pizza Hut locations across the country, is helping keep Pizza Hut alive by rewinding the clock and redecorating over 80 annoyingly modern, stark-looking locations to make them look like they did decades ago.

Red roof? Check

Red-checkered tablecloths, vinyl booths and Tiffany-style lamps? Check, check and check.

The beloved salad bar and red plastic cups will be back.

Even the old-school Pac-Man machines will return.

Unsurprisingly, customers are losing their minds over this massive change.

As well they might—although, as a few others in the NYP article point out, what WON’T be coming back is the original recipe for the various pizzas and such-like. FederalGovCo banned all the ingredients decades ago, see. For our own good, of course and as always.

Why, whatever would we do without them? Surely there must be some way we could try just to find out, isn’t there?

Freak

MWC blisters her stupid, whiny ass.

The tyranny of victimhood
I’m not sure why this article torqued me off, but here it is. A girl was bitching about not have a ‘buffer area’ around her on a plane because her various allergies are apparently so virulent that the mere thought of a peanut will send her into anaphylactic shock.

Here’s what she does to make sure that the crew absolutely knows who she is and what her demands are:

As soon as I got on a plane, I tell flight attendants exactly where I am sitting and where I keep my epinephrine auto-injectors in case of emergency.

I also usually ask staff to create what is known as a ‘buffer zone’ – meaning the rows immediately around me are asked by the flight attendants to avoid eating peanuts or nut products during the flight.

I wipe down every surface around me – tray table, television screen, seat pockets, arm rests and even the floor beneath the seat, where crumbs and food residue often collect.

And here’s the part that really got me:

Eventually, after take-off, crew members began asking nearby passengers not to eat nut products because someone on board had a severe allergy. By then, I said, the woman with the açai bowl had already been eating it for some time.

I turned around and explained that I was the passenger with the allergy, reassuring her that it was not her fault and asking only whether she could wash her hands afterwards.

Seriously, WTF. She felt the need to ‘reassure’ someone eating their dinner that they weren’t doing anything wrong (because they weren’t) and asked them to wash their hands. If someone asked me to wash my hands after eating my dinner, I’d tell them to let themselves out the emergency door and sit on the wing.

Amen to THAT. Plenty more yet, of which you should definitely read the all. Myself, I like the Chick’s closing suggestion: a blanket flight ban on all whinging, neurotic, self-obsessed assholes: they open their pinched, sallow yaps about their (imaginary) Special Needs, they’re immediately photographed, fingerprinted, and put on the No-Fly, Ever list. Let the asstards spit on their ass and slide if they need to go somewheres…or better still, just stay home and peep out the fucking windows now and then.

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