177 Comments
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Tmitsss's avatar

This is disrespectful to hard working flying monkeys

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Jeremy R's avatar

Asses braying?

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Don Reed's avatar

We better make that number, "69,999," shouldn't we?

"The stunning move came the same day that the BLS reported a gain of just 73,000 nonfarm jobs in July."

Yeah, mark it down as a "July" number. The Biden flying monkeys led by Biden lawyer Bob Bauer (Philips Exeter '70) were good at that sort of stuff, although the reason why Joe's graft rake-off wasn't as big as it could have been is that none of them knew what number came after "10." ("10% to the Big Guy").

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NNTX's avatar

IIRC, flying monkeys accompanied the Wicked Witch of the West. The Mainstream press is EXACTLY like the Wicked Witch/aka Elvira Gulch who rode her bike and hated precious Toto, while she cackled.

Now we can only hope that as the water of truth is pitched at the press, they too will melt.

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TeaPartyGal's avatar

Love it--melting the press with "the water of truth"!

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NNTX's avatar

:)

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Grumpy Oldman's avatar

Nancy Pelosi (Crooked, MD via CA) is the Wicked Witch of the West, while Hillary Clinton (Grifter, IL via AR via NY) is the Wicked Witch of the East, both sticky-fingered but only one a killer.

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Forbes's avatar

Both of them.

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MartyB's avatar

Gonna have to start calling Don’s substack “The Dismal Blog.” Just kidding, just kidding! Great column Big D. But if I read one more column about economics I’m going to start leaving for the office early and read the dismal scientists’ (wrong) projections there. BLS bullshit has been a problem for as long as I can remember. Hey, how about the October 2012 Monthly Employment Report? The last one before the election between Obummer and Mittens? It was unexpectedly a blowout number, and widely seen - by the few thousand people that were capable of paying attention- as a campaign contribution to B. Hussein by some loyal BLS employees. You know, the ones who vote 90%+ Democratic? Just an extreme example, but the poor quality and sometimes bias of the results are not an occasional lapse.

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TeaPartyGal's avatar

This move to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics is long overdue. All through the Biden administration it was repeatedly reporting monthly job gains to great public fanfare, that were then quietly downgraded several months later by 50-75%. As Don stated, they got it wrong by 818,000 jobs for the 2024 year (March to March). 818,000!!! Clearly, they have been either vastly incompetent or flagrantly political.

And of course, the Left Media leaped on an opportunity to paint Trump's action like he was some "meanie who bristled at 'truthful' bad news". Left Media is digging its own grave with this stuff.

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Sophie's avatar

Hey, thanks for spelling out what the BLS stands for. We’ve got too many darn federal government departments and agencies—many redundant—to keep up with the deluge of alphabet soup.

What I think is being overlooked are the trade/tariff deals Trump made with foreign countries to build factories here. If I understand that correctly, the future employment for American citizens looks promising.

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PM's avatar

Large spike last Nov-free fall after election-Just a coincidence, nothing to see here.

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MLR's avatar

The BLS is about as accurate as the CBO which is about as accurate as the NYT or the WP. In other words not a single one of those entities can be trusted to actually report anything except the BS that the evil party wants to be published.

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Don Reed's avatar

08/04/25: And our country has been mocking the Russian newspaper Pravda (Russian for "truth") since the 1920s...

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Jeremy R's avatar

The difference is that nobody believed Pravda. Liberals still believe the press.

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Marlan Hoerer's avatar

Liberals are the press ??

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James Wills's avatar

It takes time to clean and repair an old house. "Doctor" Mc-Farter's floor joists just gave way and she's in the basement somewhere. Just board her over. I don't know how she stayed this long anyway; Democrats themselves will tell you they don't do math. What they don't tell you is that they CAN'T do math.

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Don Reed's avatar

08/04/25: One of the joys of staying with a Windows 7 operating system is that Substack, at some point (when) and to what degree (how much), ceased to interact with W7 users. If I click on "Like," nothing happens.

There's no way to prove or disprove the validity of such a statement because the closest I can get to the truth are rumors.

However, given all of the other complications (100% negative) of refusing to "graduate" (get screwed by installing) Windows 11, my guess as to why my voting privileges had been neutered seems to be reasonably un-stupid.

Consider this a "Like"!

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James Wills's avatar

My ex was a died-in-the-wool Mac user. I struggled with Windows machines from Day One until she finally won me over. Like everybody else, I was terminally frustrated until she told me, "Stop trying to do things the Windows way; learn a few things, and you'll be fine." Boy was she right!

It took me ten years to learn Windows - and God forbid you do an operating system upgrade; you will spend at least 24 hours on the phone to India. Then somebody will drop a virus down your shorts and you will lose everything. My older brother lost three caches of irreplaceable family pictures.

In a week I was proficient in MacSpeak. Now I won't touch a Windows machine; they make me nervous just looking at them. I have never used an antiviral program nor ever had a Mac virus, and sometimes I go places where the brave fear to tread.

Just a heads-up.

Oh, and by the way: my sons are, of course, computer geeks. They refuse to touch Windows 11.

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Adorable Deplorable's avatar

Mac's have always been highly superior to PCs. Especially in it's operating systems intuitiveness. And why MS has been basically stealing Apple's interface for 50 years.

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Shrugged's avatar

Just a small reminder: You have Bill Gates - the depopulationist - to thank for Windows.

ctrl-alt-delete says everything you need to know about Windows, microsoft, and Bill Gates (although - oddly - Microsoft stock has been doing well lately).

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PM's avatar

Love the sin; hate the Sinner.

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Marlan Hoerer's avatar

Ouch ?

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Don Reed's avatar

"Then somebody will drop a virus down your shorts..."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Retirednottired's avatar

In the late 90s and early aughts, I made my living working in the Windows world. Personally, I have been a Mac man since the Apple IIe. Some things just work, without steep learning curves. Also, I have never had anything break after a Mac upgrade, unlike Windows where everything breaks each time you try to keep up. The last Windows that sorta, kinda worked right was Win95.

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PM's avatar

A commercial FWIW: Malware Bytes and CC Cleaner are required for Windows. Used every version w/every update. Full disclosure-way too old to change horses-fear of thalassophobia.

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David Grieve's avatar

OK, another one I had to look up! Thank you for expanding my world!

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PM's avatar

More'n welcome, Dave-I owe it all to Grok

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Kevin C.'s avatar

I use both Mac and PC and don’t have a preference. They each have pluses and minuses.

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CactusMatt32's avatar

When I used to do Windows updates on my PC; was on the phone to India (you need to uninstall.. and reinstall…) rather than get mad, I got a speaker phone, used PC

to google map Mumbai and asked him was he close to this soccer field or whatever….’ No but have you been to Mumbai….’ A fun oppty to pass the time while burning a few hours….

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darrell's avatar

I am old as dirt like Donnie and used Windows only. It seemed so cut and dried easy. When I switched to Mac I had to learn a new language. Right when I get comfortable with it they download a new system and I'm back to square one. So I'm finding that it's not the operating system but the operator. I'm so glad I'm old. I shouldn't have to go through to many more upgrades.

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Don Reed's avatar

08/04/25: If that's the history of your experience with computers, I can imagine the dating complications (personal) that arose decades ago (I should talk!). Come to think of it, going from 7 to 11 with 11 bombing would be the "marrying on the rebound" second marriage fiasco, no?

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PM's avatar

Corroboration. Visited a Nobel prize 'economist' yesterday. I liked 2 or 3 comments. I couldn't 'like', but I could comment. I blamed Krug's substack. What say you, Don?

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Don Reed's avatar

08/04/25: Problem. If I give you a rational answer, my precious personal paranoia ("It's only MY likes they've disabled!") will lie in wait for me tonight and deliver a particularly spicy, terrifying nightmare. I can say, however, without getting a dildo (by the name of Krugman) thrown in my driveway, that I can't "like" anyone on SubShackensack. Click. Nothing. Everywhere. Doesn't matter whose stack it is. The odds are Stacked against me.

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PM's avatar

Irony of ironies. I wandered back to Krugman today and I was able to like and comment. Go figure.

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Greg's avatar

Why do we care? Why must the Fed gov constantly tells us how good or bad our lives are? Like they know. . . Anything.

Every day, one of their trained monkeys is saying this, ruling that. Blaming someone for their problems. Making shit up to suit their needs at the time. I DON'T CARE. SHUT UP, Please! I'd like to go back to the time when we rarely heard from the President or the government.

My life is what I make of it. My experiences are what I personally witness. I don't need their narration telling me what I did or didn't see.

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Marlan Hoerer's avatar

AMEN and AMEN !!

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Douglas Baringer's avatar

Amen brother!

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darrell's avatar

Don't hold back your feelings, let it out. lol

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CactusMatt32's avatar

El Rushbo’s recommendation….

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Shrugged's avatar

"Anything Trump does is immediately attacked by the flying monkeys whether it makes sense or not. This weekend showed that."

This weekend also showed that his Republican-controlled Senate - his 'allies' - left for the summer break without declaring a recess so PDJT could make hundreds of recess appointments to cleanse his administration's operations of leftist sewage clogs. To be honest, there probably weren't enough GOP votes to get the recess approved. That made option 2 - to stay in session 24/7 to get the large backlog through the system - the logical response to the game-playing Democrats. The appointees have only been hanging in the lurch for 6 months.

I guess summer vacationing in France and insider trading are just too important to get around to helping the president who holds a solid majority of voters’ loyalty. Trump is still doing all the heavy lifting while GOP twiddles their thumbs whether it’s BLS or trade or reclaiming Chief Wahoo.

Thanks GOP.

I hope the Democrats who fled Texas to avoid the redistricting vote all get arrested in Illinois by Friday - along with Pritzker.

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Don Reed's avatar

08/04/25: They pulled that sh*t in Wisconsin about ten years ago, no?

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Shrugged's avatar

Dems will do whatever it takes. Repubs still mimic George W and sit by quietly, act like they are in church, and do nothing. Just what the uniparty wants . . .

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Marilyn Brinley's avatar

The Indiana state dems pulled that same trick several years ago as well. Where did they flee to avoid a vote? The great communist state of Illinois, of course.

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Don Reed's avatar

08/05/25. Apparently (and if you ever go to England, that is, if you're ever stupid enough to go to England, people there "apparently" everything, including cold hard facts), that's the Chinese Fire Drill I recalled.

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Cookie McCall's avatar

this isn't the first time TX dems have skipped town to avoid a vote they didn't want to take

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Shrugged's avatar

Correct. That's why they are doing it again.

I believe it is a second degree felony.

Someone can check me on that.

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Marlan Hoerer's avatar

Just saw Illinois juxtaposed with Texas as to gerrymandering. J.B.Prickster should sit out this dispute.

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Don Reed's avatar

08/05/25: There isn't a chair strong enough in America to support his weight. See to it that we find him a nice comfortable third rail somewhere to sit upon.

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Marlan Hoerer's avatar

Abbott and Paxton will cook them this time around. Too many seats at stake not to.

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Shrugged's avatar

Paxton, yes, Abbott, unpredictable with the TX RINOs.

This is where the excitement will be this week for sure.

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PM's avatar

🎵The eyes of US are upon us.🤣

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PM's avatar

Better the Texas Rangers bring their sorry butts back to Tex so we have a quorum.

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Shrugged's avatar

The TX House had a quorum several days ago and had the redistricting maps ready to go and what did the GOP speaker of the TX House do? He adjourned the House and avoided the issue and the vote.

Like the Fed level, the GOP is the problem.

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PM's avatar

You do understand he was elected only with the help of Democrats.?

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Shrugged's avatar

What I understand is that he is not representing his party to win and has abdicated his affiliation in politics.

When is the last time a Democrat did that?

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PM's avatar

Short answer: Never. Grok: Burrows, Republican, defeated Rep. David Cook with a coalition of Republican and Democratic votes.

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Shrugged's avatar

I don't doubt you.

I doubt the integrity of Burrows.

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Marlan Hoerer's avatar

Will be interesting to see how long it takes for ACTION to begin in earnest.

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PatriciaFairbank's avatar

Yes Shrugged, yes.

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Albert P. Sweeney's avatar

Dear Don,

While I enjoyed today’s treat with my usual guffaws, I find it unacceptable for you to call these people “Flying Monkeys”.

Flying Monkeys, at least the ones under control of the Wicked Witch of the West, had a skill set. They could fly and they could follow orders.

I would suggest calling them Jelly Fish. They are good for nothing. All they do is cause pain to whatever they touch.

Th “Dr.” in question is called an expert. We all learned last week that it’s just the political correct term for Retard.

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Doug's avatar

"Doctor Jill," the expert, comes to mind.

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Grumpy Oldman's avatar

I wish ‘dr. Jill’ would operate on Caryn Johnson. It seems the Whoopster thinks Jill Briben is a medical doctor and not a doctor of letters, which accompanies a Doctorate in Indoctrination.

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PatriciaFairbank's avatar

Whoopster Caryn has already had a chemical lobotomy. So no need for ‘dr.’ Jilly. She was only in charge of one patient anyway and the country has paid billions for that fiasco. Patient and ‘dr.’ now. retired with a golden parachute.

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Grumpy Oldman's avatar

LOL, can't argue with that logic...

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Jeremy R's avatar

This reminds me of the story about a man visiting the Smithsonian zoo last fall.

As he was wandering the paths past pens of exotic beasts, he saw a child slip under the barrier, reach into a cage and attempt to pet a lion. The beast immediately seized the child's arm and the kid began screaming.

Without hesitation, the man leapt the warning barrier, vaulted into the enclosure and began pummeling the lion until it released it's grip on the child.

He then proceeded to climb back to safety as medics arrived to attend the child.

A reporter approached the man and asked for an interview. "Picture the headline" he said, "Noble Harris supporter rescues child at national zoo "

"Actually, I'm a Trump fan, I lost my MAGA hat in the pen."

"Oh, I see " said the reporter and walked away.

The headlines later read, Crazed Trump supporter assaults African native at Washington zoo and steals his lunch.

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PM's avatar

See where the Smithsonian's pulling the impeachments display on Trump? You could hear the heads exploding.

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TeaPartyGal's avatar

OK, I picked "flying monkeys" in the poll, but I had to first look up the definition of it. This term has been used alot in the media in the past year or so, but I never really understood what it meant. The only thing that came to mind was the Wizard of Oz flying monkeys, and indeed, apparently, that is the origin of it. "Flying monkeys" are sent out to do the bidding of a Wicked person, assisting in smearing and harassing someone.

But I really don't think the term "flying monkeys" is very good. It doesn't really convey the maliciousness, since monkeys are usually seen as playful or amusing. There must be a better term for such people. Like "vicious locusts" or something.

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Douglas Baringer's avatar

It is not very clever, but I sorta like COMMUNIST SOBs.

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Marlan Hoerer's avatar

PERFECT !!

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Michael Davis's avatar

There was a line in the crazy movie ‘Wayne’s World’ about ‘and Monkeys will be flying out your butt’. Dana Carvey and Mike Myers (WAYNE AND GARTH) were discussing some improbable event.

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Puddintaine's avatar

Vipers nest comes to mind.

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Amy's avatar

Flying monkeys made me think of the monkeys in The Jungle Book which my granddaughter and I are reading. Bandar-log (the monkeys in the book) are barely able to remember what they ate for breakfast: "their memories would not hold over from day to day". They live in a city that they don't take care of (Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston, Baltimore, etc.) "They never knew what the buildings were made for nor how to use them" - and they have no rules or laws. They’re disorganized, and maybe that's why they're so susceptible to Kaa's hypnosis, which is their ultimate downfall. He's able to hypnotize them and lead them away for a delicious snack. (Tranzsexual men in girls’ & women’s sports & the in the D*AR, climate “change”, etc.) But it's only a matter of time before they renew their numbers and continue wreaking careless havoc in the jungle. (mass imports of illegals…) and they fling poo. Ha!

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TeaPartyGal's avatar

I never read The Jungle Book in my youth, but your interesting take on it makes me want to seek it out now.

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Brian LeMay's avatar

Monkeys are like Dims, they have sudden mood swings .

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PatriciaFairbank's avatar

IDK TPG, monkeys are cute and all but they have been known to throw their feces at onlookers at the zoo. But maybe that’s just in San Francisco where there’s an abundance of it everywhere.

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Suzie's avatar

Math doesn’t lie. People do, though.

And, as with many things these days, you can fudge numbers around in all sorts of ways to come up with a desired outcome.

Government lies the most. Hence, believing any numbers coming out of that cesspool tagged to any number of purposes requires one to exercise a serious effort at suspending disbelief.

I’m reminded of the movie, “Dave”, where Kevin Kline’s thrown into impersonating the President and calls upon his accountant buddy, Charles Gordon, to go through the government books to save a project. It’s a great movie and worth your time if you haven’t seen it.

Here’s a clip:

https://youtu.be/uoRHwIMYlbc

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Suzie's avatar

Here’s another clip…just because it’s funny to watch and refreshing to imagine…

https://youtu.be/ZARAldXlSyA

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Marlan Hoerer's avatar

Sausage making 101 .

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Puddintaine's avatar

Daddy always said “ figures don’t lie but liars will figure.”

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RevMikeyMac's avatar

It's not that she can't count. She won't.

So she's fired.

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Shrugged's avatar

Here's an idea: Instead of reporting about recent history and then revising it up or down a month later when nobody is paying attention, let's delay the initial report by that 'revision month' and state the facts. Once we get past the initial waiting of a month, it will be back to monthly reporting of factual numbers and we won't need a multiple six-figure PhD economist to do it. I really doubt a 60-day lag in the numbers will matter to anyone, especially since there is always distrust in the initial report anyway.

This is an ideal job for AI.

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Marlan Hoerer's avatar

I need 800 words by airtime ,I can do a hit piece on this administration with out a teleprompter so another gin a and tonic please Sam.

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James Wills's avatar

When you are in the wrong - even if you have power, or even a monopoly - the People will find a way to be heard. The Green Dildo Caper is the perfect response to a cadre of tall lesbian street-girls' continuous attacks on one who doesn't look like them but shoots like Carlos Hathcock. I noticed that the otherwise-incompetent referees were very careful to handle the offending object through a towel. Good move; as Granny said, "You don't know where that's been."

The only remaining question is, "Why green?" Enquiring minds want to know.

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Don Surber's avatar

We know where it's been. Hence the towel

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Douglas Baringer's avatar

White Feather shoot good!

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James Wills's avatar

Ask "Apache." Oh wait - she's dead. Hathcock drilled her twice while she was taking a pee.

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PM's avatar

DiJonai Carrington is a WNBA player known for her vibrant style and has been noted for wearing green

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James Wills's avatar

"Vibrant" huh? I get it. Nice turn of phrase...

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Grumpy Oldman's avatar

American English is “inquiring”, James while “enquiring” is British English.

You’re in America, James, so use proper American English. They are not interchangeable.

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James Wills's avatar

Very brave of you, but I'll make that decision.

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Grumpy Oldman's avatar

and continue being wrong? must be a democRAT, always wrong about everything…

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James Wills's avatar

Republicans own independent thought; the sanctimonious, finger-wagging prig preaching ‘proper’ English always belongs to that other party.

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James Wills's avatar

It occurs to me that said object, being silicone rubber, is invisible to metal detectors. The WNBA'd better up its game. Or perhaps hire good referees that enforce the rules on EVERYBODY.

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Marlan Hoerer's avatar

If anyone really cared the league would be operating in the black. jus sayin

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James Wills's avatar

It IS operating in the black, regardless of its financial solvency. That's why, until Caitlyn Clark, nobody watched it.

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Steve (recovering lawyer)'s avatar

Put McEntarfer in the same category as former SS Director, Kim Cheatle, former V-P Harris and SC Justice Brown Jackson. (I included her middle name so you'd know what color skin she has.) In fact, you can put them in the same category as nearly (I'll give benefit of doubt here) every Biden appointee. Merit was not a consideration; only whether they ticked the right box on the DEI checklist. Of course, the other "qualification" was unfailing loyalty to the democrat-socialist party line.; no dissension allowed! (Ask John Fetterman.)

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Marlan Hoerer's avatar

Well put !!

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PM's avatar

A bit O/T, but the curtain is being pulled back to show America is being controlled by the few, not the many. 'Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Scores Major Win to Hold Black­Rock, State Street, and Van­guard Account­able for Ille­gal­ly Con­spir­ing to Manip­u­late Ener­gy Market'

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a major victory against BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard for conspiring to artificially manipulate the coal market through anticompetitive trade practices. A federal district court judge has denied the asset managers’ motion to dismiss—allowing the litigation to continue under Texas and federal antitrust laws, as well as Texas’s consumer protection laws.

I doubt they want the suit to continue. Some have even suggested they also control Powell and the Federal Reserve. Ike warned us about the military/industrial complex. The financial complex must be included.

You follow the ESG and DEI policies, or you won't be included in their investment portfolios. Yes, Virginia, they have that much power. They, along with a few others, control most of the assets of corporate America, and almost all the media. We need an army of Robby Starbucks' and Jim O'Keefe's.

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Marlan Hoerer's avatar

I hope your right and Texas wins my friend.

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