Good morning from my Hunker-Bunker overlooking the Puget Sound from the hills of West Seattle. It is a Christmas morning, and I have already delivered the one and only present I’ve given in the past fifty years or so. My neighbor and his fifteen year-old son will have fun with the FPV drone kit that I gave them from Amazon. I just bought a new FPB/DJI combo drone for $700, and this FPV drone came as a bonus for free. I would have put it together for them, but in order to properly teach someone how to fly and take care of their drone, it is always best for them to build it themselves from a kit.
They should have fun with it.
Finally, journalists who aren’t afraid to ask the questions we all want answers to…
What Did We Get Stuck In Our Rectums Last Year?
Do you realize that this is the 12th year we’ve run this series? Time really flies when you don’t have something lodged up your butt. But for those of you who do, read on to see if you made this year’s list of the weirdest stuff that entered America’s orifices. If not, there’s always next year.
All reports are taken from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s database of emergency room visits, all descriptions are verbatim, and all the entries below involved some very poor decisions.
MY TAKE:
The list is impressive. I wouldn’t say these people were ‘talented’, but they certainly are ‘special’.
You can rate your Congresscritters on Google Maps
Google lets you review members of Congress, and the appraisals are brutal
Savanna Herrera was not pleased with Sen. Mitt Romney’s phone system.
She said she kept calling his office and pushed the “5” button like the voice advised but couldn’t reach a person. Then she figured she’d push the 3 button. Still didn’t work.
So, Ms. Herrera did what any other unsatisfied customer might do in the internet age: She went online and left a 1-star review of Mr. Romney, Utah Republican, on Google Maps.
Mark Eckhardt was just as dismayed by his experiences with Rep. Cori Bush’s district office in Missouri.
“No one ever works there, or answers the phone. I have driven by their office 5 times total and only once did one of their staff members slink out of the depths of that ‘office’ to greet me at the locked door, after knocking for 5 minutes. Absolutely embarrassing to the entire city of St. Louis,” he wrote in his Google Maps review of the Democratic lawmaker.
Take the average American voter, combine that with an Amazon product review-style forum where five stars max means the best, and you get Google’s reviews of the members of Congress.
Some are useful, some are rants and some are pretty funny.
One user left a play-by-play of her struggles to navigate Mr. Romney’s voicemail: “I have called so many times pushed 5 and could not get ahold of anyone THEN I thought maybe if I push 3 I could get ahold of someone but even then I could not get ahold of anyone!”
“Okay, Kinda,” summed up “Ferret Man,” as he left a 3-star review for another member of Congress.
“Yo this dude suckkkkkkks!” said a reviewer for a senator’s office.
Then there was “DH,” who left a facetious review of the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on Google’s page for the Senate Press Gallery, the space for reporters who cover the upper chamber.
“Was here the other day on a random day, it was super busy, I stood in line to get in. Suddenly people started crowding and shouting. This made the atmosphere a bit grim. The local police officers tried with all their might to calm things down a bit. All in all, I saw a lot that day. There was even a shaman who from behind did not know he existed from the front,” DH wrote in a review in Dutch, which Google translated into English.
High-profile pols, unsurprisingly, draw the most activity.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, has drawn 32 reviews with an average rating of 3.5.
“Office doesn’t return phone calls. The most unqualified politicians this country has seen. Low IQ individual using her office to gain personal wealth,” said one disgruntled poster.
But another described the congresswoman as an “incredible woman, and an example for my daughters.”
“I admire her strength and resolve even in the face of racism that is so evident in so many of her critics,” that poster said.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2016, left user “Max Aronow” fuming eight years later.
“Remember what you did to Bernie in 2016? I’ll never forget. I will tell my children and my children’s children that you, specifically, are one of the worst politicians to ever have a direct impact on this country,” Max wrote.
Google said the reviews are user-generated.
“Business owners and members of the Maps community can create and update business profiles to help others find helpful information about places,” a spokesperson told The Washington Times.
MY TAKE:
With a current approval rating of just 17%, or just under one out of five people, there is a lot of dissatisfaction with Congress as a whole. Oh, we tend to be satisfied with our own congresscritter for the most part, but as a functional body they are hovering at the bottom of the ‘swamp’. The most recent list of things more popular than Congress came out eleven years ago, but I’m sure it hasn’t changed all that much:
Root canals (56-32)
NFL replacement refs (56-29)
Head lice (67-19)
Rock band Nickelback (39-32)
Colonoscopies (58-31)
Carnies (39-31)
Traffic jams (56-34)
Cockroaches (45-43)
Donald Trump (44-42)
France (46-37)
Used-car salesmen (57-32)
Brussels sprouts (69-23
Genghis Khan (41-37)
It’s probably time to come up with a new list…
Those “United” Republicans…
Republicans Fear Speaker Battle Means They ‘Can’t Certify the Election’
What’s New
Some Republican allies of House Speaker Mike Johnson are urging President-elect Donald Trump to publicly reaffirm support for him to avoid a lengthy battle to replace him that could delay the certification of Trump’s election victory in January.
Why It Matters
The first vote of the new House, when lawmakers are sworn in on January 3, is on electing a speaker. Then, on January 6, the House will meet to certify the results of the 2024 election.
Republicans elected Johnson as House Speaker in October 2023 after they were unable to agree on a replacement for three weeks after ousting the last speaker, Kevin McCarthy.
But Johnson is now facing a rebellion from House Republicans over his handling of government funding. The GOP’s slim majority in the lower chamber means Johnson can afford few defections if he wants to keep his hold on the gavel.
MY TAKE:
If history is prologue, the previous examples of Republican congresses is that very little of anything actually gets done. Instead, there tends to be a lot of back-biting and internal squabbling. Republicans tend to be the party of grievance, and can whine and kvetch to no end while they are out of power. But when they are given the power, they don’t really know what to do with it.
It seems that when Democrats are in the minority in the House, they get more done than the Republicans in power.
It’s about time for an economic CRASH
Elon Musk’s D.O.G.E could crash the US economy
The goal is to slash $2 trillion from federal spending. That’s nearly the size of the US government’s projected 2024 deficit. But here’s the thing, this project might not just fail — it could crash the entire US economy.
The pipe dream
D.O.G.E isn’t even a real government department. It’s an advisory group. It can’t implement anything without Congress or Trump signing off. But Elon’s name carries weight. His involvement alone has turned this into more than a theoretical exercise.
The plans are aggressive: massive layoffs, dissolving agencies, and gutting regulations. While Trump and his allies are cheering it on, skeptics are sounding alarms about the possible fallout.
Elon and Vivek are eyeing a government workforce reduction of up to 75%. Three-quarters of federal employees could be shown the door if D.O.G.E’s vision is realized.
But how realistic is this? Not very, say experts. Here’s why: about 75% of the federal budget is mandatory spending. Programs like Social Security and Medicare are untouchable without causing massive political backlash.
That leaves only discretionary spending—about $1.7 trillion—for cuts. Half of that goes to defense, which Trump and his allies are unlikely to touch. What’s left are pennies compared to the grand $2 trillion ambition.
MY TAKE:
The end of the fiscal year is upon us. Joe Biden’s term is over in less than thirty days, and Congress is all but done now, save for some end-of-the-term housekeeping and the moving out while the next critters move in.
Virtually everything that happens economically is going to be on the next administration.
That means that yes, Donald Trump and his merry band of billionaires is going to have to deal with that debt ceiling, good or bad.
Here’s the thing: It is the nature of capitalism for there to be bubbles and recessionary periods. It’s what keeps the ‘engine’ going.
I’m not the only person who believes that a recession has been just around the corner, and that whoever it was winning the 2024 election was going to be saddled with a major recession sometime by the middle of 2025, and it would probably make the 2007 bank and housing crash look like a blip.
When Donald Trump won six weeks ago, I had a great sigh of relief. I’m glad that Donald Trump won, and here’s why: there is some real shit coming at us soon and it’s all going to blow up in the face of whoever is ‘in charge’. It’s not going to be the ‘fault’ of anyone or any government in particular, this is going to be a global ‘correction’ and it may turn into another global depression. Here in the US, the Party in office will be the Party blamed, no matter what.
It’s just how it is.
Do I think that the fantasies of D.O.G.E will be the cause? No, just a catalyst, one of many. It may just make it slightly worse, that’s all. But at the end of the day, it will be THE thing historians will point to.
As always, it will be Democrats who come back in and ‘fix’ things. They, of course, will get blamed for taking too long, and by the time the economy start running smoothly again, they will be voted out in favor of Republicans.
And so the cycle goes.
The glaring hypocrisy of President Elon Musk
Elon Musk has set his sights on MacKenzie Scott’s charity work once again.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said the billionaire’s gifts to liberal nonprofits were “concerning.”
Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, has donated over $19 billion to charities since 2019.
Elon Musk has taken aim once again at MacKenzie Scott over the billionaire’s charitable giving.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO shared on Monday an X post written by John LeFevre criticizing Scott. The author and ex-banker’s post sounded the alarm on Scott’s gifts to nonprofits focused on issues such as racial equity, social justice, immigration protections, and LGBTQ+ rights.
Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, has donated over $19 billion to more than 2,450 nonprofits since 2019 via her Yield Giving organization. Her net worth remains above $30 billion thanks to the rising value of her Amazon shares.
“So she’s just getting started,” LeFevre wrote.
Musk reposted the critique along with a single word: “Concerning.”
Concerning https://t.co/C11Lnm8XeH
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 23, 2024
MY TAKE:
This, coming from a soon-to-be trillionaire who gave 208 million to Donald Trump’s campaign and ended up getting $200 Billion bucks richer as a result. Oh, and is now being referred to as “President-Elect Musk”, because of the perception that he just bought the president, and is now literally trying to run the country.
This is also the President-Elect Musk who has the only car company with its main manufacturing companies located in China, and was just exposed for removing a rider in the ‘bipartisan’ version of the CR that was voted down last week that would have adversely affected those factories.
This is also the same Elon Musk who has gotten as rich as he is now due to the VERY lucrative government contracts he has with the US government.
While there is still an FDA left to give warning…
Federal food regulators raised their alarm for recalled eggs sold from Costco stores
over possible salmonella exposure, reclassifying the targeted product to their highest risk level.
The FDA had previously announced on Nov. 27 that about 10,800 retail units of organic, pasture-raised, 24-count eggs, sold under Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand, were being recalled by New York-Handsome Brook Farms.
But then in an updated notice issued on Friday, the FDA reclassified to recall to a Class I, which the agency calls a “reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.”
The targeted egg cartons were sold in 25 Costco stores in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee beginning Nov. 22.
The “Organic Pasture Raised” eggs, sold in sets of 24, have a Universal Product Code (UPC) of 9661910680 with a use-by date of Jan 5, 2025.
Customers with these eggs should return them to Costco for a full refund, the FDA said.
MY TAKE:
Talk about ‘devilled eggs’… These eggs are positively evil.
If Donald Trump’s plan of dismantling the US government — especially the FDA — then this could be the last warning you get when our food supply gets contaminated.
Hey, but who cares, right? We need to get rid of ALL regulations and regulatory bodies. Those ‘deep state’ actors have to go.
More Bubbles Than Lawrence Welk
US Housing Market Is Mirroring 2008 Bubble—Real Estate Analyst
What’s New
The recent flood of new inventory in the U.S. housing market has brought the number of homes sitting vacant and waiting for a buyer close to levels seen only during the 2008 bubble, the real estate analyst Nick Gerli said.
Gerli, the CEO of the real estate data platform Reventure App, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that for-sale speculative, or “spec,” homes—new houses built under the assumption that builders will be able to sell them easily for a profit—”just hit the second highest level ever.”
“Builders are doing their part to inundate the housing market with supply,” Gerli wrote on X. “Only other time there has been more builder spec inventory was [the] 2008 bubble.”
Why It Matters
According to Gerli, the explosion of inventory in certain markets of the country is “quite the rebound from the shortage experienced from 2012-22.”
The country has long struggled with a housing shortage that has inflated prices and pushed the property ladder a little further from many Americans’ reach.
New inventory is good news for the housing market, but not if a slowdown of home appreciation isn’t matched by a rise in demand from buyers. At the moment, with stubbornly high mortgage rates and still rising home prices, sales remain relatively low despite pent-up demand in the market.
MY TAKE:
I already talked about his above.
It walks, It talks, It Even Goes To Work…
Walking pneumonia, the ‘great masquerader,’ on the rise in Washington
This year, in addition to more familiar respiratory viruses like influenza, RSV and SARS-CoV-2, local health experts are also warning about a particular type of pneumonia infection.
Infections caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria—often associated with “walking” pneumonia—have startled providers as cases have surged through the United States since the spring, especially in young children. Infections appeared to peak in late August, but have stayed at high levels, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned in October.
Mycoplasma pneumonia levels remain elevated
Infections caused by M. pneumoniae bacteria have been rising in Washington and nationally. In King County, providers noticed an increase in the percentage of emergency department visits with M. pneumonia diagnosis across all ages, especially among those aged 5 to 17 years old.
“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in illness and hospitalization due to Mycoplasma pneumonia,” said Dr. Mary Fairchok, a pediatric infectious diseases doctor at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma. “Adults can get Mycoplasma too, but it’s really hitting the pediatric population.”
MY FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE:
I’m just getting over walking pneumonia, and so is my wife. Apparently, we’ve both had it for about two months, because that’s when I started wheezing. My doctor first noticed it and became alarmed.
Signs that society is screwed up
Alternatively:
How anyone can be an “influencer” from anywhere
Luigi Mangione’s sweater sells out at Nordstrom one day after court appearance
Luigi Mangione, the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, became an unlikely fashion influencer after his appearance in a Manhattan courtroom.
The 26-year-old was attending his arraignment hearing on Monday (December 23) where he faces 11 counts in New York, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, second-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, and multiple weapons offenses. However, all eyes appeared to be on his burgundy sweater.
Mangione was wearing a white-collared shirt underneath the sweater in addition to light grey slacks and orange shoes at the courthouse. While fans first thought his sweater was a $1,000 Maison Margiela sweater, it was later determined that Mangione was wearing the “washable Merino crewneck sweater” from Nordstrom.
The sweater was previously available for $89.50 according to the Nordstrom website, but it is currently on sale for $62.65 with 30 percent off. The sweater comes in six other colors aside from the burgundy one, which is no longer available.
“No fucking way the sweater Luigi Mangione wore to court today is sold out,” one person pointed out on X/Twitter on Monday.
In court, Mangione had pled not guilty to all of his charges as his attorney Karen Agnifilo told Judge Gregory Carro about her concerns that he would not receive a fair trial because of the amount of security around in addition to New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s presence.
“They are literally treating him like he is some sort of political fodder, like some sort of spectacle,” Agnifilo said. “He was on display for everyone to see in the biggest stage perp walk I’ve ever seen in my career, it was absolutely unnecessary. He’s been cooperative with law enforcement… There was no reason for the NYPD and everybody to have these big assault rifles.”
“It was perfectly choreographed, and what was the New York City Mayor doing at this press conference, your honor? That just made it utterly political,” she continued.
MY TAKE:
I should make a sign, “The end is nigh” and start walking up and down the streets with it. The rapture has already happened, and we missed it. From here on, it only gets weirder.
It’s John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and all the rest of the common-man getting over on the big banks and corporations a hundred years ago.
This time, it isn’t banks, it’s the health insurance industry (not to be confused with the health care industry). I think it is safe to say that the majority of Americans are more than a bit unhappy with the insurance industry as a whole, and even more-so with the health insurance part of it.
Americans don’t like seeing companies like UHC make record profits year-over-year, while their premiums continue to rise along with the insurance denials of service.
The dissatisfaction has now reached unsustainable levels, and the public is acting out in the way we are seeing now. Never mind that this Luigi guy killed another human being leaving a family missing their loved one. They see the victim as the villain, and the actual villain as the hero for “giving him what he deserved”.
It’s not rational, but then, what is these days?
More…
Luigi Mangione’s emotional reaction to his fawning fans… and how he’s ‘sharing the love’ in prison
Luigi Mangione is ‘moved’ by his newfound world fame and the fans lusting over him after he allegedly killed UnitedHealthcareCEO Brian Thompson, DailyMail.com has learned.
The 26-year-old alleged assassin, who pleaded not guilty on Monday to state murder and terror charges, has received thousands of dollars in donations and hundreds of handwritten letters in jail, a legal insider said.
Mangione even shared the proceeds of his notoriety with his fellow inmates in Pennsylvania, who have also expressed support for him and might have even helped him get a ‘glow up’ before his extradition to New York City.
The source said the prisoners who were heard yelling in support of Mangione during a News Nation live cast ‘did it so that Luigi could hear them.’
Despite the massive attention the case has gathered, the world has yet to hear from Mangione, who has remained silent aside from an outburst before his first court appearance where he claimed authorities were ‘disrespecting the intellect of the American people.
But DailyMail.com has learned that since that court appearance, where he was unshaved and frazzled, Mangione learned of the public’s adoration of him after he was shown articles reporting the massive fixation on the accused killer.
Mangione has captivated the nation following Thompson’s murder, with memes, merchandise and religious-themed candles that glorify him popping up all over the internet.
A source close to Mangione said he is ‘extremely aware of the massive fan base he has right now.’ He was ‘shocked and really choked up’ when he first saw the support he has received, which ‘gave him confidence and reassurance that he will be okay.’
MORE OF MY TAKE:
I worry that it may be hard to find a jury of twelve people who could unanimously find this guy guilty.
All it takes is ONE person in every jury to either hang or force the rest of the jury to vote for acquittal, like in the case of OJ Simpson.
Get while the getting is good…
Want government money for a heat pump? Time might be running out
Heat pumps are electric appliances that can both heat and cool your home.
Scientists see them as a climate solution because heat pumps reduce planet-heating emissions. They cut pollution from burning gas for heating, and reduce the use of gas infrastructure that leaks planet-heating methane gas.
And heat pumps are highly efficient, which means less electricity is needed to use them than traditional heating systems like fossil fuel furnaces and boilers. Researchers at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory calculate that 62% to 95% of households would save money by switching to a heat pump. “?It’s an enormous amount of savings,” says Ari Matusiak, CEO of the nonprofit, Rewiring America. “That’s just a fact of the technology being superior.”
The Biden administration’s 2022 climate legislation introduced new federal tax incentives of up to $2,000 for heat pump equipment and installation costs. Many states as well as cities and utilities offer additional financial incentives.
So what money is available right now for a prospective heat pump buyer? And how might a second Trump administration and a Republican-controlled Congress impact this money?
Here are the answers to your heat pump and money questions.
Read the rest of the article…
MY TAKE:
As a person with three geothermal heat pumps in my Hunker-bunker, I am sold on getting rid of furnaces, base heaters and all the rest. My power bill is next to nothing, year round and I’m on the power grid. My servers pull more power than my heat pumps.
Here are some stupid memes for you:
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