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notalwaysright_feedRead Face Your Fears
I did not factor into account that we had a brand-new guard starting that morning with me.
I didn't even make it onto the deck before I heard someone screaming bloody murder.
Read Face Your Fears
dailykos_feedRemember when we learned in 2018 that the United States would host the 2026 World Cup along with Mexico and Canada? Back then, it seemed like an amazing opportunity to be part of an inherently multicultural sporting event that draws the largest crowds possible.
Yeah, that feeling is gone now. Now, the World Cup is just another vehicle to curry favor with President Donald Trump by celebrating Donald Trump, and it’s so gross. Friday’s World Cup Draw, where country names are drawn out of pots to create matchups, kicked off not with soccer, but with obsequiously praising Trump, including presenting him with the ugliest trophy ever.
This state of affairs was likely inevitable because the head of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, is basically Trump if Trump ran a sports governing body. Infantino loves dictators, money, and making decisions in secret so there’s no accountability, using his position to hand out money to ensure loyalty.
Infantino slapped his name on the Club World Cup trophy in not one, but two places. His name appeared in the Panama Papers. At the World Cup Draw, he even sounded like Trump: ”This will be the greatest FIFA World Cup ever. It is much more than a sporting event, it is simply the greatest event that humanity will ever see.”
It was also inevitable that Infantino would shape the World Cup around Trump, so he invented the FIFA Peace Prize on the fly to present to Trump during the draw. According to Trump, he has ended eleventy wars, a claim that does not hold up under scrutiny, but that little detail wasn’t going to stop Infantino from giving Trump a consolation prize since he can’t nab a Nobel Peace Prize.
This is where the comically ugly trophy comes in. It’s so ugly that even The New York Times called it ugly. You can go see for yourself—or not, if you feel like this thing might haunt your dreams.
The trophy is a bunch of weird, elongated, witchy hands reaching up from the base of the trophy to grab a globe, with Trump’s name appearing below. Frankly, it looks a lot like Infantino wanted to convey to Trump that he owns the whole world.
Infantino literally bowed when he presented it to Trump and also gave him a gold medal, and then let Trump give a little speech praising himself: “This is truly one of the great honors of my life. Beyond awards, we saved millions and millions of lives. The fact that we could do that, so many different wars that were able to end in some cases right before they started, it was great to get them done. I want to thank my family, my great first lady Melania. Thank you very much. You are going to have an event the likes of which the world has never seen. The world is a safer place now, the United States a year ago was not doing too well and it's the hottest place anywhere right now.”
Well, if by “hottest,” you mean “most hellish,” then sure.
Infantino said that the award was “on behalf of football-loving people around the world,” which is probably a surprise to most football-loving people around the world and also a surprise to the rest of FIFA. The 37-member council wasn’t involved in creating the award, the 211-member FIFA Congress didn’t vote to create the award, nor did they vote on who would win.
Related | Trump finally gets his ‘peace prize’
And as far as the rest of the world, football-loving and otherwise? Well, Trump is currently bragging about bombing random boats in the Caribbean, being totally down with murdering shipwrecked survivors, ruthlessly attacking immigrants, and deporting people to brutal prisons.
Even the World Cup itself is not exactly a peaceful thing under Trump. During the Club World Cup earlier this year, a smaller lead-in to the 2026 World Cup, Customs and Border Patrol said they would “act as security” in Miami and told the local news that Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel would also be there, and any non-citizens needed to have their papers on them.
Vice President JD Vance also made sure to tell people from other countries who come to watch the Cup to make sure to get the f*ck out when things were done: “Of course everyone is welcome to come and see this wonderful event. We want them to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the games,” Vance said. “But when the time is up we want them to go home, otherwise they will have to talk to [Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem.”
Nothing says peace and football-loving like threatening to deport soccer fans, right? FIFA and Infantino should be up in arms about a host country behaving this way, but corrupt people love corrupt people, and Infantino and Trump are a match made in hell.
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TL;DR: This bundle will double your productivity. Get a grade A refurbished Dell Latitude 7410 (2020) with Microsoft Office Pro 2021 for Windows for just $274.99 (Reg. $1,019.98).
Looking to double your productivity in the new year? Stay true to your "new year, new me" promises with the ultimate productivity bundle: a grade A refurbished Dell Latitude 7410 (2020) with Microsoft Office Pro 2021 for Windows. — Read the rest
The post Double or nothing — get a Dell with MS Office for 73% appeared first on Boing Boing.
icanhascheezburger_feedThe weekend is finally here, finally we can all relax, take a deep breath, and get on our phones for a good ol' fashioned meme scroll. The world works in mysterious ways, and everything is always in a cycle. What we liked as a kid or teenager may be the only thing that can comfort us these days, and maybe that thing is scrolling cat memes. A soft whisper of the weekend already has us purring and praying for those two days of restful bliss when we feel like we are drowning in life.
Some people count down the workweek by watching the clock. Others treat themselves to fancy coffees or daydream about future vacations. But here at I Can Has Cheezburger, we get through it by pspspsps-ing at every cat like it's a sacred ritual. That's a better life philosophy than most corporate wellness programs, or gluten free diets.
These cat memes aren't just memes, they're coping mechanisms. They're tiny portals of comfort, reminders that softness is power, and proof that a little silliness can carry you from one exhausting week to the next. So pspspsps your way through, friend. The weekend is coming, the cats are waiting, and the fluff will set you free.
icanhascheezburger_feedConvincing a cat to do something is really tough. And we are talking about literally anything, like it could be something as positive as getting them to play with a new toy you have bought them. Because if they decide that they do not want to do the thing, they do not do it. That is, unless we sell our souls and entice them into it with the promise of treats. In this case, they will do a fair bit, that is, other than take their meds.
As you might have gathered from the caption of this story, some cats will even forego food if it has meds in it. And that is when you need to bring out the big guns, or as cat pawrents know it the Tuna Mousse. The most enticing and enchanting treat to ever cross a cat's path. Now, we cannot criticize these feline pawrents for reaching for this desperate measure. After all, they were just looking out for their cat's health, but the situation it landed them in after, well, that is one that they will have to pay for, for many moons to come.
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notalwaysright_feedRead Doubly Problematic
Me: "A lot of our cashiers are new, to prepare for the holiday season. As a result, they're all still learning the ropes. Some people make mistakes, and for that we are sorry."
Customer: "Well, that’s not my problem! I’m a customer!"
Read Doubly Problematic
bruce_schneier_feedThe vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) has the largest cephalopod genome ever sequenced: more than 11 billion base pairs. That’s more than twice as large as the biggest squid genomes.
It’s technically not a squid: “The vampire squid is a fascinating twig tenaciously hanging onto the cephalopod family tree. It’s neither a squid nor an octopus (nor a vampire), but rather the last, lone remnant of an ancient lineage whose other members have long since vanished.”
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
dailykos_feedPresident Donald Trump’s plans for revenge against his political enemies were disrupted yet again on Thursday after a grand jury declined to pursue charges against New York Attorney General Leticia James. The setback was the latest in a line of legal failures for Trump.
The grand jury made a determination of “no true bill” in the case, where the Department of Justice had accused James of misleading a bank on a mortgage application. In a statement James said the allegations were “baseless” and part of a system of “unchecked weaponization of our justice system” under Trump.
The charges were pursued under orders from Trump, who pressured the previous U.S. attorney in Virginia to resign in September after he reportedly said there was no real case against James. Trump fumed at the time on his social media account that James is a “horror show” and claimed she is “corrupt” without offering any evidence to support his smear.
Trump has nursed a grudge against James for years after she took him to court and proved in a 2024 ruling that he committed fraud with his businesses in New York. In that case a judge ruled that Trump had falsely inflated his wealth on financial statements so he could do business with banks and other financial instititions.
The Virginia grand jury was just the Trump regime’s latest legal embarrassment.
In November, DOJ cases against James and former FBI Director James Comey were also thrown out by U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie after he determined that prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was illegally installed in her position. Halligan, a Trump loyalist who served as a White House aide, was put in her position as acting U.S. attorney after the existing Virginia-based prosecutor was forced out.
Related | Trump's retribution tour hits another snag
Trump has long disliked Comey for exposing his attempts to manipulate the FBI investigation into Russian election interference on Trump’s behalf. Trump has argued that Comey was a “deep state” operative targeting him.
The Trump regime’s prosecutorial failures even extended into street-level sandwich crime.
Last month a Washington, D.C., jury dismissed charges against Sean C. Dunn, an Air Force veteran who threw a Subway sub at a Border Patrol officer. Dunn threw the sandwich in protest of the Trump-ordered deployment of federal officers to the capital.
Dunn was nicknamed “Sandwich Guy” and portrayed as a dangerous criminal by Fox News host-turned-U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.
During his presidential campaign in 2024, Trump vowed to go on a revenge tour against those who have opposed him once he regained power. To be sure, Trump has used the power of the federal government to hurt many people and has shown no signs of letting up—but he has also faced failure as well.
Related | ‘Sandwich Guy’ triumphs over ham-fisted charges
A big reason is his choice to put super fans of his like Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI director Kash Patel, and Pirro in positions of power and influence. While these figures are second to none in their fealty to Trump, they are clearly not skilled at working the legal system and are pushing vendetta-based cases that crumble under scrutiny.
Trump did not send his “best people” into the courts—and his revenge plans have suffered for it.
dailykos_feedFBI Director Kash Patel is once again under scrutiny for allegedly bending the bureau’s resources to support his personal life, this time involving his girlfriend’s social outings.
According to MS NOW, in more than one instance, Patel instructed the FBI security detail assigned to his 27-year-old girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, to escort one of her allegedly intoxicated friends home after a night out in Nashville.
In one incident, agents reportedly pushed back, only for Patel to override them and call the head of Wilkins’ detail to berate him.
The FBI hasn’t offered much clarity. Speaking to MS NOW, FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson issued a blanket denial. “This is made up and did not happen,” he told the outlet.
Wilkins, who splits her time between Nashville and Washington, according to the Daily Beast, is protected full-time by FBI agents normally assigned to the Bureau’s Nashville SWAT team—a stark departure from precedent. There is no record of a director’s girlfriend ever receiving her own detail, a particularly striking move given that Patel and Wilkins don’t even live together, much less in the same state.
Within the FBI, the situation has become a running topic of gossip and frustration. Agents trained for high-risk operations have been redirected to shepherd a private citizen through social outings.
Former agent Christopher O’Leary didn’t mince words. Speaking to MS NOW, he called the orders “outrageous” and demonstrative of Patel’s “complete lack of judgment and integrity.”
“FBI agents serve the public and swear an oath to protect and defend the Constitution,” he said. “This is clearly a long way from that.”
The concerns don’t come in a vacuum. In November, more than 20 current and former bureau employees described the FBI leadership under Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino as “rudderless.” Patel, they said, was “insecure” and lacking the basic professionalism the job demands.
And yet, Wilkins dismissed MS NOW’s reporting with a jab.
“Ken’s 3 sources: the voices in his head,” she tweeted at Ken Dilanian, one of the reporters on the story. “Nice try, Ken. Let’s try something even remotely believable next time instead of some party girl trope that’s lame and verifiably false.”
Related | Kash Patel's thirst for attention undermines FBI
Patel’s judgment has also been questioned in other recent situations. According to multiple reports, he refused to deplane to oversee the investigation into conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s murder until an FBI raid jacket was brought to him. He is also under investigation for using FBI aircraft for what appears to be personal travel.
That travel has raised eyebrows on its own. Patel took a $60 million government jet to watch Wilkins perform at a wrestling event in Pennsylvania on Oct. 25, then flew to Nashville later that day. The same plane returned to Nashville on March 21—the fourth trip that month—and made repeated stops aligned with Wilkins’ appearances and even her 27th birthday.
The bureau has not said which of Patel’s Nashville trips were personal, which were official, or whether he plans to repay any of the costs.
Inside the Trump administration, patience appears to be thinning. Patel’s conduct has reportedly irritated senior officials, and while Trump publicly denies being unhappy with his FBI director, multiple sources say he has considered firing him.
Of course, this latest controversy might only deepen Patel’s troubles. Every new story about his actions piles on criticism both inside the FBI and in Washington, leaving the bureau to ask a pressing question: How long can Patel remain in a leadership role as he continues to erode the agency’s credibility?
dailykos_feedA cartoon by Jack Ohman.
Related | Hegseth blames scapegoat for apparent war crimes he bragged about
dailykos_feedPresident Donald Trump received a made-up peace prize from the International Federation of Association Football ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Upon accepting the award, Trump gave a classic rambling speech.
Trump: Who knew this was going to happen? But when you look at what has happened to football in the United States—is, again, soccer in the United States—we seem to never call it that because we have a little bit of a conflict with another thing that's called football. But when you think about it, shouldn't it really be called—I mean, this is football. There's no question that we have to come up with another name for that. It really doesn't make sense when you think about it. But it's really football.
Related | Not even the beautiful game is safe from this ugly president
notalwaysright_feedRead My Printer The Droid
I am sitting close to the office printer, which is behind a cubicle wall. I overhear a coworker using it.
Coworker: "Come on, buddy, we spoke about this."
Beeping from printer.
Coworker: "We agreed, no more jams.
Read My Printer The Droid
icanhascheezburger_feedWith winter in full swing, it can be tough being a hairless hooman. Sometimes it feels as though there is no amount of clothing and no amount of heating that can effectively get rid of the pesky persistence of the cold. But such is the case, and we have quite the long few months left of this frozen madness so we decided that it is time to start looking for sources of heat from some more unconventional sources.
And as such, we bring you this collection of super floofy felines who are so fluffy in themselves, that they do not even know what cold feels like. To them, it is an inalienable concept. And we would advise you to do one of two things with them to help you stay warm. First being to simply look at them and be in awe of their fluffiness. And as your heart melts, you should get to feel some warmth circulating throughout your extremities. But if that fails, and you feel the need for even more warmth, then there is no reason that you should not head down to your local shelter and pick up a fluffy feline to hold close and cuddle.
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crooked_timber_feedI spent a good chunk of the afternoon watching l’Etabli, the film of Robert Linhart’s book (which I own but have never read). It is an arresting depiction of the brutality of the assembly-line and the racalialised hierarchies at work in the factory. The theme of the film is of a Maoist cadre from an academic and privileged background (in philosophy!) who enters the factory to foment resistance and revolution and finds that it is a lot tougher than he had perhaps imagined. But an opportunity presents itself when the Citroen management decide to make the workers toil unpaid for an extra three-quarters of an hour each day to “repay” the gains they’d made in May and June 1968. He helps to lead a strike and watches as the his new comrades are picked off by management and their goons, as immigrant workers are threatened with deportation and they are all subjected to acts of petty humiliation. A year later, we see him lecturing on Hegel at the University of Vincennes (later, I believe, dismantled by the French authorities as a hotbed of leftism).
The film is available to watch for free here (under “Drama”)
It reminded me a little of the Fourth International (Mandel version)’s policy of sending its students and white-collar workers into the “industrial working class” a decade later. Just as the industrial working class was actually disappearing from Western Europe and North America, they decided it was (as previously announced by Marxist theory) central to the struggle to overthrow capitalism. Some of my friends did end up in a car factory in Oxford, from which they were very soon fired once their identities became known. Others gave up good jobs in health and education but failing to find factory jobs ended up working in public transport. One of them I remember absolutely loved being a train driver compared the anxiety and stress of their previous school-teaching life. As for me, I was torn between my misplaced allegiance to the organisation (which in the UK at the time was the International Marxist Group then the Socialist League) and my conviction that this was all a dreadful mistake. So I took the path of least resistance and decided to carry on being a student (a postgraduate one) until the madness blew over. And so I ended up as a political philosopher in a university rather than whatever else I might have become (a lawyer, I suspect).
icanhascheezburger_feedCats are seriously silly. Not as in "serious"ly silly, because there's nothing serious about cats. Even when they try to be the most serious as they can be, it doesn't work for them. They can go on trying to be mad, making a face that says "If you won't give in to my demands for treats, I'll go on a zoomies spree when you're deep R.E.M. sleeping", but all that face says in a cat pawrent's eyes is "I'm a cutie patootie precious little baby and I have the softest meow because I'm a teeny tiny baby". Such a silly little creature.
And it's no wonder that a creature who's perpetually silly is the king of meme culture. Cats have controlled memes since the inception of the internet, more or less. You can't be as silly as cats and then be surprised that most of the meme culture revolves around you. So, yeah, cats… don't be surprised. You're silly, smol floofs, full of clawing cat comedy and meowing meme energy.
So what do you think is the most logical thing to do after a silly conversation like that? We have the answer - celebrating silly cat memes with as much laughter and fluffter as we can. Cats' silliness is hissterically hilarious!
boingboing_feed
Puppy Slayer and ICE Barbie Kristi Noem celebrated her 54th birthday wearing a bright pink sombrero and having feliz cumpleanos sung to her at a Mexican restaurant, a gross demonstration of spite for the people she targets for deportation.
Noem posted a video of herself to social media wearing a pink and yellow sombrero and restaurant staff surrounding her to sing 'Happy Birthday' in Spanish.
The post Kristi Noem spends birthday mocking Mexicans appeared first on Boing Boing.
notalwaysright_feed - Face Your Fearsdailykos_feed - The World Cup sucks up to Trump, and it sucksslashdot_feed - Meta Acquires AI Wearable Company Limitlessboingboing_feed - Double or nothing — get a Dell with MS Office for 73%icanhascheezburger_feed - 25 Fluffy Feline Memes for the Souls Who Pspspsps Their Way to the Weekendicanhascheezburger_feed - The pawrents who tried to medicate their cats with the forbidden gravy of the wet food can, ‘And theslashdot_feed - India Reviews Telecom Industry Proposal For Always-On Satellite Location Trackingnotalwaysright_feed - Doubly Problematicbruce_schneier_feed - Friday Squid Blogging: Vampire Squid Genomedailykos_feed - Trump’s revenge plot unravels as another grand jury shuts him downdailykos_feed - FBI agents now reportedly acting as Kash Patel’s personal Uberdailykos_feed - Cartoon: I'm with stupiddailykos_feed - Trump finally gets his ‘peace prize’notalwaysright_feed - My Printer The Droidicanhascheezburger_feed - 26 Comforting Photos of Super Floofy Felines Who Can’t Feel the Coldslashdot_feed - The New York Times Is Suing Perplexity For Copyright Infringementslashdot_feed - Cloudflare Says It Blocked 416 Billion AI Scraping Requests In 5 Monthscrooked_timber_feed - l’Établiicanhascheezburger_feed - 29 Meowing Memes of Mischievous Cats for Clawmedy Seeking Silly Peopleboingboing_feed - Kristi Noem spends birthday mocking Mexicans![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}