"DeSantis's $20 million worth of preparation was seemingly for nothing."

It wasn't for nothing. It's red meat for the red hats. Keep 'em distracted with all these fabricated boogey men and they don't notice their entire state - from insurance to fuel to infrastructure to civil rights to healthcare to the literal land itself - is collapsing around them.

So you are now badgeless Nathalie; at least now you don't have show anyone any stinking badges.

@4 has obviously never served in the armed forces of a NATO ccuntry

@5 "if you think healthcare is expensive now wait til its free a hur hur hur!"

Alec Baldwin on the NBC soap opera "The Doctors", circa 1981

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qpOd8SYY4s

"Free health care
is coming to Seattle!
For four days next week… "

we'll have COMMUNISM!
or is it SOCIALISM?! NO
one KNOWS! except
if it don't Benefit
the RICH we OB-
VIOUSLY can
NOT fucking
AFFORD
it:

'Let 'em
fucking
Die!'*

haven't the fawking
Poors ever Heard of
"Go Fund ME!"? it's
the very Essence of
Bootstrapping and
they damn well
better Learn
the how-tos

*Actual fucking gop
'Healthcare' Plan

@11: Yeah, it's hard to imagine anyone pleading guilty to an involuntary manslaughter (?) charge. Nevertheless, Baldwin is non-stop-cringe (agree with Nathalie) and now apparently he hopes to finish the production of Rust in Wyoming.

Imagine how awkward a cinema photographer Oscar nomination would be for that production.

@3 I am hoping you're being sarcastic

https://www.statista.com/statistics/195325/murder-victims-in-the-us-by-weapon-used/

@13: they're not.

hey, @3 "4": ITS THE GUNS. obviously, they don't pull their own triggers, fucking duh, but their presence and convenience sure help influence angry motherfuckers to make the wrong choice.

Nathalie's dismissive take on the "speculative" nature of the mifepristone decision sums up my attitude pretty accurately. The entire reason this SC exists in it's current ideological iteration is to force women to give birth against their will. To think they'll do anything that acts to undermine that agenda is naive to the point of lunacy. I can only hope a robust and well engineered interstate underground distribution network for the drug is quickly created, and widely accessible to anyone who wants/needs it.

"We are more assaultive and murderous toward one another, not because of available means, but because we choose to be, mores than other NATO societies."

Why the obsession with NATO/Europe? A quick glance at data shows that violence south of the border is quite popular, more so than in the US:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world-by-murder-rate-per-capita/

Regulating guns is not a silver bullet for ending violence. Mass shootings are frequently motivated by mental illness (conspiracy theories), inability to process emotions in a healthy way (ostracization), and/or terrible threat assessment (they rang my doorbell so I shot them). These are human factors that need to be addressed.

But this does not mean that gun regulation has no place in the struggle to end violence. They are the most efficient compact form of causing the most damage to the largest number of human beings. Moreover, they are specifically designed with the intent of maximizing harm while minimizing effort, and these designs are improving over time. If someone enters a school or a church intent on slaughter, they will be far more "successful" with an automatic weapon than with a knife.

Regulating guns is not a final solution, but it does reduce harm.

Yaay to thrice elected Governor Jay Inslee for signing into law for boaters to keep a 1,000 foot distance from Southern resident orcas, and banning assault weapons!

Griz doesn't need no steekin' badge--and has another reason to raise a glass for never establishing a Twitter account. For celebrities who proudly wear twitter badges--Stephen King included---they can wear and enjoy 'em.

@15 Max Solomon and @16 Garb Garblar, re @3 and his fetid lil 'shroom, @10: What can you expect from a couple of lonely, bored, and angrily trolling incel MAGAts?

@10 and @21: Why do either of you bother to read The Stranger?

Hungus
the troll
sat on a
mole

I’m of two minds when it comes to the ultimate punishment. The stronger one thinks, “No. Absolutely not. A civilized people don’t kill people for retribution.” Logical. Sensible. The other side thinks that if anything ever happened to someone near and dear to me, I’d want to see that person torn apart live by hungry jackals. That is, of course, if there is no doubt about guilt.

But that’s why we have a justice system so that cooler heads can decide on the correct form of punishment. Still, it irks a bit to think of, say, Manson and his lethal tribe costing the California taxpayer about $45-60K each per year – more when a couple of them became terminally ill and required cancer treatments. It would have been nice if Susan Atkins could have summoned up a little bit of that kind of humanity before she started ruthlessly stabbing a pregnant Sharon Tate and others. Or might Richard Speck have shown the same empathy towards those eight nurses that he received in prison as the State of Illinois paid for his gender transitioning drugs and counseling. Yeah, it’s hard not to be pissed about it, but really, why become criminal, too? It's just wrong. We’re above that. (Frankly, if I had to spend a year in prison, forget twenty or more years? Shoot me now.)

The pandemic was a huge drag in many ways – notwithstanding those who received Covid benefits and started enjoying a standard of living they’d never known. But one benefit was that parts of our oceans and waterways were returning to normal. Marine mammals and fish were returning to places they’d abandoned years ago. Now that the emergency is over…Daddy, I want to touch the orca!...or let’s go swimming with dolphins! And don’t forget one of my favorites…cruise ships (i.e., floating cesspools). Now that that shit has cranked back up, whales are disappearing again. It’s such a stupid question because I know a lot of money and jobs are involved, but how could people be so numb-skulled as to support that industry? It’s the same people, I should think, who bitch about it costing $120 to fill up, lost somewhere in a time warp where if you have trash or a lit cigarette, you can just toss it out the car window.

You’ll be eating your words about how cold it is in April in a few weeks. Savor this time. Besides, I was always told that a cold spring is what made the apples so good.

I can imagine a cold Russian life so hard that it robs you of feeling, but I suspect not all les Misérables turn to murder. That Russian monster is beyond prison. She needs a few weeks at Uncle Bauhaus’s Magical Electric Spa. We’ll find her tiny heart. I guarantee it! Come watch the sparks!

It’s no longer news that even a wack-o eight-year-old can buy an assault rifle in certain vast areas of the country. My dick can buy an assault weapon there.

Enjoy “Succession.” It’s ending when it should. Family squabbling and backstabbing. Potty-mouthed. Ruthless. Fun to watch but vulnerable to staleness. As Frank Bruni mentioned in a recent editorial – don’t forget that it’s kinda based on the Murdochs and that’s the kind of people, to a great extent, who are running American business (and government) now. Aux armes, citoyens!

Brilliant weekend, all.

@32: It was Hungus, whose transgression was to satirize kristofarian's poetic style. But isn't imitation the greatest form of flattery? Take a bow, kristo.

I'd love for someone to make fun of my babblings.

@34...
Eh... not worth the effort. The kwipie doll kinda sucked last time.

What gets me is that people do not realize that these things (Medicare, Social Security, taxes, et alia...) are an investment in our society. If you don't give a shit about that, well that's an issue right there. Maybe find an island somewhere else.

@25, @27, and @30 Garb Garblar and @28 kristofarian: +4 for the WIN!!! WOW. The lil 'shroom went off like a semiautomatic half cocked, shot himself in the bootie, and it blew up in his face. LOL This goes officially down as a SLOG classic. One helluva lively Friday afternoon.

@32:...said the pathetic trolling incel loser and Okie howler monkey, crying as usual because his lil 'shroom got hit in the Bazinga. AGAIN. Don't gloat about changing your screen names more often than most people change their underwear. We all know you're the same idiotic bunch of brainless MAGAts.

@34 shoobop: @10, @24, & @26, @32, and @34 are lonely and bored when not senselessly out howling at the moon. For them it's living on SLOG 24/7, with a glut of FOX TeeVee washed down with cheap beer and Twinkies.

Happy Birthday, Jack Nicholson!

@35: I've only taken issue with some levies, capital gains, and some "sin" taxes, never medicare or social security.

@33: 45 to 50K or even a million a year is peanuts in government spending. Keeping evil murderers behind bars for their entire lives is one of society's most noble and required endeavors.

@37: "For them it's living on SLOG 24/7" - As we all look forward to your daily FTW awards and cringing cartoon babble.

It's Vladimir Lenin's birthday too, so @36 should enjoy feeling moist all day long.

"What gets me is
that people do not realize that
these things (Medicare, Social Security,
taxes, et alia...) are an investment in our society."
-@drewl2

what gets me
is They've been
Sold a bill of 'goods'
& are selling it here that
says it's More Important to
allow unfettered Capitalism to
run Ruffshod over the Citizenry
than for the Citizenry as a Whole
to Live Long & Prosper. the American

Dream is being rapidly Replaced by
"Republican" Utopia -- a Disappeared
Middle Class Hundreds of Thousands living
rough on our Streets Sackler famblies profiteering
off Addictions of Dispair and a Reich wing Hellbent
on reducing the Womenfolk to chattle slaves lacking
bodily Autonomy & totally Beholden to the Patriarchy.

it looks to me like
the karl la Funguses're
here Solely to Take Down
tS Seattle's leftist online rag.

is it a Conspiracy?

fuck
Yes.

and it ain't
just Local.

"I'd love
for someone to
make fun of my babblings."

ridi-
cule's
just not
Enough?

gotta say
however Dewey
your posts are Improving

whilst mine just
Continue to
head down
hill.

"Someone snatched $22 million
(in Canadian dollars) worth
of gold from Toronto's
Pearson International
Airport"

3,600 lbs of Gold's
about $79M US.

not that I
keep that Much
around the Hovel but
I'm Lovin' the exchange rate!

nyt:
Many States
Are Trying to Restrict
Gender Treatments for Adults, Too

Missouri has imposed sweeping rules to limit health care for trans adults. Other states have banned Medicaid coverage or introduced bills outlawing care for young adults.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/22/health/transgender-adults-treatment-bans.html

yep,
it's ALL
about Kontrol.

and it's only
gonna get
WORSE.*

Vote NO
on gop

whilst you CAN.

*first, they came
for you and I Wasn't
you so no Worries then
they came for Me & by then

it was too
Fucking Late.

@43: That is cruel. And who better than Caitlyn Jenner to speak out against it, given her ubiquitous appearances on the Fox News Channel.

Auntie G. you have to remember that trolls are a vital necessity to the slog; without them what would you have to bitch about? You may well be having a fit but the trolls add a necessary bit of levity that we all enjoy. Without the trolls the slog would be like those Socialist newsletter that would be passed out at factory gates; you know the kind with an assortment of articles all with different bylines but read as if written by the same hand.

As for you Kristofarian, it's capital K, small a, small r, small l, capital L, small a, Capital F, small u, small n, small g, small u, small s, small e, small s, apostrophe, small r, small e. I enjoy your babbling.

it's cruel?
well DUH
it's All ABOUT
the fucking Cruelty.

le dumbpfster gets
Elected somehow or other
they don't Need no Stinkin' Democracy

we're THIS
FUCKING
CLOSE

but You
don't gotta
Buy it. it ain't
About you. right?

from @43:
"Missouri this month became the first state in the country to severely restrict gender treatments for people of all ages, following a series of quieter moves across the country that have been chipping away at transgender adults’ access to medical care.

Last year, Florida joined six other states in banning Medicaid from covering some form of gender care for transgender people of all ages.

These bans affect an estimated 38,000 beneficiaries of the public insurance program, according to the Williams Institute, a research center at U.C.L.A.’s law school.

And in at least five states, Republican legislators have proposed bills that would abolish gender care for minors as well as young adults. Some are attempting to ban it for anyone under 21, and others for those under 26.

Missouri’s sweeping new policy took a different approach. Citing consumer protection laws meant to regulate fraud, the state attorney general, Andrew Bailey, issued an emergency rule prohibiting doctors from providing gender treatments to patients — of any age — unless they adhere to a slew of significant restrictions, including 18 months of psychological assessment.

The rule also said that patients should not receive gender treatments until any mental health issues are 'resolved.'"

--by Azeen Ghorayshi
April 22, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/22/health/transgender-adults-treatment-bans.html

'the Rule
also said that
patients should Not
receive gender treatments until
any mental health issues are 'resolved.'"

and if "Republicans" know
Anything at all about
"resolving" Gender
Issues then by
Gawd they've
their Ways to
Get To the
Bottom of
Things

and they're
just getting
Warmed up.

their
Cruelty's
Coming it's
ok to Disbeleive it

@39 Rainy... Sorry for the confusion.
I wasn't specifically referring to you in the 2nd paragraph @35.

Also @44, the answer is ANYONE else. She has been a piece of shit for the last 30 years.
And I use to have the Wheaties box from '76.
I mean, good for her, but there certainly are better voices out there to speak on this issue than that asshole. So she's on F*X. How does that give her any credibility these days?

@48: np, @49: She's credible with the Fox audience, and that's quite a lot. Politics is always a game of addition, and that's political value.

Oh, on Caitlyn's Wikipedia page it says a box of that Wheaties sold on eBay for $400.

@36 shoobop: Sorry. My comment @37 was in reply to your apt response to raindrop @34.
Griz was too busy laughing over the snipping of lil 'shroom from the comment thread.
We've got to nip the MAGAts in the buds before they overpopulate like sewer rats.

@39: And you keep asking for it so well, raindrop dear! Enjoy your cheap beer, FOX TeeVee misinformation, and Twinkies. Just try not to go off like an AR-15 half cocked. RepubliKKKan neofascists are hellbent on causing far too many gun related fatalities already. We don't need any more. The U.S. is worse than Nicaragua in drug abuse and gun fatalities. The Cascadia Daily News recently reported (Wednesday, April 19, 2023) that fetanyl and meth overdoses, along with often road rage fueled gun related deaths are now killing more U.S citizens than COVID -19 and its variants over the past three years.

@45 bertha: Seriously? I'm all for a good occasional debate, so long as those who seem to want it so badly don't cry "Witch hunt!" every goddamn time they lose a round. I don't believe trolls are a vital necessity to SLOG or anywhere else where comments are posted online. That's bullshit. My comments aren't bitching but rather my amazement as to how far off those who worship The Orange Turd usually are, willfully spreading propagandic misinformation like manure. These same people could hypothetically fertilize the entire continent of Africa with their hate speech alone.
As for being "the usual gang of idiots", I'm pretty sure that the late Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, founders of MAD Magazine (c. 1952-2019) would have been proud to feature them in The 20 Dumbest Things of the Year---especially raindrop's prodigies, lil 'shroom and his lapdog, Bazinga. Did you notice how quiet they got, suddenly?

@51: Why are you apologizing for an error you didn't make? You used a colon after shoobop, thereby not included in the names that follow.

@19 STII: Unholy fucking shit! I hope Vladimir Putin's 2nd favorite bootlicker, Moscow Mitch McKKKonnell, dies before ever taking over the White House!

@50 Fair point.

@52: I was clearly addressing shoobop @36, raindrop dear. Take a deep breath, slowly exhale, take a chill, and return to your regular programing. Are you lonely or just bored?

I think you're wrong about the trolls, Auntie G. and I say that with all due respect. If the Slog was all about everyone agreeing saying "yeah, right on, and so forth" it would indeed be quite dull and there would be less readership, something the Stranger can't afford to lose. As far as the sloggers go, including the trolls, just about all of the regulars seem to have the time to keep checking in to see who responds and how to answer.

@56 : Seriously, bertha. I think you underestimate the trolls on SLOG.

Trolls include those who consistently let loose with their indecent tirades, insulting fellow comments and making up childish stories about them. They would think this comment is about them and retaliate with continued vulgarity.

Bauhaus, I always appreciate your take on the news. Thank you for posting.

I find it Unsurprising
that a woman with a reputed
Four teats might be pursued by
a dairy farmer with his ignoble ap-
paratus & that a Photo of such might
arrive somehow @Chas' desk & then @tS

when Reich wing zealots
win the next Elections they'll
be treating our womenfolk as
chattel farming the Citizenry har-
vesting the offspring. "Republican"
fucking Utopia hereto we Commeth.

plus Mudede's No
longer on ze Schlog.

@60
plus 1!

@61
Sadly.

@33 Bauhaus I: I second Beth @60. I, too, appreciate and enjoy your commentary.

@58: Ah. Like the departed lil 'shroom, perhaps? ;)

@59 skidmark, and @61 kristofarian: That is disgusting! Additionally, I have never understood why Charles Mudede, a native of Zimbabwe, has been such a rabid fan of extremely cold, inclement weather conditions here in the PNW.

@62 kristofarian: Please wake me up when the world stops being so batshit crazy.