Norm(ie) DePlume

It’s okay to not weigh in deeply right away on complex topics where you’re lacking more info.

Trump, on election night 2024: "I’m not going to start a war, I’m going to stop wars."

YouTube video by Parks and Recreation Parks and Recreation | Gryzzl Goes Too Far (Episode Highlight)

Any port in a storm, right?

YouTube video by Late Night with Seth Meyers Trump Shocks World with Plan to "Take Over" and "Own" Gaza, Undercuts "America First": A Closer Look

Last year Seth Meyers made a supercut of Trump promising that he wouldn't start neverending wars in the name of "nation building." Can we make republicans watch it, Clockwork Orange style, until they realize they've been conned?

BREAKING: Another person has died in ICE custody, per required notification to Congress. The deceased had a history of severe medical complications, was detained for over a year, and didn’t receive necessary care.

When I was a teen my mom taught me to make rice in the microwave and then when I moved out I set my rice on fire because my lone microwave safe dish was too small (the water boiled over, and then the little bit that was left boiled away, and then the rice burned into a charred smoking lump)

I made my wife a birthday cake and learned my dog loves frosting. .

Vanilla soup?

Of course! There is rarely a proper disaster when cooking for yourself.

Oooof.

Burned rice is a special kind of stink. 😳

The meringue's sweetness actually enhanced the tartness, and not in a fun Sourpatch Warheads way.

I left sugar out of a lemon pie once. It was not great. 😂

a man wearing a chef 's hat is standing over a pile of dough . Alt: Muppet Swedish Chef is throwing a lot of flour on top of the a huge pile of dough.

I want to care about the world, but I am too exhausted for real news.
Please soothe my melting brain with tales of your worst cooking or baking disasters. Bonus points for photos of the wreckage.

Also, there's a significant "let's punish Minnesota because Tim Walz called us weird in 2024" energy in all this, too.

I don't think people have really grappled with what the mass decline of violent crime in the US has meant for the economic ecosystem of superheroes, which is rapidly approaching a demographic cliff, as street-level crimefighting becomes a thing of the past, and avenues for promotion dry up.

This is the worst case scenario occurring at almost all turns.

- Tased and struck over misunderstanding
- Stays in jail for a year because of slow wheel of justice and ICE fears
- PD screws up in releasing him
- Border Patrol release catastrophically screwed up
- PD blows off missing persons report

If I believed they were acting in good faith, I would say they're going to examine the vetting process for new vendors, to make sure grifters aren't scamming folks on taxpayers' dime.

But I'd lay even odds that this is just for show, trying to make us think that they care about fraud.

The whole anti-fraud business is a boondoggle to be sure, but at least it's not 100% depravity.

I read a comment stating that that the moratorium was on new suppliers/vendors of DME, not individuals receiving it. That has to be what they're doing, right? Right?

A tubby Cattle Dog, curled up on the sofa. Beneath his chest you can see the tiniest hint of a yellow legal pad's edge, and a red pen pinned under his elbow.

After sitting up to yell at the mail carrier for a moment Sam has re-situated, doubling down on his protest against my attempts at productivity.

A tubby Cattle Dog lounging on a sofa, with the upper half of his body on top of a legal pad full of work notes.

Sam is often a dirty dirty seat stealer, but this time he's disabled access to my notes so I shan't be too annoyed. Instead I will sit on the floor and drink another cup of coffee before attempting further work.

Too soon, dude. Too soon.

(Also, John apparently didn't love that song much. I'm sure he'd gladly renounce it, but Chapman prematurely removed that option.)

The comments here are the kind of tangential diversion that my brain was craving.

YouTube video by NBC Jeremy Bearimy: How Time Works in the Afterlife - The Good Place (Episode Highlight)

The special day could be our mortal version of the Jeremy Bearimy dot.

YouTube video by The Beatles - Topic Eight Days A Week (Remastered 2009)

It would really change how that Beatles song hits, eh?

[If I were into producing AI Slop, I would reply with a "Six Million Dollar Priest" gif here, accompanied by the Bionic Man sound effect.]

Clergy friends,
This thread is chock full of juicy ideas, if you're considering some graft or malfeasance in the workplace.

There's so much delicious heresy that could be spread that actually helps people. Why can't pastors like...do that? Say the wildest stuff on the pulpit...for good. SHAKE THE TABLES!

No more restoration... Let's be bad to bad people and mean it