brooksmoses | Network

Still no joy on my hunt for a functional StudioWorks Wiseguy season 1 DVD set (if disc 3 works at all, 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell' is very glitchy and 'No One Gets Out of Here Alive' refuses to play altogether).

(I'd think about asking Wahl if he has transcripts of his commentaries, but it looks like he doesn't have a website outside of Facebook and the idea of messaging him on Facebook weirds me out.)

I finished watching season 1 of NCIS: Hawai'i this weekend - I enjoyed it overall and I like that one of the season's significant subplots was Lucy and Kate's romance!

I also finally got around to making subtitles for a bunch of the fanvids I finished this year (I'd been kinda putting them off).

crooksandliars_feed

Posted by John Amato

https://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2026/04/bessent-consumers-must-be-lying

Wed, 04/15/2026

https://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2026/04/bessent-consumers-must-be-lying

crooksandliars_feed

Posted by John Amato

https://crooksandliars.com/2026/04/scott-bessent-claims-know-whats-hearts

Scott Bessent told The National Desk's Ahtra El Nashar that he believes consumer sentiment is high, disputing what every major poll and survey tells us because he knows what's in the heart of hearts in consumers and believes they love Trump's economy.

"Why aren't we seeing this sentiment?" El Nashar asked. "Why aren't people feeling better?"

BESSENT: Well, when I was in the investment business, there are consumer surveys, but I used to look at what are the people really doing?

So at Treasury, we have loads of CEOs come through, whether they're in retail, credit card, the banks, and the consumer, while they may be sounding grim, is actually quite buoyant.

So we are seeing spending has been very solid across most categories.

EL NASHAR: So they might not feel good, but-

BESSENT: Well, look, in their heart of hearts, they feel good. I'm not sure what they're telling the survey people.

Wait, what? Consumers are buoyant? WTF?

They are pissed off and not fucking "buoyant." Not by a long shot.

https://crooksandliars.com/2026/04/scott-bessent-claims-know-whats-hearts

crooksandliars_feed

Posted by Chris capper Liebenthal

https://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2026/04/duffy-tries-spin-down-spiking-jet

crooksandliars_feed

Posted by Chris capper Liebenthal

https://crooksandliars.com/2026/04/duffy-falsely-claims-high-jet-fuel-costs

Trans Secretary Sean Duffy appeared on Fox to put the Orange syndicate's spin on the effect that spike jet fuel costs are having on air travel. Duffy, of course, lied through his teeth and pretended that it was all just a little momentary turbulence:

FOX HOST: So let's start here. The strait's closed, strait's open, strait is closed again.

Now, there's some bad news from Delta Airlines. There's this Bloomberg story that says the carrier's fuel prices have doubled in the past month. The quote is, "We have to find ways to get that cost passed through to consumers," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said. "It won't happen overnight."

Secretary Duffy, that's not good.

SEAN DUFFY: Well, so first off, a lot of the carriers are eating the cost increase of jet fuel right now. Good side is we have a great supply chains for jet fuel into the US. That's not always the story in the rest of the world because of Donald Trump's energy dominance initiatives that he started over a year ago.

But yes, listen, we're having a small spike in jet fuel. But, if you look in the out years, we think once this conflict is over, we're going to see jet fuel go lower than it was before the Iran conflict.

So yes, a small disruption, hopefully for a short period of time, but in the long run, it becomes cheaper for Americans to travel because of decreased jet fuel prices.
read more
https://crooksandliars.com/2026/04/duffy-falsely-claims-high-jet-fuel-costs

snopes_feed

Posted by Laerke Christensen

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/photo-mars-sunset/

A NASA spokesperson called the image a "fan-made" work.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/photo-mars-sunset/

unicornduke

Hey all, if you'd like to join the crafting hangout, it is tonight from 6-8pm ET!

Video encouraged but not required!

Topic: Crafting Hangout

Time: Mondays 6:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

Link

Meeting ID: 973 2674 2763

mikethemadbiologist_feed

Posted by mikethemadbiologist

https://mikethemadbiologist.com/2026/04/20/when-the-supreme-court-legislates/

https://mikethemadbiologist.com/?p=96548

In case you missed it, last week the NY Times got its hands on internal Supreme Court documents related to the first use in 2016 of the shadow docket to announce court orders without explanation. This, for me, was the striking part (boldface mine):

Justice Breyer responded later that day to the chief’s memo but did not address all its points. Such stays were unusual, he wrote, stating his objections mildly.

He skipped over the question of whether the plan was lawful, asking only: Why the rush? The circuit court had already set a date to hear the case in June. The first deadline for power plants to reduce their emissions was six years away; full compliance was not required until 2030. That was plenty of time for the case to play out through the legal system.

The chief wrote right back the next day sounding irritated and blunt.

Speed was vital, he said, because environmental regulation was going to be very expensive for states and the power industry. The sums involved could approach $480 billion, he asserted, and industry groups would have to start preparations immediately.

Let’s leave aside the reality of what happened: the power plant regulations were so tepid that the companies exceeded the standards without any regulation, other than to say that conservative Supreme Court judges suck at policy analysis.

What I cannot get past is the concern over the amount of $480 billion as an excuse to employ the major questions doctrine. If we take Roberts’ statement at face value and in good faith, it seems clear that an amount of $4.80 would not be an issue. So somewhere between $4.80 and $480 billion, the cost is too much. Is it $48 billion? $4.8 billion? $967 million?

How does one draw the line? How does a president know where that line is? And how should Congress write legislation as to not run afoul of a conservative Supreme Court?

It is just bullshit all the way down. Pack the Court, and when needs be, strip it of jurisdiction.

https://mikethemadbiologist.com/2026/04/20/when-the-supreme-court-legislates/

https://mikethemadbiologist.com/?p=96548

atrios_feed

https://www.eschatonblog.com/2026/04/seems-bad.html

All above my pay grade, but...

When the war in Iran started on Feb. 28, Asia expected to see serious, gradual impacts from losing access to a huge portion of the world’s oil and gas. But the conflict’s economic and social impacts have hit the region harder and faster than officials and experts expected.
Many countries across the Asia-Pacific are experiencing sudden jolts of disruption that they are struggling to manage, with some comparing the crisis’s breakdowns and scope to the Covid pandemic.
Even if there is a peace deal soon, the future of this industrious region that has driven global economic growth for decades will likely include months of canceled flights, surging food prices, factory pauses, delayed shipments and empty shelves for products long considered quick and easy to buy worldwide: plastic bags, instant noodles, vaccines, syringes, lipstick, microchips and sportswear.

My possibly incorrect mental model of all of these things is that the system is incredibly resilient right up until it isn't.

There's extra stuff in the warehouse until suddenly it's all gone.

https://www.eschatonblog.com/2026/04/seems-bad.html

crooksandliars_feed

Posted by Susie Madrak

https://crooksandliars.com/2026/04/eight-children-gunned-down-their-own

A man in Shreveport, Louisiana killed eight children Sunday in a shooting that authorities described as a domestic violence incident. He was later killed by police after he fled in a carjacked vehicle, officials said.

We don't normally give this particular kind of mass shooting more than a passing thought (as soon as we hear the word "domestic", we tend to shrug and turn away), but maybe it's time we do.

The suspect's wife and a woman identified as his girlfriend were also shot and seriously injured in the violence, which occurred at two homes in the early morning, police said.

Their mothers identified the children as Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5, the office said.

“I just don’t know what to say. My heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith told reporters. “I just cannot begin to imagine how such an event can occur.”

Easy access to guns, that's how.

Shamar Elkins was identified by police as the shooter and sole suspect. Seven of the eight children who were killed were his, police spokesperson Christopher Bordelon said. One of the children was a cousin, according to the coroner's office.

https://crooksandliars.com/2026/04/eight-children-gunned-down-their-own

the_mary_sue_feed

Posted by Gisselle Hernandez

https://www.themarysue.com/boyfriend-groomsman-other-woman/

https://www.themarysue.com/?p=921708

woman shares relationship experience (l) groomsmen with groom (r)

Weddings are full of traditions: something old, something new, and apparently, someone else’s boyfriend having the time of his life with a bridesmaid.

One wedding guest watched her own boyfriend, freshly appointed groomsman, stroll down the aisle hand-in-hand and vibing with another woman like it was their soft launch. Her reaction? Silent shock, wide eyes, and a very clear “what is happening” moment caught on camera.

https://www.themarysue.com/boyfriend-groomsman-other-woman/

https://www.themarysue.com/?p=921708

chickenfeet

https://operaramblings.blog/2026/04/20/room-of-keys/

arstechnica_feed

Posted by Scharon Harding

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/lawsuits-licensing-and-royalties-are-complicating-4k-video-support-in-gadgets/

You don’t notice good video compression—until it's not there.

For years, people have streamed high-resolution video without thinking about the tech behind it. But when companies clash over which hardware, software, and services can use modern codecs like HEVC/H.265, the idea that it all "just works" quickly falls apart.

For some Dell and HP customers, that illusion has already been shattered. When the companies disabled HEVC support built into the CPUs of select PCs, it raised uncomfortable questions: Why remove a capability that's already a part of third-party hardware? What do OEMs and chipmakers pay to support HEVC—and are HEVC patent holders effectively double-dipping on licensing fees and royalties?

Read full article

Comments

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/lawsuits-licensing-and-royalties-are-complicating-4k-video-support-in-gadgets/

dinosaur_comics_feed

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4461


archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - search - about

this comic inspired by my dog's freeze-dried cheese treats that are just normal cheese that's been freeze-dried and honestly pretty great if you love the flavour of cheese but have always craved an added freeze-dried CRUNCH

← previous

April 20th, 2026

April 20th, 2026: EXCITING UPDATE to YESTERDAY'S COMIC: it may not be a Saved By The Bell RTS, but we do have a Gilmore Girls tactical turn-based strategy game! Thank you Dr. Octorocket for bringing this to my attention!!

– Ryan

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4461

princessofgeeks

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: excited

cloversome posting in

dw_community_promo

hello!

just wanted to promote my new DW comm

queerbookclub!

the community is a no pressure book club dedicated to fiction books of all genres that are queer in some way! each month we take suggestions on what the next month's book should be and we vote on it. if you're not interested in the book for the month, that's perfectly fine! you are free to come and go as you please. :)

we plan to start in may and currently book nominations for may are open until april 26th.

hope to see you there!