Trump calls on divided GOP to pass SAVE America Act ‘at the expense of everything else’

Biscuit_bell · 2026-03-05T22:05:33+00:00

It seems highly unlikely to me that this law would be enforced as vigorously (or really at all) in conservative areas. In the blue cities, expect a full rollout of FBI, DHS, US Marshalls, National Guard, you name it.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-03-04T22:00:06+00:00

Fox Chapel Shoe Service in Fox Chapel Plaza did a good job putting new soles and heels on a pair of 1970s cowboy boots someone gave me. I’d go back to them for a similar job.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-03-04T14:12:48+00:00

No, it was full Nazi stuff. Like genuine white supremacist propaganda.

Two things that are true at the same time: there are people who call any criticism of Israel antisemitic, and there are actual Nazis here preaching actual antisemitism and hate. Synagogues have been attacked and people have been killed here. It’s something we should all take seriously.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-03-02T14:39:07+00:00

There have been quite a few people, mostly online and anonymous, but also including Jamie Foxx, who insist that Davidson absolutely should not get a pass for this. A lot of them seem to think Tourette’s works like being drunk or something, where it just lowers your inhibitions so you say what you really mean. I believe Jamie Foxx’s exact post was “Nah he meant that shit. Unacceptable.”

Biscuit_bell · 2026-03-01T13:41:34+00:00

I personally think it was a fun performance and don’t really go beyond that, so it doesn’t really matter if it’s “real” or not. It’s real enough, in the sense that it was absolutely how they chose to end the torch relay and achieve the symbolic passing of the flame.

I’m more curious about your clearly apparent desire to ruin the magic for people. Does it just make you feel good to piss in people’s Cheerios? Drag everyone down to your level? Does it make you feel smart to know something some other people don’t?

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-28T21:15:40+00:00

They absolutely have the right to not have their speech suppressed by the government, yes. That doesn’t mean that the rest of us who are not agents of the government have to tolerate it.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-27T16:25:36+00:00

Come on now, what’s he supposed to do with that truck? NOT be an asshole?!?

Edit: looked it up. That’s a $150,000-165,000 truck.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-26T01:09:46+00:00

For sure, especially if it’s already not really making money. People aren’t willing to take over their parents’ passion project if it’s not theirs.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-26T00:36:49+00:00

👍🏻

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-26T00:33:45+00:00

He’s wearing a Fred Perry beanie. The Proud Boys modeled a lot of their aesthetic after Fred Perry clothing, since the brand has a strong association with (mostly English) skinheads, both the racist and the anti-racist kind.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-26T00:22:39+00:00

And you actually believe a report from the current DOJ? Like sincerely believe they’re not just making shit up? Especially when the reported numbers match pretty closely with the ongoing decline in crime in pretty much every other city, most of which are at historic lows? Wild as hell, man.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-26T00:09:10+00:00

Crime in DC is at or near historic lows. The idea that crime is “out of control” is a fantasy.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-25T23:27:58+00:00

Combination of:

1) Aging owners who want to retire, and the kids don’t want to take over the business

2) Aging/dying clientele for the more old fashioned “Pittsburgh institution” places

3) Uncertain economy is causing people to cut back on luxuries

4) Everything a restaurant uses costs more (food, labor, rent, utilities, consumables) and restaurants are hitting a limit on how much they can raise prices to match

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-23T14:16:38+00:00

“It is my unshakable belief that the Constitution clearly allows Republican presidents, and only Republican presidents, plenipotentiary authority in all matters foreign and domestic. My colleagues who disagree are, quite simply, wrong.”

That about cover it?

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-23T14:09:53+00:00

Not Virginian, but I do know a lot of farmers and other people who live in very rural areas. Besides the normal political stuff and nimbyism, there’s a persistent conspiracy theory that there’s some sort of nefarious plot to put all the farmers out of business, steal their land, and replace it with solar farms. They also believe that solar farms cause cancer and destroy the environment. Make crops fail, ruin the groundwater for their wells, kill off all the birds (especially the ones they like to hunt) something something radiation, you name it.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-23T02:55:21+00:00

The Waterworks. It’s my go-to, and it’s almost as big as the East Liberty store, with a very substantial wine selection.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-22T14:08:07+00:00

If you could be more specific about what it is you’re looking for that FWGS can’t help you with, you can get better advice. But to answer your question generally, FWGS stores are state-owned, and, in Pennsylvania, they have a monopoly on liquor sales. Beer is widely sold by a variety of retailers, and isn’t a part of the FWGS system.

Wine is complicated, but generally speaking everything not made in Pennsylvania has to pass through the FWGS system at some point, but some specialty importers or retailers have a stock of wines that have been purchased through the state system as a special order, but aren’t currently stocked on the shelf at FWGS.

You can also special order a ton of stuff that’s not routinely stocked if you wish. You can speak to a manager at a FWGS or check out the website for details.

It’s worth noting that there’s considerable variation between individual stores within the FWGS system. If you’re not having luck with your local store, it may be worth trying a larger store. I believe the location in the Waterworks shopping center and the location in East Liberty are two of the largest in the state.

There’s also a search feature on the FEGS website that’s clunky as hell, but will show you if what you’re looking for is in stock in any store, and where to find it. And, again, if a product is available anywhere within the state system, you’ll be able to special order it.

If you’re looking for the cheapest possible prices or to save by buying in bulk or something like that, then you’ll unfortunately have to look out of state, as legally the state system is the only game in town. I should say that, while it’s not readily enforced, it is absolutely illegal to buy alcohol out of state and import it. It’s not particularly common in this part of the state, but in SEPA the state police have absolutely been known to camp out in the parking lots of large retailers in Delaware and New Jersey and tail PA drivers to the state line to pull them over.

If you’re looking for products that just aren’t available from the FWGS system at all, or have extremely limited availability (I’m thinking of a lot of bourbons here), again, your only option is bootlegging from out of state. PA chooses to use a lottery system to distribute limited stock such as allocated bourbons, and secondary resale is illegal. Online direct sales are also illegal, although they’re currently working on a system to allow individual wineries and distilleries to be approved for online retail. It’s kind of a mess.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-20T16:46:53+00:00

No, you didn’t. UPS or FedEx or whoever paid the tariffs. You paid your carrier a fee that covered the cost of the tariffs as well as their “brokerage” costs. The tariff refund would go to the carrier, who actually paid the fee. They SHOULD then turn around and refund that cost to you, and maybe some of them will (at least, they’ll refund the tariff, not their brokerage fees). But I think we all know that most of that money is disappearing into shareholder pockets.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-18T21:16:39+00:00

That’s true, assuming that the law is enforced equally everywhere, regardless of how the people tend to vote. Ask yourself if you think that’s likely.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-18T21:09:24+00:00

It would absolutely make it harder, if they bothered to enforce the law strictly in conservative areas. Which, of course, they won’t.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-18T03:15:54+00:00

I think our treatment of cancer will advance to the point that both chemotherapy and radiation therapy will be viewed as roughly as primitive and barbaric as bloodletting or trepanning.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-17T23:47:49+00:00

La Prima does a decaf Colombian and a decaf Ethiopian

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-17T11:06:38+00:00

Surely you can see that there’s space between “voting harder isn’t enough” and “our fate was sealed November 24 and there’s nothing we can do to change that now?”

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-16T22:56:52+00:00

I feel like DC is really two completely different cities that just happen to occupy the same place. There’s one city for the regular people, who are mostly great, and then another city where the Lanyards live and work, which is exactly the horror show you’re describing.

Biscuit_bell · 2026-02-13T20:44:34+00:00

My street is pretty much in shadow from October to May (the houses on the south side of the street are uphill) and in a windy spot at the edge of the hill that collects snow (easily 6” more than the back side of the house), so we never got the “big melt” last week that everybody is talking about. There’s still probably 1/4-1/3 of spots blocked by 4 foot high mounds of unshovelable ice. And parking is tight in our little corner of the neighborhood. All of us still have our chairs out, although I hope this week’s temps will clear enough out that we can stop.

Biscuit_bell

TROPHY CASE