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Forum: Smoky Backroom

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  • Maren Morris Details ‘-–--- Up’ First Relationship With a Woman: ‘Borderline Extortion’

    04/17/2026 7:55:22 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 20 replies
    New York Post ^ | April 17, 2026 | April 17, 2026
    Maren Morris took to social media to label her first relationship with a woman as “f–ked up.” The songstress opened up to fans about her “bisexual journey” in a TikTok on Wednesday, which she described as “pretty short.” SNIP “I’m not kidding, within like, three weeks of this completely falling apart, it was lies, threats to my reputation and borderline extortion,” the Grammy winner recalled. “It was pretty -–--- up. And for that to be my first experience, it was just so depressing,” the songstress lamented, concluding that she’s “just really cool being alone” after the fling. Morris shared that...
  • Massive Fire Breaks Out At BYD Factory In China's Shenzhen: Video

    04/15/2026 6:33:37 PM PDT · by algore · 39 replies
    Massive Fire Breaks Out At BYD Factory In China's Shenzhen: Video Videos of the massive fire in BYD's factory in Shenzhen have been circulating on social media, showing clouds of smoke rising from the parking facility. A massive fire broke out at a multi-level parking garage within BYD's manufacturing complex in Shenzhen's Pingshan district. The fire engulfed the building, sending thick pillars of black smoke into the sky and prompting a large scale emergency response. The blaze in the "three-dimensional" parking structure located in the Ma Luan subdistrict was contained by local fire and rescue teams, with no casualties reported...
  • Woke Boston mayor hands out $500 haircut and MASSAGE vouchers to migrants despite city's budget plunging $50m in red

    04/15/2026 3:35:01 PM PDT · by algore · 28 replies
    Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is handing out $500 vouchers to migrants so they can enjoy haircuts, massages and other self-care benefits, despite the city's budget plunging nearly $50 million short. Applicants who are 'low-income, isolated queer and trans migrants, asylum seekers and refugees' are prioritized for the 'wellness allowance.' The initiative, called 'Boston Matters', was created by OUTnewcomers, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ+ migrants in Boston alongside the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Advancement, Mass Daily News reported. Applicants get $250 to $500 toward 'non-clinical care' completely funded by the city agency, which is run by the Democrat's administration. They...
  • Finland's president on why he believes Canada could — eventually — be part of the EU

    04/15/2026 9:00:11 AM PDT · by algore · 36 replies
    Finnish President Alexander Stubb says he exchanges messages with Prime Minister Mark Carney almost every day. Stubb is in Ottawa for his first official bilateral meetings with Canada's prime minister. The pair are working to develop trade and defence ties, according to Carney's office. "With shared interests, values and a commitment to international security, I look forward to hosting President Stubb to deepen our partnership to create stability, security and prosperity for both our peoples," Carney wrote in a statement. "With shared interests, values and a commitment to international security, I look forward to hosting President Stubb to deepen our...
  • China defies Trump: Chinese tanker travels through Strait of Hormuz after Beijing declares US blockade 'dangerous and irresponsible'

    04/14/2026 8:51:12 AM PDT · by algore · 34 replies
    A Chinese tanker under US sanctions passed though the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, defying Washington's naval blockade that began on Monday. After circling the area late on Monday and initially turning back, the 600ft long vessel passed through the waterway on Tuesday. Oil tanker Rich Starry is owned by Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co Ltd. and became a target for US sanctions because it was used to transport Iranian crude. Rich Starry is a medium-range tanker that is carrying about 250,000 barrels of methanol, according to the data. It loaded the cargo at its last port of call, the UAE's...
  • Woke pope versus Maga: Leo’s culture war clashes have only just begun

    04/13/2026 4:49:08 PM PDT · by MinorityRepublican · 98 replies
    The Observer ^ | Wednesday 24 December 2025 | Hannah Roberts
    Hours after Leo XIV became pope in May, Trump confidant and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer posted a brief message on social media. It said: “WOKE MARXIST POPE.” She was not the only member of the American right to immediately cast Leo as a culture war villain. Steve Bannon, a Catholic and former altar boy, called him the “worst pick for Maga Catholics” and described his election as a victory for “the globalists that run the Curia”. You might expect Donald Trump’s Maga base to embrace the first American pope. His administration is stacked with officials who speak proudly of their...
  • Veterans Affairs has lost track of software licenses amid $985M bill

    04/13/2026 3:27:17 PM PDT · by algore · 16 replies
    A federal spending watchdog has found the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) faced "challenges" in understanding the correct number of licenses it should hold for the top five vendors in its $985 million annual software expenditure. In a report [PDF] published last month, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that "while the VA identified its five most widely used software vendors with the highest quantity of licenses installed, it faced challenges in determining whether it was purchasing too many or too few of these software licenses." The GAO said that for fiscal 2025, the VA planned to spend about $985...
  • Nikki Glaser ‘kinda likes it’ when boyfriend Chris Convy hooks up with other women: ‘It’s just what I’m into’

    04/13/2026 10:32:17 AM PDT · by nickcarraway · 53 replies
    New York Post ^ | April 8, 2026 | Alexandra Bellusci
    “In a relationship, I don’t really care if my boyfriend were to hook up,” she shared on Wednesday’s episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “But that is not a two-way street. I’m not someone who likes to hook up when I’m in a relationship. I don’t really care about that. But I don’t care if someone else were to. In fact, I kinda like it.” SNIP “If a guy has a sexual connection with a girl and he was to use protection and just have sex for a night, I literally wouldn’t care if my husband did that,” Glaser...
  • Transgender baby murderer freed from prison 30 years EARLY amid speculation Indiana state officials did not want to pay for cosmetic surgeries killer demand

    04/13/2026 9:04:22 AM PDT · by algore · 27 replies
    A transgender baby killer was released from prison 30 years early after attempting to force authorities to use taxpayer money for gender-affirming surgeries. Jonathan Richardson, who now uses the name Autumn Cordellione, was convicted in 2002 of murdering his 11-month-old stepdaughter by strangulation in a brutal killing. Richardson tried for years to have the state of Indiana pay for his transgender surgeries, including demanding breast implants and a 'penile inversion' operation. In September 2024, a court issued a preliminary injunction requiring the IDOC to provide the surgeries to Richardson, finding that denying the inmate constituted cruel and unusual punishment. While...
  • Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries: When You Attack DEI, ‘You Attack the United States of America’

    04/09/2026 11:09:39 PM PDT · by Olog-hai · 58 replies
    Breitbart ^ | 9 Apr 2026 | Hannah Knudsen
    Democrat House leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) believes attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives is akin to directly attacking the United States of America, making the remarks during a National Action Network speech this week. “And when you attack diversity, equity, and inclusion, you attack the United States of America,” Jeffries proclaimed, defending DEI initiatives prizing ethnicity and sexual orientation over actual skills or merit. Jeffries claimed that Democrats have the “high ground” on the issue. “I’m so thankful that Reverend Sharpton and the National Action Network continues to lean in,” he said, explaining that he also believes the attacks...
  • Portland shoplifter SUES store clerk who beat him up after he fled supermarket with cart full of T-bone steaks

    04/09/2026 1:21:22 PM PDT · by algore · 27 replies
    An entitled Oregon shoplifter has sued a grocery store after a clerk beat him up for stealing a cart full of corn dogs and cookies. Joshua Merkel is asking for $10,000 to cover the medical expenses and mental anguish he claims was inflicted during the foiled heist in southwest Portland. Merkel has sued Albertson's grocery store and cashier Matthew Cooper for allegedly attacking him outside the store, leaving him with a black eye and a shattered jaw. The incident happened two years ago, but Merkel filed a civil lawsuit, seen by The Oregonian, last month in Multnomah County Circuit Court....
  • Crisis in space as Artemis II toilet breaks leaving astronauts with no other options

    04/06/2026 9:55:57 PM PDT · by algore · 79 replies
    The toilet on board the Artemis II spacecraft has reportedly broken down again, leaving the four astronauts on board with no working bathroom on their return to Earth. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will reportedly now have to switch to a diaper-like alternative for the remainder of the trip back to Earth. The space agency later confirmed that the toilet was not working as the Artemis flight reached day six in their ten-day mission. NASA has previously said that in the event the space capsule's toilet stopped working, the astronauts would...
  • Chinese University of Michigan researcher DIES after 'hostile questioning by feds'

    04/06/2026 11:23:38 AM PDT · by algore · 54 replies
    A Chinese researcher at the University of Michigan took his own life after being subjected to 'hostile questioning' by federal agents, it is claimed. Danhao Wang, an assistant research scientist in the school's College of Engineering, died on March 20 inside the university after falling to his death. Police said they are investigating his death as a 'possible act of self-harm', with the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs claiming he took his life after 'hostile questioning'. A statement, which did not name Wang, said that the postdoctoral scholar took his life 'after being subjected to hostile questioning by U.S. law...
  • Rising number of Americans refusing life-saving blood transfusions because they come from vaccinated donors

    04/03/2026 9:43:27 PM PDT · by algore · 148 replies
    Health researchers are sounding the alarm after noticing more people refusing life-saving blood transfusions because they come from vaccinated donors. In a study out of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 15 patients or families of patients who needed blood transfusions rejected them because they requested blood from donors who were not vaccinated. The majority of patients were children or teenagers. The refusal led one patient to go into shock, another to develop anemia and others to have their surgeries delayed. Now, doctors involved say they fear more Americans, spurred by vaccine-suspicious health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, will follow. Over a...
  • Macron says Trump marriage jibe does not 'merit response'

    04/02/2026 10:01:56 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 31 replies
    AFP via France 24 ^ | 04/02/2026 14:01
    French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday Donald Trump’s mocking comments about his marriage did not merit a response, calling them “neither elegant nor up to standard”. […] On Wednesday, Trump made fun of the French president and his wife at a private lunch as he lambasted NATO allies for not joining the war against Iran. The US president imitated a French accent and said that Macron’s wife “treats him extremely badly” and that Macron was still “recovering from the right to the jaw”. On a visit to Seoul, Macron, who was accompanied by his wife Brigitte, said Trump’s comments...
  • AMD says it will buy Intel, completing the strangest reversal in chip history

    04/01/2026 11:02:40 AM PDT · by algore · 40 replies
    In a move that feels less like a corporate transaction and more like the final punchline to a 40-year industry rivalry, AMD announced Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Intel, the company it has spent decades chasing, imitating, undercutting, suing, licensing from, and lately outperforming. The all-stock transaction, which AMD described as a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to unify x86 innovation," would combine the two companies under a single umbrella just a few years after such an outcome would have sounded ridiculous. For most of modern computing history, Intel was the empire and AMD the scrappy survivor, the perpetual second source...
  • Woman who had sex with identical twins can’t know for sure who fathered her child: court

    03/31/2026 8:47:59 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 45 replies
    New York Post ^ | March 30, 2026 | David Propper
    Identical twins who had sex with the same woman within four days of each other can’t know for sure who fathered her child, a UK court ruled recently. Only one of the brothers can be listed on the birth certificate for the child, but right now it is “not possible” to confirm who the biological parent is, the Court of Appeals in London said, according to reports. The baby’s mother and one of the twins sought court intervention to grant him parental responsibility after the other brother was registered as the tot’s father on the paperwork based on a past...
  • Bullet used to kill Charlie Kirk did NOT match rifle allegedly used by suspect Tyler Robinson, new court filing claims

    03/30/2026 7:02:51 PM PDT · by algore · 69 replies
    The bullet that killed conservative commentator Charlie Kirk did not match the rifle used by suspected killer Tyler Robinson, a bombshell new court filing states. Robinson, 22, is facing capital murder charges and a potential death sentence for Kirk's murder at Utah Valley University on September 10. But his defense attorneys now argue that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 'was unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied to Mr Robinson.' The defense team may now offer the ATF firearm analyst's testimony as exculpatory evidence, they said in a motion filed on...
  • Executive Order 14247 requires all tax payments to be electronic

    03/30/2026 3:55:47 PM PDT · by Pearls Before Swine · 69 replies
    Self | 3/30/26 | Self
    This thread is about EO 14247. I just got my tax returns back and I am told that all of my 2026 estimated taxes for Federal and State must be electronic. That is, they must be sucked out of an account by ACH transfer. No more mailing of checks. However, the government will graciously accept my mailed in check for what is due on the return itself. I checked with CoPilot, and it said that EO 14247 of March 25, 2025 mandates that all payments to the Federal Government (including estimated taxes) must be electronic via a portal (IRS.Gov/Payments, I...
  • China / Finland / General news As China expands in the Arctic, Finland gets a key role in Arctic security

    03/29/2026 12:37:43 PM PDT · by algore · 7 replies
    As Russia and China race to expand their fleets of icebreakers, NATO countries are scrambling to keep up. And at the center of this growing Arctic power game stands an unlikely key player: Finland. According to Business Insider, a senior Norwegian military official recently warned that NATO is falling behind Moscow and Beijing in the ability to operate in the High North. Icebreakers – specially built ships that can cut through thick polar ice – are crucial in any future Arctic conflict. They secure access to sea routes, enable troop movement, and protect supply lines in frozen waters. Russia currently...