Biden’s Approval Rating Soars After He Releases Diss Track About Drake

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s struggling campaign was given a sudden boost with his approval numbers at record highs after releasing a blistering diss track aimed at Drake, confirmed sources who might actually vote this year.

“After that awful performance in the debate, I was ready to write Biden off,” said Representative Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, who had called for Biden to step down and let someone else take on Donald Trump in November. “But after I heard the track, called ‘1812,’ I thought, oh shit, Biden is popping off! Getting Dr. Dre to produce it was a masterstroke and that guest verse by Kamala Harris? I didn’t know she could spit that fast. Yeah, I finished it and just went back to the start and had to run that shit back.”

Biden detractors feel like the track is a cheap attempt to grab youth votes after the poor debate performance and the media’s constant reporting on his age.

“It’s all just a ploy,” said Robert Finney, a Trump supporter and writer for the Daily Wire. “Dropping a blistering diss track against a corny-ass colonizer is the oldest trick in the book. Bill Clinton dropped one against Vanilla Ice in the early ‘90s which paved the way to the White House for him and I’m shocked Biden is just repeating a hackneyed idea. Also, Biden is very old. That’s why I’m voting for the younger Trump.”

Experts were quick to weigh in on the track that was dropped at midnight on the official White House YouTube channel.

“Not since Nas’ ‘Ether’ or Kendrick Lamar’s recent ‘Not Like Us’ have we heard such an intense lyrical takedown of a pop culture icon,” said Maria Prescott, a musical historian and an expert on rap beefs. “Biden drops all kinds of double, triple, and even quadruple entendre while degrading Drake’s record sales, swag, entourage, and time on ‘Degrassi.’ The spoken word opening in which he says that Drake can download the song as a PDF file made me pause the track and pour myself a drink. It’s a brutal opening and really sets the tone for the onslaught that follows.”

At press time, Drake was seen staring out windows while a single tear fell from his eye.

Opinion: I Actually Work at the Dick Sucking Factory. Here’s Why I’m Voting ‘Yes’ to Unionize

Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the ruling class has done their best to extract as much capital from their workers while subjecting them to low pay, dangerous working conditions, and soul-crushing hours. It was only through ironclad solidarity (and a whole lot of violence) that any workers’ rights were established, and data clearly shows those very rights have been eroding for the past 40 years.

So when you tell me you’re going to come down to the dick sucking factory to slap the dicks out of my mouth and see how I like it, I can tell you I’m not going to like that very fucking much. And that’s exactly why I’m voting to unionize this workplace.

These privileged, silver spoon-licking troglodytes in their ivory towers could never fathom putting in 10 hours of neck-breaking, throat-ravaging, head a day to keep their kids in daycare. For every dick we suck, they make the same amount giving ten-second handjobs. How is that even remotely fair?

We all saw what happened at the shit eating factory last month when those jobs were outsourced to Mexico, and now there’s talk of ass licking going completely automated in Nashville. It’s only a matter of time before we’re next just to appease the investors. They can tell me what to do the day I see them work ten graveyard shifts in a row gargling shaft.

All we want is fair compensation, along with chiropractic and arthritis care added to the health insurance package. You can’t even imagine how many of us have the necks of a 70-year-old. Oh, and we want the company to provide protective goggles! Ridiculous, I know. We had six guys lose an eye last year alone.

If this vote passes and the head honchos won’t meet our demands, I am absolutely ready to walk away and go on strike. When the carpet munchers in Lansing joined the plumbers union, they had to strike for six months but they won. Now they can actually feel their jaws when they go home at night.

They may threaten to replace us with those scabs from the truck stop glory holes off of I-90, but we’ll seize the means of production one way or another, even by the balls if we have to. My father was a dick sucker and so was his father. This is my bloodline I’m protecting.

Power to the people!

Couple that Met at Weezer Concert Telling Everyone They Met on Christian Mingle

HOUSTON – A local couple who initially met at a Weezer are reportedly lying to friends and family, by claiming they found each other through the dating site Christian Mingle, skeptical sources reported.

“Yeah we sure did meet on the only dating platform that caters exclusively to Christian singles. I’m super religious and every day I thank God for girls. Well, actually, just for this one girl in particular. Jennifer’s great, she’s kind, really smart and she’s scorching hot. I call her El Scorcho, just as a cute pet name,” said lovebird Gregory Willis. “She just gets me on another level, she’s like the pork to my beans. It’s not every day I buy a $25 beer for some random girl I just met. Did I say beer? I meant communion, we definitely had our first date at church where we split one of those Jesus wafers together.”

Friends of the couple are skeptical of the relationship’s nature and believe they met elsewhere.

“Let’s cut the shit. There’s no way they met on a dating app, let alone Christian fucking Mingle. It had to be that Weezer concert they went to because there’s no way anyone leaves a Weezer concert happy unless you meet the love of your life,” said longtime mutual friend Billy Murdoch. “God, it makes me sick. Now he’s wearing black rimmed glasses like Buddy Holly and she’s fucking got the Mary Tyler Moore haircut from the ‘Dick Van Dyke Show.’ Are we serious here? He asked me to start calling him Jonas and I just can’t, I don’t want to be associated with liars anymore, let alone Weezer fans.”

Licensed couples therapist and relationship expert Laurie Dahl weighed in on the couples’ suspect background.

“This may be shocking, but I’ve seen cases similar to Gregory and Jessica’s all across the world. I mean, it’s one thing to be embarrassed about liking Weezer, but to cover it up using Christian Mingle is like getting caught masturbating and telling your parents you were just practicing your D&D dice rolling technique,” said the disappointed Dahl. “There’s so many great bands out there to base a relationship off. Even Fleetwood Mac would’ve been a better choice, even with the whole ‘Rumours’ fiasco. I don’t know if they’re gonna last, but I’m rooting for them! I think they’d be the first Weezer fans to ever have sex.”

At press time, the couple announced they are no longer seeing each other because one side of the duo is looking for someone who is at least half-japanese and the other side is lesbian.

Democrats in Crisis After President Biden Uses Bathroom With Hot Mic and Confesses to Robert Durst Murders

WASHINGTON — Top Democratic decision-makers are reportedly doing damage control after President Biden confessed to multiple murders on a hot mic after another damaging public appearance, multiple sources confirmed.

“We’ve all been having private conversations about whether or not he’s still fit to run ever since President Biden’s bad debate showing. Up until now our biggest concern was his mental acuity, now our biggest concern is the multiple brutal murders he openly admitted to,” said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries while Googling “How easy to move to Portugal?” “But right now we are still firmly standing behind President Biden. He’s a good man, even if he did admit to murdering his own friends. If this were former President Trump he would pump a vagrant no one would believe full of Rohypnol and confess his sins to them in a soundproof chamber like he did every first and third Thursday of every month when he was in office.”

While this revelation has bolstered the voices of those already calling for Biden’s withdrawal, some experts are calling the leak good news for the current president.

“Conservatives simultaneously want you to believe that Biden is mentally unfit for office and that he was cunning enough to orchestrate three murders and pin them all on a prominent New York financier. It’s pure desperation,” said political analyst Stephen J. Myers. “American voters are far more concerned with inflation, home prices, and immigration. They do not care if their president dismembered someone and ditched their body in Galveston Bay. Besides, the Supreme Court made it legal for a President to do whatever the hell they want.”

Below is the full transcript of President Biden’s confession, his campaign is yet to respond.

“What the hell did I do? Yup, killed them all of course! Kathleen Durst, Susan Berman, Morris Black, hell cut that sucker up good. Iced all those turkeys, sure did, me and Cornpop! Hey, is this thing on?” The rest of the recording seems to be Biden attempting to rehearse the line “I am mentally competent enough to hold the office of the President” again and again before being shuffled away by an anonymous staffer.

At press time, Robert Kennedy Jr. released a statement saying his latest brain parasite forbids him from taking a human life, but does encourage him to set abandoned buildings on fire.

New Lin-Manuel Miranda Musical Adapts Brand New/Taking Back Sunday Beef for the Stage

NEW YORK — A group of Broadway producers greenlit a highly anticipated musical with an original book by Lin-Manuel Miranda that chronicles the history of beef between emo bands Taking Back Sunday and Brand New, confirmed sources who just hope the production will be historically accurate.

“I couldn’t be more excited to bring this extremely American tale to the stage. The lyrics and music will be taken from the catalogs of both bands but with all of the unnecessary background screaming edited out,” said Miranda. “The beef between these two bands really encapsulates the fullness of the human spirit. Betrayal, romance, thirst for power and the importance of family, it’s all there. But at its core, it boils down to something we can all relate to: profiting off of extreme pettiness. That’s what ‘Hamilton’ was all about too. At least I think so.”

Members of the bands also shared their excitement for the upcoming musical.

“I just know this is going to be super vindicating for us,” said Taking Back Sunday drummer Mark O’Connell. “What could be better than watching all of those doofuses in Brand New looking like idiots in front of a sell-out crowd as a bunch of grown-up theater dorks do impressions of them on stage? But what’s even better is that we’re going to look awesome because a bunch of really cool actors are going to be playing us on stage, probably. I really hope Hugh Jackman plays me.”

However, not everyone associated with the bands is excited for the production.

“Goddammit, why are they doing this?” said Jessica Daly, a former romantic interest of Taking Back Sunday guitarist John Nolan and Brand New vocalist Jesse Lacey. “My life already sucks enough because of these douchebags and now it’s getting turned into a musical? Fuck me. Thank god that orgy I had with My Chemical Romance never made it past Tumblr. That would have been a real nightmare.”

According to an inside source, Miranda’s intent to cast an all-Black and Latinx cast has already been shelved because “only white boys want to sing that whiny crap.”

Opinion: The 5-Disc Changer I Got for Christmas in the 8th Grade Is the Purest Form of Listening to Music

The age-old question persists—how is recorded music meant to be heard? Is it the warm crackle of vinyl, with all its analogue imperfections? Is it the pristine audio quality of lossless FLAC and its ever-evolving permutations of audio compression codecs? As an adjunct professor in the audio engineering department at Devry University, I’ve simply heard it all and I’m here to set the record straight.

The purest form of listening to music is the 5 disc-changer I got for Christmas in 8th grade.

This exceptional piece of hardware from the fine folks at Sanyo was truly the vanguard of audio technology in 2001, which, as detailed in some of my previous writings, is considered to be the greatest year in audio innovation ever. So why then did my mom decide to throw it away, like literally side of the curb next to the trash can instead of, oh I don’t know, donating it to the Devry Institute Museum of Sound!?

Sadly this is nothing new for the 5DC, oft-maligned for its rudimentary functionality and cumbersome appearance. The 14-second pause between songs was far from a distraction. The whirring, mechanical noises of the 5DC’s inner workings was a necessary palate cleanser that is all but missing from today’s “I Want It Now” culture. Why does it have so many flashing lights on its interface that you literally have no way to turn off unless you unplug the unit, you may ask. Umm, because it’s fucking awesome.

You have to understand, there was a level of swagger and pizzazz at play in audio technology in 2001. It was big, it was bright, and it looked sweet as hell in my room. A common misconception about audio quality is that it’s all about “audio quality”. Wrong! It’s about attitude. And personality! In fact, there is no better way to define oneself than selecting 5 CD’s from your binder and listening to their tracks in randomized order.

And while the CD curation could be a highly personal and divisive task, I’ve found, through vast research, the most objectively pure rotation to be Goldfly (Guster), Lost and Gone Forever (Guster), Out Cold sdtk, The Good Times (Afroman), and a CD-R Matt made of the best Guster and Dispatch songs.

But sadly the unhinged nature of the 10DC proved to be the most prescient harbinger of audio tech, giving way to unfocused Spotify playlists, zipping around from artist to artist without a care in the world! There’s already too much change happening as it is, what with your parents’ divorce and high school right around the corner. The last thing we need is an algorithm shoving new music down our throats. What we need is Guster.

Man Wishes He Could “Like” Messages to End Conversations In Real Life

PORTLAND—Local man and self-confessed “introverted-ass” Will Dobbs is pleading for a real-life equivalent to the popular text and Instagram “like message” feature, chronically online sources confirmed.

“There are a lot of ways I can imagine it working,” Dobbs pondered as he threw his phone across the room after sending a message on Hinge. “Saying ‘liked a message’ out loud. Throwing up a heart symbol with your fingers and walking away. Reaching out and double tapping the other guy’s chest. God, I’d take anything to end some of these conversations where you’re just stuck making bad jokes with someone about the weather for 25 minutes at a time.”

“And when things are serious it’s so much easier than having to come up with a thought-out, engaging response,” Dobbs concluded while shakily lighting a cigarette after noticing that two minutes had passed without a response.

Dobbs’ longtime friend Owen Gage is frustrated by his lack of effort in the realm of basic communication.

“Dude’s been like this ever since I met him. Every time I send Will something meaningful–could be a passion project I’ve worked on, a shoutout on his birthday, asking to donate to my mom’s cancer fundraiser, anything–he responds the way I would to some meme I’ve already seen twenty times. Just wants to end the, uh, conversation before it even begins,” said Gage. “Like, just the other day, I asked him if he wanted to see this band he wouldn’t shut up about ‘cause my cousin is opening. He just heart-reacted to the message. Jesus, he didn’t even say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ You could give him a Nobel Prize and he’d just send a text saying ‘lol.’”

Veteran linguist Brock Davidson mourns the demise of actual conversations and the lost art of wrapping up a friend-to-friend exchange.

“Look, I’m not expecting Emily Post etiquette here,” Davidson clarified. “But could these people act a little more lifelike? Before you know it, we’ll be a society of vague charades,” said Davidson. “They all have a soapbox where they can create elaborate threads on political upheaval and social injustices and they can’t give their friends more than two words. Oh shit, just got a text from my wife. She’s going into labor. Shit. I’m just gonna ‘emphasize’ it, I guess.”

At press time, Dobbs, pulled over for speeding, was hypothesizing how he could say “message seen 12 hours ago” to the cop walking up to his window.

Bruce Dickinson Has Notes for Audience After Letting Them Sing Chorus

TAMPA, Fla. — Legendary Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson stopped a song midway through during the band’s Soft Retirement Of The Beast U.S. Summer Tour to give fans notes after letting them sing the chorus, baffled concertgoers confirmed.

“Of course I love to involve the audience when we play live, but this was just a load of rubbish,” noted Dickinson. “We were tearing through ‘Run To The Hills’ which has a spectacular chorus, right? So I decided to turn it over to the fans. Bloody hell, it’s like they were pissed on a dozen pints at a karaoke bar. I stopped the song and clapped the beat and tried to get them to sing in tune. It was utterly pointless. I love our fans, but please, let’s have your shit together next time. We demand better from them.”

Attendees at last night’s concert shared a different perspective from the perfectionist frontman after their performance.

“Yeah it was pretty weird,” remembered showgoer Claire Hamilton. “We were all in the pit near the front of the stage, getting into the song, when Bruce pointed the mic at us to sing. I was like, ‘Hell yeah! This kicks so much ass!’ Then about halfway through the chorus, Bruce just stopped the band and gave us a music lesson. He brought a tuner out like my old band director and made us tap our feet to a metronome. It kinda sucked, honestly. I mean, I just went there to drink beer and hail Satan, not sit through a 30-minute presentation about how to harmonize in unison.”

As Dickinson became more frustrated with the audience, the sound guy already had a backup plan for such a disastrous moment.

“I’ve been through a few of these U.S. tours with Bruce and the guys before,” commented veteran Iron Maiden sound guy Richard Brixington. “When Bruce is running through a tune and the audience isn’t up to snuff with his stringent musical expectations, he gives me the ‘horns up’ signal, and I pipe in an AI-generated chorus that is more suited to his liking. It, in effect, relieves the audience of their shitty performance.”

At press time, Iron Maiden’s manager made an announcement that all following shows will require potential front-row audience members to pass a brief vocal audition before being granted access.

On a Budget? Here Are 10 Retailers With No-Chase Policies

It’s 2024. Inflation has hit all aspects of the economy, corporate layoffs continue in mass, and Red Lobster’s bottomless shrimp option has effectively help them dig their own grave. We here at Hard Times know that things are tough for everyone across the board and would like to offer some sound advice to our loyal readers. That said, here are our top ranked stores with no-chase policies to help better inform your budgeting decisions.

Lowe’s

Their selection of DeWalt power tools may be expensive, but what isn’t expensive is the grey hanes sweatshirt you’re using to conceal it as you breeze through the entrance doors with ease. A beep from door sensors might go off but most of the employees couldn’t give two shits to take any sort of action. They’re too busy listening to boomer Deb describing the new light fixtures she’s going to install in her in-law unit and praying for one to drop on their skull. Enjoying keeping your newly acquired items or dump them at your local flea market for some quick cash.

Bed Bath and Beyond

The company recently filed for bankruptcy due to declining sales over the past few years, or so they say. But we all knew what was leading to the downfall, you and your D-Beat friends having easy access to an endless supply of Soda Streams and an emergency exit door with an alarm that didn’t work. Also, you’d be shocked at how easy it is to walk out with a comforter underneath your arm as long as you just act confident. Beyond worth exploiting.

Footlocker

For some odd reason, you can still find some of these stores that put name brand shirts and jackets right by the front entrance. You can execute an in and out product grab within a matter of seconds. Remember, just because someone is wearing a referee shirt doesn’t mean they had to pass a physical fitness test to get it. Snatching shoes can be on the trickier side but is still doable. Working in teams is usually best for this. Ask for some shoes, try them on, and then have your friend distract the employee with some punishing conversation about Travis Scott Jordans. It’s like a shittier version of Ocean’s Eleven.

Gamestop

We here at Hard Times never played a PS5 game that we didn’t like. We also never met a Gamestop employee that was physically capable of clearing the front counter by the time we had darted out the front door with some overpriced collector’s edition game.

GNC

There is never anyone in here (including the employees). Feel free to take your time and shop around before exiting the store through the front door with B12 vitamins in your hand like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.

Whole Foods

A store with prices so outrageous shoplifting from here is more to make a political point that it is for an easy grift. They are currently having a sale where produce is currently 20% off. It turns out you can take another 80% off if you stuff the oranges in your backpack with the Wolfbrigade backpatch and exit through their rarely watched side entrance.

Victoria’s Secret

Important to note that ladies will have a much easier time getting in and out of here unnoticed. It is impossible for any guy to go in here solo and not look like a total scum bag. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a guy in here by himself and didn’t think that he has an active restraining order? Ladies, feel free to load up your bags and stroll out the front door. Ain’t nothin’ happening.

Walgreens

Almost no explanation necessary at this point. Everyone’s social media feed is peppered with footage from Walgreens getting robbed with ease and not a damn thing being done about it from staff or the third-party security guards they hired. In the realm of stores with no-chase policies, this one is a lay-up shot. Bring a friend and make a game out of how many bars of Dove deodorant you can load up in your sweatpants.

CVS

Much like its competitor Walgreens, the competition also appears to be bleeding into the realm of which store is easier to steal from. 8 times out of 10 you are probably going to run into someone who is also in the process of ripping something off. Feel free to strike up a conversation and make a new friend. You can rest easy knowing you are making connections and won’t be getting tackled by store staff.

Nike

Second floor fire escape. Just do it.

Nation’s Dads Walk On Washington After Seeing Power Bill for Using AI

WASHINGTON — An army of dads from across the nation descended upon the capital in a wave of cargo shorts and socks with sandals to protest skyrocketing power bills due to the surge in AI usage, White House insiders report.

“When I got a leaked copy of Google’s energy bill and saw how much energy this AI machine was using up, I knew I had to take a stand. Let me be very clear, this isn’t an environmental thing, it’s about responsible spending,” Bob Henderson, a 52-year-old dad from Ohio and leader of “Dads Against Digital Drain” (DADD) hollered into a megaphone, holding a sign that said “Turn Off the AI When You’re Done.” “If I am not going to let my kids leave the lights on or run the air conditioning below 77 degrees, there is no way in hell I am going to let these tech companies run up a bill so some California liberal can find out what they look like as a Golden Girl.”

Amid the chaos of dads storming Washington, the White House was forced to respond with a mix of trepidation and understanding.

“At first we thought we had another January 6th on our hands. But we understand the concerns of America’s dads and are looking into solutions, but there is little the government can do,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated during a press conference. “In the meantime, we suggest change begin at home. Don’t let your teens use ChatGPT to write their essays about ‘Of Mice and Men,’ don’t use Stable Diffusion to make raunchy Marge Simpson images, and don’t ask an AI assistant about the weather when you can just look outside.”

Meanwhile, tech companies are scrambling to address the issue, with some suggesting power-saving modes for AI systems.

“At Google, we understand the growing concerns among fathers regarding power consumption associated with AI systems,” said company spokesperson Lisa Bradley. “We’re exploring some exciting new methods to save power that we think fathers will appreciate, such as training AI to respond to questions by saying, ‘I don’t know, ask your mother,’ reducing its active processing time. We are also considering using pedal-powered servers generated by children in the third-world. We are even beta testing a ‘low-power mode’ where the AI will only generate images based on low-quality Facebook nostalgia-bait memes about drinking hose water and participation trophies.”

As of press time, DADD has staged a sit-in in the Capitol rotunda until the AI power crisis is solved or someone teaches them to set up their Alexa, whatever comes first.