They're All Gonna Laugh At You!

March 3, 1967

Brutus is just trying to read his newspaper. Can you go talk in the kitchen or something, Gladys?

Oh my god, Brutus! You are a *mumbles random number*-year-old man! What do you care what people think? I mean, clearly it didn't bother you all that much since you came home, got out of your work clothes, and put on your signature at-home red sweater.

Needs Improvement

March 2, 1967

When I get these strips, I just glance to see the gist of the punchline and move on to the next day. I didn't understand this one. His pants fell down because of the jackhammering and that woman doesn't want to be anywhere near this pervert.

With construction so close to this bus stop, I feel like this stop should be closed.

Are we going to get a week of Brutus searching for another job? That's a pretty bold suggestion to make. "What will make you a better employee?" "I don't know. Make this place worse?"

I Found No Evidence of a Tyrone Pupnik

October 25, 1987

Well! I expect this kind of treatment at Kroger, but not at the Thriftway! I'm usually more abused by employees in a small grocery store than a big chain. Not that there are many small grocery stores anymore.

The muttering text doesn't even fit saying "Have a nice day" so what did she really say?

"You mean to tell me that I could've been Gladys Pupnik?" What's Tyrone Pupnik doing now? Is he upper management compared to Brutus' mid-management? Does he work in a tea kettle factory instead of a tea cozy company? Does Tyrone make the tea?

Chip is actually an alumni of Lakewood (Ohio) High School, just like Brutus here. Chip became a Distinguished Alumni (whatever that is) in 2014.

A look at the Topeka, Eskridge & Council Grove Railroad posted yesterday. If you want to support me or this website, you can do that through the About page.

Enoff Stroganoff

March 1, 1967

Where are they? Are they outside or has the imagery of The Veldt started to leak out of the nursery?

I believe this version of Wilberforce is quiet and scholarly, but is also your general child terrorist. Wilberforce wouldn't become his current version until after Art would pass away. Yes, Wilberforce would become neutered.

I never kept frogs as pets like all the other boys did, supposedly (too gross), but I did have a turtle for a short time. Does that count? Was I real little boy?

I looked up some beefless stroganoff recipes and now want to vomit. I'm not a stroganoff person, with or without beef. I know I've have decent stroganoff, but my go-to opinion on it is always "It's bad".

At least Wilberforce gets to eat today.

Topeka, Eskridge & Council Grove Railroad

Proposed routes for the Topeka, Eskridge
& Council Grove Railroad. You can view
an interactive map here.

In 1903, it was proposed to create a railroad line from Topeka, following the Mission Creek Valley, through Eskridge, and on to Council Grove. It was to be known as the Topeka, Eskridge & Council Grove Railroad. As with such projects, some people were for it and others against it. Dover and Auburn fought over which city the railroad should go through, Eskridge worried the railroad would harm their businesses, and Council Grove was excited to have a railroad connection to Kansas towns east.

Osage Free Press, Dec. 16, 1903

Ranchers in Wabaunsee County were excited to use the new railroad to haul their cattle to Kansas City and smaller towns, like Halifax, were excited for a possible population boost. Plans were made to expand the railroad to Emporia (as seen above) but also to Burlington, Tonganoxie, and Brown County(!). But that wasn't all. Proposals for the track to be used to bus Washburn University students to and from their nearby hometowns were made. They tried to even hype up the Rock Island and Santa Fe railroads that having a railroad running directly between their lines would help them. The extensions to Burlington and Pierce Junction were specifically to attract attention of the Santa Fe and Missouri Pacific railroads.

Despite being told in 1905 that there was not enough population to warrant a railroad, Topeka and Council Grove continued to push it. In 1906, now renamed the Topeka & Southwestern Railroad, officers were elected to plan a route and secure money for the railroad. The routes they chose, expanding the plan to two lines were selected in late 1906. The estimated locations are in the map above. Work started in November 1907 with a dirt moving ceremony on Washburn university campus. This gesture was apparently just ceremonial.

W.L. Taylor, of Taylor Grain Co. who was the president of
the Topeka & Southwestern. The vice president was Charles King
Holliday, son of Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad founder, Cyrus Holliday.

The right-of-way was extended in 1909 for another year and some grading was done in Morris and Dickinson counties and in Topeka but little work moved beyond that. In 1912, some of the grading in Morris and Dickinson was purchased by another railroad. In 1913, C.A. Magee urged Topeka to commit bonds to building the railroad from Topeka to Dover, hoping to spur development. They refused and finally the Topeka & Southwestern died.

The Arkansas City Daily News of April 18, 1914 reports "Southwest of Topeka there is a railroad grade of the Topeka & Southwestern and near Council Grove there is some more grade for the same line. In several places in Kansas may be found the grades of railroads of great promises but which were never built."

The grand plans for the Topeka & Southwestern Railroad. Though not mentioned in any article, it
was apparently planned to extend the Council Grove line to Marion, Kansas and have a line running
south out of Topeka to Garnett.

R 💘 L

Trump lied--I know, right? Donald Trump lying?--about the Insurrection Act today. He claimed it was invoked by nearly 50% of the presidents dozens of times. The Insurrection Act has only been invoked by 15 presidents (there's only been 45) and only 29 times. Trump claims President George H.W. Bush used the Insurrection Act 28 times. In reality, Bush 41 only invoked the Insurrection Act twice. Once to suppress looting in the Virgin Islands and, at the request of city and state leaders, during the Los Angeles riots after the Rodney King verdict.

If you look at the list of invocations, the Insurrection Act is only used as a temporary solution taking roughly 24 hours. It's not something used to take control of a city and use as an excuse to stop elections. President Ulysses Grant used the Insurrection Act the most with 6 times. And most of those were white supremacist uprisings after the Civil War.

Anyway, I know that Trump is a moron and he's constantly lying and lies so much that he can't really keep them all straight, but doesn't anyone else find his lying tiring? This is easily findable information. Now, I can understand your average Trump supporter not knowing or understanding or knowing where to get the information that as a part of NATO, the United States is required to defend other NATO countries and they are required to help defend us, so making threats against Denmark/Greenland seems like bad politicking but this Insurrection Act stuff is just maddening. And I swear that sometimes he just brings up stuff like this as some form of gloating. "Hey, look what I know. I bet none of you have heard of this. I'm big brain man! I passed three cognitive tests."

February 28, 1967

"Rotten...Rotten...Rotten...both work and home. I hate you all."

Kewpie's still a fan though.

Oh, well Happy *mumbles random numbers*th Anniversary, Veeblefester. Of course their marriage has lasted. Someone stands to lose a lot of money if they get divorced and neither Rancid or Lividea want to do that. They both have become accustomed to a certain lifestyle and can't go back to being one of the poors.

I Only Understand the Reference Due to Other References

February 27, 1967

I have been to the beach exactly one (1) time. I went to Galveston, Texas back in 2001 with my mom and her "friend". It was okay. I actually got in the water. I looked only slightly better than Brutus here.

Is Brutus smoking a pipe? What a waste of tobacco this is going to be.

If Brutus lived in Ancient Egypt, he'd be below the farmers and probably the slaves. Brutus would probably be chattel or, more likely, forced labor. Some sort of middle management assistant to a priest or scribe, constantly annoying them by asking them how good of a job he's doing. Hey, let's give him to the pharaoh so when the pharaoh dies, Brutus will be killed and mummified with him!

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe a lot of Born Loser readers have seen the movie This Is Spın̈al Tap. I don't know.

Dr. Brutus "Doogie" Thornapple, Psy.D

Right back at you, dick.

February 25, 1967

Yes, clearly you are either making up reasons to go to therapy or the perfection of your childhood has blemished your adulthood which is making you unhappy. But I'm no therapist, unlike Brutus(?!).

"So I must be talking to Brutus Thornapple because if you weren't Brutus Thornapple you would just say 'You have the wrong number'. Anyway, I want to make an appointment for a therapy session. That's something you are able to do, I guess."

The Mere Fact You Call It Hair Tonic Tells Me It's Not Going to Work

You may have saw today that Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert, passed away from prostate cancer today at the age of 68. Dilbert had been kicked out of syndication due to Adams' bigoted rhetoric back in 2023 but was still creating Dilbert as a webcomic. Despite how terrible of a person Adams turned out to be, we celebrate comic strips here and you can't deny that Dilbert was a fairly huge phenomenon back in the mid- to late 1990s. Besides the treasury collections of the comic, there were motivational books, self-help books, generic business books, plus a TV series that ran on UPN from January 1999 until June 2000.

The comic strip debuted on April 16, 1989 and originally focused on Dilbert and Dogbert. Dilbert was an engineer creating inventions and seemingly wanting to take over the world. The comic soon changed focus to Dilbert at work in an office building and the comic satirized workplaces, technology, and corporate culture which made people take notice turning Dilbert into one of the most popular strips in the country, especially after Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side came to an end.

Dilbert, April 16, 1989

Dilbert, December 19, 2010

February 24, 1967

Speaking of corporate culture, 1960s corporate culture was wild, man! You can't do this nowadays, unless you're Elon Musk.

Brutus is shooting beans out of a straw in case you were wondering what weapon he had.

So, Gladys is dieting for the new year and Brutus is going to grow some hair back. Look, I'm all for bettering yourself when a new year comes around, but why is it always something physical people choose? You should work on what's inside first.

Gladys Wants Her 1967 Legs Back

February 23, 1967

At least Gladys gets to see Nessie. It'll be a nice memory for her even if no one believes her. I wonder what end of the lake they're staying at. Is that lighthouse at Lochend or Fort Augustus? Kind of looks like Fort Augustus.

Wait. Is Nessie fighting some other giant octopus-like creature? Is Nessie sinking a boat? What's going on out there? And how is Gladys standing on those toothpicks she calls legs?

Monday? That's today! You mean Monday of next week? That'll be the 19th. You might as well just call January a wash and start your diet in February.

I wonder if Chip is ever going to mention those weight loss injections that are so popular right now. Mounjaro and Wegovy or whatever. I hope not.