MAGA Valentina Gomez Wrestles A Gator & Sends Message To Epstein List, Slopification Of America & Dogs Jump
The Tampa Airport joins Screencaps in the fight against Slopification.
STATE OF SCREENCAPS as we end February 2026
- I cannot say thank you enough to those who are watching, subscribing, liking and commenting on the Screencaps YouTube content. https://www.youtube.com/@ScreencapswithJoeKinseyWe're 35 days into the video experiment and my Gemini AI assistant says, "Most creators at the five-week mark are still talking to their mom, three friends, and a bot from Russia. They are usually sitting at 40 subscribers and maybe 12 hours of watch time. You aren't just ‘ahead of schedule’—you are effectively skipping the freshman year of YouTube."My assistant claims I'm in the 1% of new channels. That sounds important. I'm so new to this world that I have to go with the AI bot's word on it. None of this is possible without Screencaps readers. I'm very, very lucky to have you guys so engaged and willing to click on links when prompted. Thank you.
- Over on Facebook, the public account has added 380 followers in the last month. That's 89% growth. Views are up 642%.
- Instagram is rolling along. After hitting my 2,000 follower goal by the Super Bowl, the account has added 117 followers since the Seahawks beat New England.
- The Screencaps newsletter is at around 3,300 subscribers or so. I'm still fascinated by that number. And the open rate is at like 70%, which is bizarre considering how often it ends up in junk folders.
CONTACT YOUR HEART OUT THIS WEEKEND UNLESS YOU'RE THE LOSER WHO KEEPS SENDING ME DMS BEGGING FOR A JOB AND THEN ADDING ABSOLUTELY UNHINGED COMMENTS…IF YOU'RE THAT GUY, YOU'RE NEVER GETTING HIRED
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If you don't think people are reading Screencaps, I present to you what the Tampa International Airport social media department posted on Thursday — it is sick of the Slopification of America
Thank you to the dozens of people who tagged me on this one. Was it coincidental that TPA posted this or do you think TPA management reads Screencaps? Full disclosure: I've never heard from a TPA official that I know of, but it's awfully odd that all of a sudden TPA posted this.
Airport dress codes hasn't been a topic since around Nov. 21 when Transportation Secretary Duffy issued his "dressing with respect" social media post.
Then, Wednesday, I write about the Slopification of America. Thursday, I write more about it with reader emails. An hour after Thursday Screencaps was posted, this went out on social media.
Twitter can add all the context it wants, that message from TPA was heard loud and clear to Screencaps readers. Let this serve as a reminder that you're reading "America's Best (and most important) Daily Column," as named by the readers.
In multiple cases, you guys are setting the national discussion. We've been all over the Wendy's topic. We've been all over travel ball. We've been ahead of the curve on Pizza Hut. There are so many times when readers will tip me off to say media outlets are writing about Screencaps topics.
This happens because you guys have your heads on a swivel. You're touching grass. You're the actual heartbeat of this country. You're telling me what's happening around you. You're observing. You're analyzing daily life and relaying that information.
It might sound ridiculous when I keep hammering away that I want to know what's happening in your life. It's all calculated. Your life observations are more important than you think. Remember, the Big Js told you all what to think for so long. They talked down to you. They despised their own readers. They took loyal readers for granted. They wouldn't have a beer with you.
Guys, I saw it. I worked for over a decade inside newspapers. The columnists, typically, were complete arrogant assholes because they had a byline.
Meanwhile, I'll have two beers with you guys. I'd even let most of you stop by for a beer on the patio.
— Tom in Clarksville emails:
Great content as always, keep it up! In the early 2020's, there was a term introduced, "Enshittification", to describe the general decline of online platforms. I think it is now more generally used to describe the decline of so many things in society, including the constant wearing of pajamas for all occasions.
My kids constantly have pajama days at school, my son is in the 5th grade when does it stop, the schools have helped normalize this crap. There is definitely something important about being dressed and ready to work; it puts you in the right mental headspace.
I think all of this starts at a very young age. Don't let your kids go to school in pajamas ever, even if it is pajama day. They get to learn two lessons that way, dressed for learning, and it is OK not to be like everyone else. Stop the enshittification of everything!
— Tom wrote back this morning:
And this literally just hit my inbox:
Kinsey:
I want all of you to remind your spouse why you read and LOVE Screencaps. This column is literally creating the headlines before they're headlines.
Now if only I could get the massive national outlets to write about the Wendy's methheads and how it's causing the destruction of a once-great fast-food company.
— Jeff B. in Indiana says:
Chris W in California makes a great point with this line: "I feel like it's a subtle, psychological way to make sure I am ready to DO SOMETHING that day."
My employer has an almost totally remote workforce... There are perhaps 2 dozen that go into the offices around the US and UK. The rest of us work from home. During orientation, they made the same point as Chris: Wearing office-casual while working from home makes you more productive. Staff that don't, and "work" in sweatpants while sitting on the sofa historically wash out early, as they're just not productive.
— Grumpy Old Dean from Monroe, Georgia checks in:
On the slobofication of America, i have tried to teach my kids and grandkids to dress as if your going to have to respond to a crisis, whether its a fight, arrest, or bugout.
Pjs arent appropriate out of the house,flip flops are for showers. Always have shoes u can move fast in.
KEEP YOUR SHIT WRAPPED TIGHT AT ALL TIMES! I have said way too many times" told you not to wear that" Thank God im at the end.
— Tom B. in Alexandria, VA says:
I’ve been reading the comments about the public pajamas, and I too am not a fan. One thing that has not been mentioned is that public schools, at least in Northern Virginia, actually have "Pajama Days". They actively normalize this type of dress in school, which then becomes normal in general. You can blame the parents all you want, but this type of institutional normalization is hard to combat. Thanks.
— Phil S. in Florida emails:
Glad you’re feeling better! This morning’s ScreenCaps was almost a revelation for me reading what other readers sent in. The kids, the parents, the dress codes… suddenly so much made sense. Covid changed much more than we realize and made too many people soft.
As a retail manager who works with teens, I’m just now realizing the difference between the pre covid thick skinned kids of yesteryear and the generic brand public bathroom thin single ply toilet paper skin of post covids. And the parents are playing their part in the great softening. When I was a kid I had a bully, one day after school my older sister showed up, I never had a bully again.
My little sister had a bully when she was young, I showed up after school and she was never bothered again. A few weeks ago I sent a teenager home after 2 warnings because he wasn’t doing anything at work and was wasting payroll staring his phone. His parents called an hour later demanding an explanation. I explained my decision, and then got yelled at. The parents are raising an over protected bubble wrapped kid who was 10 or 11 when Covid hit.
They turned soft and raised soft kid who just turns to mommy and daddy to fix what’s wrong. This is where public pajamas come from, where taking a shower turns into creating a home sauna for 45 minutes before entering starts. I’ve never been in favor of the draft, but maybe we do need more R. Lee Ermey types striking fear and discipline into the new generation.
No one is completing Operation Midnight Hammer if their scared of the dark and can’t get ahold of mommy on the phone.
I LOVE new emailers
— Greg K. gets into the mix:
Hey Joe, Outkick has quickly become a daily must-hit site for me, love what you guys are doing there. My thoughts on a couple of things:
On your Washington Crossing article from last week:
1. What the climatards are completely ignoring in that CBS segment is that in 1776, we were in the period known as the Little Ice Age. It was called the Little Ice Age because it was a time of abnormally cold, wintry weather, because, you know, the climate changed from its previous warm era. You have to give it to the climate cult, they are devout to their religion
2. I live in Bucks County, PA, where Washington Crossing is located (I'm about 20 minutes away, been there many times). If you've never been there, I highly recommend it if you're ever in the area, it's a really beautiful area, and it's really cool to walk the ground where the first generation of American Patriots launched the attack that saved the Revolution
3. Eastern PA is Wawa territory, Sheetz is out west, so you wouldn't see them around here. But having a Sheetz here would make it unrecognizable
On Hockeygate
As we enter Day 6 of this mind-numbing stupidity. I don't understand it. To me, Trump wasn't knocking the women's team at all. I mean, if he said "I'll have to invite them" or Melania will beat me with a rolling pin, or "but they can only come if they're in bikinis", then yeah, I could see something like that maybe being considered sexist. But he said he'd have to invite them, or he'd be impeached. I took that as a shot not at the women's team, but at the democrats and everyone else with TDS who will come up with anything, not matter how pathetic, to remove the man from office, throw him in prison, and kill him.
Turkeys
Your colleague Matt Reigle wrote an article about an increase in the amount of turkeys attacking people. It made me think of the classic Turkey Drop episode of WKRP in Cincinnati (maybe the best Thanksgiving episode of any TV show ever), and Les Nessman's classic line "It's as if the turkeys mounted a counterattack".
WKRP in Cincinnati Turkey Drop
Kinsey:
- I have been to Washington Crossing. I used to live in Wilkes-Barre, PA in the early 2000s. I spent many, many off-days from the newspaper exploring the Delaware River region north of Philly. Mrs. Screencaps just spent a couple of nights in New Hope back in 2024. Love the area.
Ski-bros
— Guy G. gets back in on this topic that shockingly you guys were all over:
I don’t travel with the boys for ski trips. Just wifeand I. It’s fantastic! We’ve learned a few things.
1)have a few drinks before getting on the 1st lift. If you’re traveling to somewhere you’ve never been, especially living in the east and going west, good to have a little liquid courage before hitting that double black on the 1st run of the day.
2)Get a place to stay that is a little higher than you would normally. A better bed equals better turns tomorrow.
3)Stay at a place with a hot tub! This is the most important. Not only will you recover faster, but you’ll save a couple bucks on the bar tab
4)Don’t let the tram announcement guy at Jackson Hole scare you. You’ll (probably) be ok. (Pic attached)
5)Have a quality backpack, that can handle a days worth of drinks. It’ll cost less than at the lodge, and mid mountain drink breaks are awesome!
At our home slopes, we don’t use a tracker. But when we travel, we use iSKI USA, to track our vertical feet. 30,000 feet is the goal every day. Probably a good idea to do squats for a few months leading up to that.
Screenshot
— Marty in Idaho has been reading:
Good to see the ski bro’s back in the saddle! When our kids were young a group of us guys (4 to 8 of us) did a trip to the Rockies every year. It was a blast and it was five days a year when we only had to worry about ourselves and jag our friends. Tracking vertical feet wasn’t a thing then (no apps for that); we just skied our legs off, hit the hot tub, threw back many cold ones, and grilled piles of man food; usually the biggest steaks we could find. Perfect.
In the spirit of doing hard things, I did go for max vertical feet later last year. I hit the slopes fairly early and found spring conditions fabulous on my first run so I turned on the tracker. 21 runs later I had racked up 69,036 vertical feet which beat my age of 68 at the time (22 runs x 3,138 vertical on Sun Valley’s Challenger lift). I used OnX Hunt to track so you can only see ups and downs in the photo. If the ski bro’s ever hit Sun Valley it would be great to take a few runs with them. I’ll buy the first round.
I’m going on my first golf trip next week to St. George, UT. Me, my son, my son-in-law, and son’s friend. Playing Black Desert, Entrada, Sand Hollow, and The Ledges. I’ve only golfed seriously for the last couple years so we’ll see how it goes. I bought myself new, and pretty nice, clubs for the occasion so the Costco set is being retired.
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World observations from Mike T.
Here's the latest dispatch from the Ts:
https://traftonsolympicadventure.wordpress.com/2026/02/26/2-25-2026-salzburg-austria/
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That is it this morning. There are so many emails. So many messages across all the social media channels. I'm trying to do my best to get to all of them. Keep trying. Keep sending.
Let's finish February strong. You're never going back. Make it a good one as we head into Spring.
Have a great day and weekend.