Ace: aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info: maildrop62 at proton dot me
A modest ONT in content at the last minute is still an ONT. Go forth and bloviate. Just don't make a mess of the place.
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Augie Busch is getting older and feeling his mortality. He calls the Pope and says he would like to make a big donation to the Catholic Church. He suggests $100 million.
A: But, just one small favor. Can you change "Give us this day our daily bread" to "Give us this day our daily beer"?
P: Well, Augie, we appreciate the generosity, but we just can't do that.
A: How about for a $200 million donation?
P: That would be very generous, but we can't do it.
A: How about $500 million?
P: (leans over to the Cardinal standing next to him): How long does our contract with Pillsbury run?
Saturday Evening Movie Thread [moviegique]: Year-end roundup
—Open Blogger
The end of the year numbers are looking pre-pandemic levels, with over 100 films seen in theaters and drive-ins all over the country! (OK, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Let me have this!) Hopefully 2025 will be even better. Here's a round-up of the past three weeks of movie viewing.
Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Catherine Deneuve plays the ingenue in this odd French musical about a sixteen-year-old who wants to marry her twenty-year-old boyfriend, has sex with the night before he's deployed to Algeria, then ends up gestating and dithering because of the boy's ambiguous letters home while a rich local courts her. (I know, right? French!) This is a very odd film. When La La Land came out, my friend (@JulesLaLaLand, fittingly enough) used to warn people by saying it was more Cherbourg than Singin' In the Rain, and I came out of this thinking Damien Chazelle had basically lifted this movie to make La La Land. Oh, it's careers rather than the draft and a pregnancy driving people apart, but somehow that felt to me like details.
The Boy was not much impressed by my evaluation, nor the movie.
The film is ninety-six minutes but it can actually feel like it drags a bit because a) the characters never stop singing; b) the singing is basically what we'd call recitative. That is, it's like an opera without the arias. Everyone delivers their dialogue in song, but very low-key song without, e.g., choruses or a lot of repetition. So it sort of feels like one hour-and-a-half long song.
It worked for me, in that the theme of the movie, which is frequently recapitulated, feels completely different at the end than it does at the beginning, and the ending is bittersweet, to say the least. Chazelle turns it up to eleven for La La Land, giving a dramatic visualization of what might have been: This is far more low-key.
"Maybe if we sold something other than umbrellas, I wouldn't have to marry some rich guy?"
To follow on last time's Pakistani animated feature (The Glassworker), this time we have a Latvian cartoon. That's right, the land of tall, beautiful blondes is getting in on the drawn pictures bit with this remarkable silent film, Flow. When I say "silent," I mean there's no dialogue, and why should there be? The lead character is a cat.
Well, those of us with experience in these things might point out that being a cat is no barrier to speaking in the movies, to which I would only note that the co-stars are dogs, storks, lemurs, a capybara—and yes, yes, we've seen them all talk before, but these animals are realistic.
Well, semi-realistic. They seem pretty good with abstract thought and ship navigation. But perhaps I should explain.
Flow is an apocalyptic story. A cat realizes the water is rising and runs home, the water continues to rise and rise and rise and ultimately she(?) ends up on a boat with an assortment of animal which are not geographically coincident.
I spent a silly amount of time wondering when and where this was. The boy said "Aren't ring-tailed lemurs native to Madagascar," to which I replied, "Yes, they like to move-it move-it." But capybaras are New World creatures!
Anyway, I think the point is, this is an apocalyptic movie of some other timeline. It feels very biblical, if not quite Biblical, as the stork-like birds are unlike any other bird I've seen, and seem to be angelic or demonic or otherworldly. (One literally seems to go to Heaven.)
What's it about? Very primal things: Survival, adaptation, friendship. Things like that. It's 86 minutes and keeps your interest the whole time, even if you're not quite sure what you just watched. I don't know what Hollywood's putting out these days as far as cartoons, but it's probably not as good as either this or The Glassworker.
Having a capybara at the helm doesn't bother me, but the ship was made by Boeing! Heyooooo!
The Wages of Fear (1953)
This recently remade classic French film is so good, so excellent as a character study and an action film, that I'm willing to overlook its ridiculously stupid French ending.
A bunch of losers (Italians, French, Germans) living in the ass end of Mexico, have a chance to escape when a oilfield fire requires a shipment of nitroglycerin be delivered, and the oil company doesn't want to risk good people. Given a potential payout of 2,000 American dollars, these desperados are eager to make the trip.
So, we spend about forty minutes getting to know Mario (Yves Montand) and his roommate Luigi (yes, I'm not making this up), and then the next two hours in trucks with them as they navigate poorly maintained roads and high tempers in an attempt to not blow up.
One-hundred fifty minutes of great moviemaking with a great, moving ending, and then a little coda which sucks, but which is very French-cinema-in-the-'50s. I kept dreading it, because I saw it coming early on. Just ignore it, or turn it off at the end—you'll know when, actually.
In a typical modern blunder, the movie was remade last year about a "crack squad of illicit" whatevers for French Netflix.
I am not making this up: Left, Luigi. Right, Mario.
The Last Dance
A man whose wedding planner business is ruined by the pandemic lockdowns ends up taking over his girlfriend's uncle's funeral business, in this very human film from the maker of Things You've Never Heard Of starring People You've Never Seen.
I mean, I'm assuming on your behalf. While many looked familiar to me, I'm not versed enough in Chinese cinema and television to get past a "they all look alike" thing.
It always fascinates me when people I've never heard of can make a movie on a topic I've never even considered—in this case, the Funeral-industrial Complex—and hit it out of the park.
Our hero, Dominic, is an upper middle-class guy with a lot of debt from trying to keep his business going and his employees employed during the lockdown who inherits half of a mortuary (essentially). The other half is owned by a Taoist priest who, along with his minions, performs the ritual of Breaking The Hell's Gate.
This grouchy old priest, known as "Mr. Hello" for reasons we don't know until the end, is a crusty, old-fashioned type who jangles with the modern Mr. Dominic, but who is instantly endearing for his sincerity toward a tradition which is essentially a racket. (Notably, the Taoist Priests are supposed to be vegetarian, and they are—publicly.
Mr. Hello is genuine, and Dominic offends him by bringing him a full Chinese dinner (including a full sucking pig) to butter him up.
Dominic's character arc begins when he takes on, for the money, a crazy woman who wishes to have her young son embalmed rather than cremated. Because no one will do it, he ends up handling the job himself, and this leads him to learning all the aspects of his trade. Beyond the superficial marketing (where the survivors will make up souvenirs of the deceased for attendees in the form of, e.g., tiny racecar tchotchkes), he begins to realize that he serves a genuinely spiritual purpose, for the living.
Mr. Hello's story arc has to do with his tendentious relationship with his children. His son is exactly the sort of terrible Taoist priest he dislikes, one who converts to Catholicism in a bid to gain admittance for his own son in a quality Catholic school, and then tries to keep this secret from his father.
Meanwhile, his daughter is an EMT who is...let's say modern. She wanted to be the Taoist priest, but "women are filthy". The whole arc on this is surprising and moving.
It worked for us, though we might have felt different if we were Cantonese Taoists.
"The first rule is...avoid bright light."
Her Story
Another film which would be completely unwatchable if it came out of Hollywood becomes quality in the hands of the Chinese, Her Story is about a single mom editor/journalist who's trying to figure out life, while her ex-husband and boy toy drummer try to out-Alpha each other in increasingly hilarious ways.
I found myself asking why this story, which would seem positively trite in a Hollywood film, works?
And the answer is: Because the answers aren't obvious. Our heroine, Timei, is the strong, single woman that everyone looks up to. And she's kind of a mess. And the others around her looking up to her are looking up because of their own defects.
At the same time, you kind of like everyone. The men are peripheral characters, mostly, yes, but they're not weenies for that. They're mostly confused about what woman want, and they're just trying to measure up to essentially non-existent standards.
But mostly, I think it's just very human. The Chinese still remember how to human. The one-upmanship between the men is comically relatable, and the little lies and machinations of the wacky neighbor Ye are understandable.
Timei herself has given up journalism because she's too tired and afraid to print things people won't like. And by "people," I mean the government that has the ability to censor immediately whatever she writes, and risks her ability to the pay the bills.
I assume, on some level, this is all a sham double-bluff reverso, since the PRC could probably just vanish anyone they didn't like. Nonetheless, someone making the movie knows what makes a good story.
The "Her"s in question.
Nosferatu (2025)
I don't know. A remake of a German silent horror picture, or a remake of a remake of a German silent horror picture, that carries the essential message of "promiscuity is the harbinger of societal doom" did not strike me as a likely hit, and I had wagered with The Boy that this would turn out $50M-ish at the box office.
It currently sits at $60M+ so, good job on your biggest hit, Mr. Eggers.
I had a hard time getting into this movie, even as I loved all the typical Eggers-ian stuff—the moody, atmospheric, immersive historical sense of living in a German sea town as a plague descends, combined with gloriously old-fashioned horror techniques. I think, and I am not kidding, it's because there were too many people in the audience.
I may go re-watch, actually.
But the amazing thing about this movie is that embraces all the wonderful (and presumably schlocky) effects of old school horror. Since at least the '70s, there's been an effort to make Dracula into an action franchise. This completely eschews all that for creaking doors, shadows reaching over the townscape (which actually reminded me a lot of Murnau's Faust), and spooky noises.
Like, a classic moment in any Dracula is when he appears at the window. How is he going to come in. In the 1931 version, he's a bat on a string, cut to horrified girl, cut back to Bela Lugosi. Later on the bat animates into Lugosi (and other Draculas). By the '70s, he's a cloud of smoke coalescing. And so on.
Here? He's at the window. Cut to horrified girl. Cut to Skarsgaard.
Loved it. There were a lot of little things I loved, and yet couldn't believe my eyes as the Mina character—from the first scene—is to blame for Nosferatu due to a moment of teenage weakness that an alpha bad boy exploits. I mean, Dracula is often considered a sexual metaphor of sorts (too much, in my opinion) but this just outright spells it out: Keep it zipped ladies, or you doom us all.
I really didn't expect that to catch on with a modern audience.
Spooky! That's Johnny Depp's kid!
Strait-Jacket (1964)
I closed out the year with Joan Crawford in this William Castle classic, Strait-Jacket. Crawford begins as a middle-aged woman who is widowed and remarries Lee Majors for love. Turns out, Lee Majors needs a lot more love than Crawford can give him, and before you can say "Lizzie Borden", Joan has chopped their heads off with an axe.
The movie mostly takes place twenty years later and a supposedly recovered Joan has been released from the sanitarium and gone to live with her surviving daughter, an endlessly forgiving woman who has completely gotten over witnessing the beheading twenty years later.
But wouldn't you know, even modern psychiatric efforts can't guarantee our poor lady's sanity, and people start turning up headless again right and left.
Legitimately the best movie William Castle ever made, with Crawford's acting being a highlight (even if it doesn't quite all add up in a character development sense), the quality may be its downfall. By far the best parts are the campy, ham-handed and audacious aspects, such as a lanky, young George Kennedy beheading a chicken, or the rich dairy farmer father of Crawford's daughter keeping a pitcher of milk out the way you would water, and constantly offering a glass of milk to people.
The rather predictable script by Robert Bloch will not surprise you if you've ever seen a Castle film.
Diane Baker (who played the senator in Silence of the Lambs) is Crawford's daughter. Castle had an eye for young beauty. The cast is full of has-beens and would-bes, as any great B-movie will be.
A fun way to close the year out, with my final observation is that, by age, had Crawford been born in the '60s, she'd be starring in Babygirl today.
Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread.
We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it reminded us that we previewed a gingerbread theme last week. Maybe we need to feed the wheel more often...
For this hobby thread, we speak of gingerbread. It both edible and a flexible building block. We will let the Food Thread take the lead on matters of recipes and taste. The Hobby Thread will focus on making things with gingerbread. Houses are the most frequent subject but we shall not be limited to houses. Anything you build out of gingerbread is in scope.
Do you have holiday gingerbread traditions? What do you build? What past builds are you proud of? Do you have memories of decorating gingerbread houses as a child? Do you build anything other than houses? Do you have epic success or failure stories? Do you have secrets of clever uses of food ingredients? Did you make ornaments out of macaroni? Think of the pastabilities!
What are you hobbying these days? As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Your participation does not need to limited to the theme. All hobbying is welcome. However, politics, current events and religious debates can live in threads elsewhere. Even though it is arguably religion, college football is fair game. Play nice. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.
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Gingerbread history and trivia:
Did the story of Hansel and Gretel inspire gingerbread houses or did gingerbread houses inspire the fable? Which came first? Gingerbread houses likely existed before the story but the story made them more popular. They were not originally associated with Christmas. In the 1600s, only professional baker were allowed to make gingerbread except for Christmas and Easter which is why gingerbread became associated with special occasions.
Some English villages had a tradition of young women eating gingerbread men to improve their marriage prospects. Towns having fairs on the day of their patron saint would produce gingerbread cookies would have the saints image stamped into the cookie.
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Five different ways to make windows for gingerbread houses:
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99 submissions from readers and viewers of This Old House. As you might imagine, they are detailed, extensive, over the top, and totally unreasonable for most humans. Many hours, much material, and many use tools like Dremel cutters in their builds. Click to see them all.
Family Piper made several gingerbread houses over the holidays:
Details matter. Notice the snowman with the yellow stain from a neighborhood dog and the dismembered snowman corpse stuffed behind the house. Note to self: do not mess with Family Piper.
Well done and thank you!
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Lurker and occasional commenter HappyFun sent a batch of photos from their recent family gingerbread house building party. Not enough space here for all the creations, but here are a few.
Excellent gumdrop usage:
Chex mix and donuts along with artful landscaping:
Award for the use of gingerbread to create a Cybertruck instead of a house:
It includes a gingerbread bar; barstools made from peppermint sticks, with starlight mint seats; an edible jukebox; and a frosted gingerbread pool table, with tiny candy billiard balls and cues made from pretzel sticks.
The kit also comes with a mustachioed bartender and gingerbread “regulars” that, according to the beer maker, have been “infused with Miller High Life,” which is probably what plenty of people will be while they’re building this thing.
And it has seriously thought of everything — including the sticky floors.
The kits come with Vermont maple syrup for you to pour over the bar’s floor when you’re done building it, for that finishing tacky-floor touch.
Yes, the interweb has other less family friendly gingerbread projects. The Miller High Life Drive Bar is as close the Hobby Thread content is going to get to more "creative" gingerbread hobbying.
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Not gingerbread, but squarely in the realm of the Hobby Thread: A 4,500 piece Hot Wheels collection is up for sale. It was assembled by a single person over 30 years. Sadly, most are in the original packaging which means they were acquired for the collection rather than played with as God intended. The online auction ends January 8. No reserve.
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This also has nothing to do with gingerbread but this is an enormous piece of wood being turned on a lathe. The first few passes look like quite a rodeo ride.
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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week with a theme of hobbying in review and looking ahead? The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.
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Notable comments from last week:
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Words of wisdom:
"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).
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If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different theme next time. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. I told my gingerbread man a joke and he crumbled with laughter!
Notice at the market a few days ago said there would be no eggs until Tuesday. Don't know if this is a good time to be thinking about pet chickens, but here are a few breeds with good reputations for egg production. Anyone have some experience?
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Meet The PetMorons
Longtime lurker here but thought I’d share a pic of my grinning Goldendoodle Bailey. Of all the dogs I’ve owned over the years, he’s the only one that smiles when he’s happy and excited.
Bailey is our star today! What a great smile for the New Year!
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PetMoron Adjacent Animals
Encountered by Members of The Horde
From By-Tor:
Local cat on his morning rounds giving me the once over.
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By-Tor being closely watched while he works. A friend notes that the dog is tossing a gang sign (one ear down).
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Two dogs lost and found through a local volunteer organization:
Sam, found in the next town over from his home. Someone recognized a posted photo:
Don't know this one's name, but she was recovering from surgery when lost and found:
Thank you for sharing your pets and other animals with us.
If you would like to send pet and/or animal stories, links, etc. for the Ace of Spades Pet Thread, the address is:
petmorons at protonmail dot com
Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.
Until next Saturday, have a great week!
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If you start feeling nostalgic, here a link to last week's Pet Thread, the Ace of Spades Pet Thread, December 28. Some special PetMoron stories and photos there.
I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.
The mango gave more fruit than last year, but still not much. The fruit to flowering ratio is very low, perhaps depressed by the fact that there was already intense heat in the spring/early summer when the fruit was just setting. Also, the tree isn’t from one of the varieties which produce dense clumps of small fruits. Instead, it produces much larger fruits, each of which dangles its own long stem.
They look wonderful to me.
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Ah, Nature
Humans are blind to ultraviolet light. But bugs can see it! Ever wondered what a flower looks like to a butterfly or bee? Well, now we know.
Photographer Craig Burrows snapped photos of flowers in ultraviolet light. No wonder bees and butterflies love them so much!
Growwithnith Dec. 25
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Puttering
We have some grafters in The Horde. Planning any grafting projects this year?
From burnthewitch, Eupatorium was once used for fever and other maladies. It is still described at drugs.com.
Traditional/Ethnobotanical uses
Boneset has been used as a charm and as a medicinal remedy for centuries by indigenous North Americans. As a charm, the root fibers were applied to hunting whistles with the belief that they would increase the whistle's ability to call deer. As an herbal remedy, American Indians used boneset as an antipyretic (to reduce fevers). The early settlers used the plant to treat rheumatism, dropsy, dengue fever, malaria, pneumonia, and influenza. The name boneset was derived from the plant's use in the treatment of breakbone fever, a term describing the high fever that often accompanies influenza. Boneset was official in the US Pharmacopeia from 1820 to 1900.
Boneset is a large herbaceous, clump-forming rhizomatous perennial herb in the aster (Asteraceae) family that is native to the eastern USA and Canada and as far west as TX, NB and the Dakotas. It can be found in various kinds of wetlands, including marshes, bogs, fens, seeps, edges of rivers, sandy flats and ditches. The plant will grow 4-6 feet tall with a 2-4 foot spread and can form colonies.
The Latin name, Eupatorium, is derived from Eupator, a 1st century BCE king of Pontus, famed for his herbal skills. The species name, perfoliatum, means "through the leaf" since the stem seems to grow through the paired leaves.
Boneset has small white flowers that appear in late summer and fall. The plant grows well in average, medium to wet soils with a consistent water source. It prefers full sun or part shade and tolerates both sandy and clay soils with plenty of organic matter. It will tolerate short-term occasional flooding.
Use this plant in the native pollinator garden and wetland areas such as ponds, streams, marshes or rain and water gardens.
This plant was selected as the 2003 NC Wildflower of the Year, a program managed by the North Carolina Botanical Garden with some financial support from the Garden Club of North Carolina.
The famous Pat* has some lovely personal follow-up on one feature from last week:
Shiny-Brite ornaments!!, from Pat*
My husband and I were very interested in the article about the WWII-era ornaments and the Shiny-Brite name, because we actually have some of those ornaments.
Many years ago, when I’d just graduated college and we’d just gotten married, we bought a house in Michigan. Our neighbors were a widow of 95 or so, named Mrs. Kleinhans, and a maiden lady of Swedish ancestry of 75 or so, named Miss Lundahl. (God give them good rest; they were always kind to us.) When Miss Lundahl was moving (I assume to an assisted living facility), she asked if we’d like to have her Christmas ornaments, and told us some of them were very old. They’ve had places on our Christmas trees every year since then, but now we know part of their story.
In the first photo, the bottom two ornaments aren’t metallic inside, and have stiff paper caps - these are surely the ones made later in the war, when metals weren’t available for civilian uses like this. The ornament with blue stripes shows a seam, and I’m guessing this was an earlier version - it still has a metal top, but it doesn’t say Shiny Brite on it.
The second photo has three post-war ornaments - you can see part of the Shiny Brite logo atop the snow-capped ornament.
Thank you for giving us this insight into our treasured ornaments!
Those ornaments really mean something! What a great story.
I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.
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Hope everyone has a nice weekend.
If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, the address is:
ktinthegarden at g mail dot com
Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.
Good morning, Horde! Have you noticed a few unexpected issues (or narratives) appearing lately? Let's return to the thrilling days of yesteryear, namely January 2024, when the luminaries of the WEF in Davos chose "misinformation and disinformation" as the most severe short-term risk the world faced. Especially with AI taking over the internet.
Their aim was control. Something to think about, given the events of this year.
How do you think control of "the narrative" has proceeded during 2024?
"It is in the public interest that all X users stop solving crimes immediately. Solving crime is the responsibility of the federal government and local law enforcement. If we do not solve crimes first, we cannot control the narrative, and that's important for national security reasons we cannot discuss at this time."
As an incentive, the FBI is promising not to raid anyone who complies. "All you have to do is not report on suspects, observe obvious connections to other crimes, or complain when we prosecute parents of school-aged children," a spokesman for the bureau explained. "You scratch our back, we leave your back alone. Get it?"
At publishing time, the FBI had prosecuted an X user for interfering with a cover-up.
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Conspiracy Theories
Why would the police be releasing so much information to the public on this?
Seems odd to me. Oh, let’s send them down THIS rabbit hole while we clear this one over here.
I'm a conspiracy theorist about conspiracy theories, I realized today
I think some of these theories are built right into "news" stories, pre-planted secrets and meant to be dug up and form ever-so intriguing patterns for suspicious sleuths
Only seventeen more days to go. But even a senile president can do a lot of damage in 17 days when he is a malevolent narcissist. Makes you long for the good old days when the worst thing an outgoing Democrat did was steal the White House china and furniture and rip out all the ‘W” keys from the computers.
Good morning Lurkers, Opiners & Bloviators to the first of the 2025 Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival. Before we enter the Prayer Revival, just a few housekeeping matters to take care of. (Rulz for those of you in Amherst Junction)
1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be nice, be kind. No jumping, I repeat no jumping on the furniture.
3) No running with sharp objects unless you have your deductible tucked away in your wallet.
4) Have a great weekend!
As we enter a new year I would like to send a big Thank You to Annie for compiling the Prayer Request each and every week. And also a big Thank You to all who peruse this thread. I appreciate that you would spend your Saturday morning here.
AoSHQ Weekly Prayer List
Please submit any prayer requests to me, “Annie’s Stew” at apaslo atsign hotmail dot com. Prayer requests are generally removed after four weeks unless we receive an update.
Prayer Requests:
11/8 – Jim in Kalifornia could use prayers. He was scheduled for laparoscopic surgery to clean abscess(es) and add a drain.
12/11 Update – Jim had surgery, and the doctors removed “a couple of feet” of his small intestine and resected the large. Jim will be living with a colostomy bag for 6 months.
11/23 – Jewells sent an update. She has been taking ivermectin for 2 weeks, and the only side effect is extreme fatigue.
12/7 Update – Please keep praying. The past few weeks have been bad. Jewells is in a lot of pain. The bone lesions are spreading in her arms and rib cage. She is supposed to start radiation Wednesday, and is waiting to hear about a permanent drain to be put in her lungs.
12/14 Update – The drain was put in on 12/11. She was supposed to receive a sedative and medication for pain while they worked, and she received nothing. She felt everything and it hurt like hell. It also hurts when it is being drained, and that is daily for the first week. She has a great home health nurse coming in now, and she has shown Jewell’s daughter and husband how to do it.
11/30 – Tonypete offered prayers of thanksgiving - #4 son and his wife have announced the (estimated) May arrival of their first baby. They are all so thrilled.
11/30 – PabloD asked for prayers. He is currently on a two-week heart monitor and waiting for more tests. They are not sure what’s wrong. He is praying for favorable results, or at least a clear answer as to what the problem may be.
12/21 Update – The results came back showing nothing to be concerned about. They are waiting to see if insurance will authorize an echocardiogram. Thanks to the Horde for prayers.
12/7 – Hrothgar sends continued prayers for future president Trump, to keep him safe from harm and that the many forces of corruption and evil arrayed against both him and our country be made ineffective and come to naught!
12/6 – Fenelon Spoke requested prayers. She was in the hospital, after having gotten sick while out with friends. She didn’t end up having to stay the night; tests showed she was dehydrated and had a UTI.
12/7 – Our Country Is Screwed asked for prayers. Just as his daughter completed her cancer treatment (and is now cancer free, praise be to God), he has been diagnosed with cancer as well. More tests are needed, but the biopsy was malignant. What is supposed to be a season of joy is once again dampened by cancer.
12/7 – Grammie Winger updated that Rev is scheduled to have a colostomy reversal in January. Thanks be to God.
12/7 – Jordan61 requested prayers for his mother, who is going in for a CAT scan. Mom has been coughing and congested ever since she caught a cold in August. They have done antibiotics, etc. since, and a chest X-ray revealed something that caused the doctor to recommend an urgent CAT scan.
12/14 Update – The CAT scan showed she had pneumonia. They gave her antibiotics (fourth round) and are continuing with prednisone. If this doesn’t work she will have to see a lung specialist.
12/7 – rhennigantx asked for prayers for his friend Mike, who lost his best friend of 50 years.
12/10 – Village Idiot’s Apprentice requested prayers for his father, who had a major stroke on 12/9, with not a good prognosis.
12/19 Update – His father was called home to be with God at about 1 am. It is so bittersweet to know that he is no longer here, but yet already at the side of God.
12/10 – Tonypete asked for prayers for his buddy, Larry, whose mother passed away during the night. This is after Larry’s wife passed away last year. Larry is having a tough time.
12/10 – Nurse Ratched asked for a prayer for Marine. He was in a motorcycle accident yesterday. He’s got a broken nose and arm, but no spinal injuries or concussion.
12/11 – Lady in Black requested prayers for her dad. He’s 89, in declining health, and suffers from mild dementia. Lady in Black’s dad’s wife of 45 years died on 12/3. Dad is lost without her and very sad. His dementia challenges are making it even worse. Prayers for his mental and physical well-being during the time would be greatly appreciated.
12/11 – Teresa in Fort Worth has had her second round of chemo, and it went well. Thanks to God for that! Also, the anti-nausea meds are working very well for her. (We have been praying for Teresa for a couple of months, as she found she had bile duct cancer, which had metastasized into her liver. It is very rare and very serious. She hopes for at least 12 months more to live, with chemo and surgery and prayers.)
12/12 – Cybersmythe is supposed to have outpatient surgery on 12/16, but he got an abnormal ECG. He’s asking for prayers for the best of all possible outcomes.
12/21 Update – the surgery went well and there appear to be no complications. He appreciates the horde’s prayers and well wishes.
12/12 – Bulg asked for general prayers for himself and his family.
12/14 – Dash my Lace Wings asked for prayers. She has had chronic hip pain for years, but it has really started to affect her mobility. The MRI showed torn tendons. She is going to try platelet-rich-plasma injections to stimulate healing, in lieu of surgery. That will happen in January. Please pray that the tendons are healed and that she might have reduced pain for a few years, and not have to have more expensive surgery. Thank you. Also, if anyone has had this treatment, what is your opinion of it?
12/14 – About That Time asked for prayers for a daughter who is trying to give them a second grandchild. The daughter lost a baby in early October, and is pregnant again. Prayers for success are appreciated.
12/14 – Commissar Hrothgar would appreciate a prayer or two for Tim, an acquaintance from Southern Virginia. He apparently dodged a deer while driving, but went off the road into a ditch, jamming the driver’s side door, and then the car caught on fire. Amazingly, there was an ongoing house fire nearby, so the fire department EMTs saw the flames and were somehow able to extract him from the car. However, he suffered severe burns on his hands and legs. He is already receiving skin grafts on his hands and legs and will be in a bad way for some time.
12/14 – Sock Monkey asked for prayers for Publius. His cousin passed away suddenly on 12/13.
12/14 – Sharon (willow’s apprentice) could use some prayers. She had a CT scan of her hip, and may be headed toward a hip replacement. She is not worried about the surgery, which probably will improve her life, but is concerned about the loss of autonomy during recovery.
12/14 – Duke Lowell asked for prayers for his father, who was taken to the hospital 12/13 in respiratory distress. They are thinking it’s an infection, but he’s 87, and at that age anything can be serious.
12/21 Update – Thanks for the prayers; they definitely helped. Dad is recovering at home now. He had an upper respiratory infection and esophageal spasms, all treatable.
12/16 – Teresa in Fort Worth requested prayers for Paul’s niece, Amanda, who had a heart transplant 4 years ago. Now her body has started to reject it. She needs another miracle.
12/17 – Bulg asked for prayers that he would find a job soon.
12/18 – neverenoughcaffeine could use prayers. She has 3 minor medical issues. One she can ignore, but the other 2 are causing loads of pain and discomfort. They may be related. She is praying that her ortho doctor has an answer for both.
12/21 Update – She did receive two shots of cortisone in her foot, which helped with her back issues. Her foot feels better and hopefully will continue to improve. Therapy for her back is also helping.
12/21 – Fenelon Spoke asked for prayers for E, the nurse and caregiver for her church’s retired organist. “E” has been in and out of the hospital for 2 weeks with a bleeding ulcer. Prayers are also needed for Fen’s son’s supervisor who has chest pain and a fever and has missed a couple of days of work. Fen also offered a prayer of thanks to God for FenSon completing his second week of work at a new job, which was a bit challenging since his boss was out ill.
12/21 – Tonypete requested prayers for his buddy Bev. She is normally happy, but something is going on. Lately she is very sad and depressed. One of Bev’s kids has been a cause for concern in the past, so there may be trouble there.
12/21 – J.J. Sefton sends his gratitude for all of the love, prayers, and support this past year. Last Monday, his latest MRI was also negative (that’s three in a row!) and his oncologist is very pleased with his progress.
12/21 – AZ deplorable moron asked for prayers. His first cataract surgery went well and his right eye’s vision is much improved. The left eye, not so much. Infection set in and he’s had steroids and antibiotics constantly for 3 weeks. They don’t know how much vision he will have when it has healed.
12/28 Update – Annie’s Stew apologizes for guessing incorrectly the sex of AZ deplorable moron. His pronouns have been corrected above.
12/21 – Brave Sir Robin requested prayers for his co-worker, Matt and his wife Jamie and 2 kids. Matt, about 42 years old, was diagnosed with glioblastoma. This same cancer to Brave Sir Robin’s mother. Unless treatment has changed radically, Matt does not have a happy ending. Please pray for wisdom and skill from his doctors, and peace and serenity for Matt and his family.
12/21 – Sugar Plum Fairy requested prayers for her brother-in-law, M, who found out yesterday that he has leukemia. He is only in his mid-thirties and his daughter is 2. He is heading to the hospital for 6 weeks on 12/23 for testing. Please pray for strength for his wife and mother who are in shock and understandably devastated. And for good doctors and total healing if it is God’s will.
12/25 – Molly k asked for prayers. This will be a different Christmas. Mr. k passed away on 12/22. Luckily the girls and grandkids were home. He passed at home, holding their oldest granddaughter’s hand. Christmas will be fun for the “littles” but tough for the rest. 12/26 is the funeral and she is dreading it, but will do her best to make it the best day possible and be thankful for the real meaning of Christmas.
12/25 – vmom deport deport deport asked for prayers for her brother-in-law in the hospital, and for her sister, who is looking out for him.
12/26 – Joe Kidd requested a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s quiet resolution to a problem his younger (and last remaining) sibling was having with a roommate. She suffers from bipolar disorder and tends to make poor decisions when difficulties arise. Communication with her on Christmas indicated that God’s wisdom prevailed on all concerned. Praise Him!
12/28 – LF asked for prayers for success for her daughter’s open heart surgery, to repair an aortic weakness. The surgery should happen around Valentine’s Day. Her daughter is only 48.
12/28 – JW suggested the following Jewish Prayer of Faith for Healing:
JEWISH PRAYER OF FAITH FOR HEALING
Merciful God, we pray to you for the recovery of all who are facing illness or pain.
We join our prayers with all who love them. Grant them renewed strength and courage. Strengthen in them the healing powers You have placed within us all. Guide the hearts and hands of those who are entrusted with their care.
Help all who share the anxiety of this illness to be brave and hopeful.
Inspire us with courage and faith. Grant your blessings to all who call upon you.
Oh God, who blessed our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Sarah, Rebekkah, Leah, and Rachel, send your blessings to all who are ill.
Have mercy on them, and graciously restore their health and strength.
Grant them a complete recovery.
May healing come speedily.
May the knowledge of Your love and ours give added hope to them and to their dear ones.
May they find even greater strength because our prayers are linked to theirs.
When pain and fatigue are our companions, let there be room in our hearts for strength.
When days and nights are filled with darkness, let the light of courage find its place.
Help me to endure the suffering and dissolve the fear; renew within me the calm spirit of trust and peace.
We praise You, Eternal God, the Source of healing and health.
12/28 – Farmer sent thanks for the prayers for healing for his dad and for Jules. Dad is out of the hospital and is recovering. Jules’ recovery is remarkable. After surgery for a perforated ulcer, which caused severe septic shock, she was close to death. After 49 days in the hospital, she went to rehab on 12/27!
For submission guidelines and other relevant info, please contact Annie's Stew, who is managing the prayer list. You can contact her at apaslo at-sign hotmail dot com. If you see a prayer request posted in a thread comment, feel free to copy and paste it and e-mail it to Annie's Stew. She tries to keep up with the requests in the threads, but she's not here all of the time, so she may not see it unless you e-mail it to her. Please note: Prayer requests are generally removed after four weeks or so unless we receive an update.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.
"In many ways, artificial intelligence is the electricity of our age, and the next four years can build a foundation for America's economic success for the next quarter century," Microsoft president and vice chair Brad Smith writes. "It's clear that artificial intelligence is poised to become a world-changing General-Purpose Technology, or GPT. AI promises to drive innovation and boost productivity in every sector of the economy. The United States is poised to stand at the forefront of this new technology wave, especially if it doubles down on its strengths and effectively partners internationally."
Because you don't get a market cap of $150 billion by not creating the Torment Nexus.
Bench shut down very abruptly just after Christmas, leaving tens of thousands of customers without their accounting and tax information, only promising that the information would be available for download "soon".
It's not officially supported, and if you did get it working on anything other than Windows, the anti-cheat measure would make sure it didn't stay that way.
Speaking of Windows, Microsoft offered up a little Christmas gift: Your scanners don't work. (The Register)
If you are running the Windows 11 24H2 update, at least. The problem is marked as fixed, but the problem is not fixed.
The ten top movies of 2024 were all sequels or derivative works.
The problem is that Americans tend to say one thing and do another: They complain that Hollywood does not make enough original films, only to stay home or go elsewhere when studios call their bluff. Over the past year, the moviegoing masses rejected originals like "Here," "Fly Me to the Moon," "Argylle," "Horizon: An American Saga," "Harold and the Purple Crayon," "Lisa Frankenstein," "Y2K" and "Megalopolis."
But those movies sucked.
To be fair, all of those films received soft-to-poor reviews, diminishing their appeal.
The store required you to upload your ID to prove you are legitimate.
And stored all those documents - hundreds of thousands of them - on a server without a password.
Not At All Tech News
Ceres Fauna of Hololive English Council / Promise had her final stream today, before heading off to parts unknown.
To commemorate her tenure, here's a link to a picture of every Hololive talent. All of them. Retired talents like Kiryu Coco. Short-termers like Mano Aloe. Fired talents like Uruha Rushia. Forgotten talents like Hitomi Chris, who only ever streamed once. Hololive China, which only streamed on Bilibili. All of them.
Yes, there are a lot of them. The great majority are still active.
For those following along at home:
Mano Aloe is Delutaya.
Kiryu Coco is Kson.
Yozora Mel is Hanamiya Rica.
Tsukumo Sana returned to her art career and doesn't stream much these days. You can find her online, but don't bother her, her focus is art rather than streaming.
Amelia Watson is Dooby3d.
And Ceres Fauna is Lemonleaf.
On the Nijisanji side of things:
Selen Tatsuki is Dokibird.
Pomu Rainpuff is Maid Mint.
Zaion Lanza is Sayu Sincronisity.
Victoria Brightshield is MoguGhost.
Musical Interlude of the Day
AI Musical Interlude of the Day
The subject is AI, not the music, which is by Midas, who also did the Touch Tone Telephone cover:
Disclaimer: You only live three times. Maybe four. Five tops.
A former inmate at a Washington state women's prison was repeatedly sexually assaulted by her hulking transgender cellmate -- who was transferred to the prison after changing her gender identity, according to a shocking new lawsuit.
Mozzy Clark sued the state department of corrections in federal court last week for locking her in a cell with a 6-foot-4 convicted child molester who allegedly subjected her to months of stalking, threats of violence and sexual harassment and assault, according to the lawsuit.
The cellmate, Christopher Scott Williams, was convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl as a male, and was serving a separate sentence for domestic abuse.
Williams then petitioned to be recognized as female and be transferred to a women's prison, according to the lawsuit.
When the state granted the request and placed Williams in a cell with Clark, the latter's life became a living nightmare, she alleged.
State DOC records show Williams is listed as female at the Washington Corrections Center for Women.
Clark claimed Williams, who slept above her in the top bunk, would threaten to rape her, leer at her in the shower, and constantly ask for sex -- once with a homemade dildo he had brought into the cell, according to the lawsuit.
"In their cell, Ms. Clark was on the bottom bunk. Mr. Williams ... would hover menacingly over Ms. Clark's bunk with an erection while touching himself. He would also display his erection to Ms. Clark against her will, and gesture towards it, saying how much he wanted her," the lawsuit alleged.
"One night, Ms. Clark woke up and saw inmate Williams sitting on the floor next to her bed with his arm under her blanket, rubbing her genitals," the lawsuit adds.
Clark said the guards did little to protect her when she complained. Eventually Williams was moved to a separate cell, but the inmate would seek her out, stare at her in the showers, and follow her into the bathroom -- making perverted comments from the next stall, the documents alleged.
"He also started threatening her with violence if she complained about him again," according to the suit, which is asking for restitution from the state for "extreme emotional distress, shame, intimidation, humiliation, indignation, embarrassment, and fear."
Other actually-female females have also complained of him, saying that he leers at them in the showers and they feel unsafe around him.
You're not going to believe this, but almost two thirds of "transgender" inmates in UK prisons are, get this, sex offenders.
Almost two thirds of transgender prisoners who identify as female are convicted sex offenders, it has been revealed.
Out of the 245 trans women inmates, who are legally recognised as male, a total of 151, or 62 per cent, had committed at least one sexual offence.
Official figures showed that the number of prisoners who identify as transgender but do not have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) rose by almost 10 per cent to 295 in 2024.
New rules mean that trans prisoners who identify as women but have male genitalia or those convicted of violent sexual offences cannot be held in female jails, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
David Strom reveals something I didn't know. Iran took hostages to pressure the US into delivering over the deposed Shah of Iran, who'd fled the country as crazed jihadists sought to execute him.
I thought, wrongly, that Carter was some kind of friend to the Shah.
Carter, whose guiding principle was promoting human rights around the world, abandoned the Shah of Iran and basically cut a deal with Ayatollah Khomeini, paving the way for the zealous tyrant to ascend to power.
In a first-person message, Khomeini told the White House not to panic at the prospect of losing a strategic ally of 37 years and assured them that he, too, would be a friend.
"You will see we are not in any particular animosity with the Americans," said Khomeini, pledging his Islamic Republic will be "a humanitarian one, which will benefit the cause of peace and tranquillity for all mankind".
Khomeini's message is part of a trove of newly declassified US government documents - diplomatic cables, policy memos, meeting records - that tell the largely unknown story of America's secret engagement with Khomeini, an enigmatic cleric who would soon inspire Islamic fundamentalism and anti-Americanism worldwide.
This story is a detailed account of how Khomeini brokered his return to Iran using a tone of deference and amenability towards the US that has never before been revealed.
The ayatollah's message was, in fact, the culmination of two weeks of direct talks between his de facto chief of staff and a representative of the US government in France - a quiet process that helped pave the way for Khomeini's safe return to Iran and rapid rise to power - and decades of high-stakes tension between Iran and America.
In the official Iranian narrative of the revolution, Khomeini bravely defied the United States and defeated "the Great Satan" in its desperate efforts to keep the Shah in power.
But the documents reveal that Khomeini was far more engaged with the US than either government has ever admitted. Far from defying America, the ayatollah courted the Carter administration, sending quiet signals that he wanted a dialogue and then portraying a potential Islamic Republic as amenable to US interests.
...
To this day, former Carter administration officials maintain that Washington - despite being sharply divided over the course of action - stood firm behind the Shah and his government.
But the documents show more nuanced US behaviour behind the scenes. Only two days after the Shah departed Tehran, the US told a Khomeini envoy that they were - in principle - open to the idea of changing the Iranian constitution, effectively abolishing the monarchy. And they gave the ayatollah a key piece of information - Iranian military leaders were flexible about their political future.
I always thought that Carter was a victim of the Iranian revolution. Nope, he did his bit to foment it. It's not just that he was feckless in allowing Iranian jihadis to hold American hostage for (IIRC) 444 days; he in fact was part of the cause of that captivity.
Cynical Publius
@CynicalPublius
I promised to myself that I would not comment further on Jimmy Carter's death, but it bothers me to see so many otherwise sensible conservatives spouting the "Bad President, good man" line that the Democrat/Media Complex has been spinning for 40+ years. Thus, I feel the need to drop some truth bombs, propriety at time of death notwithstanding.
Yes, he hammered a few nails on some houses for poor people. But that alone does not make one a "good man," when the rest of the track record is so awful.
After Carter lost in spectacular fashion in 1980, he did not do what every other President before him did and retire to a quiet, private life. He could have farmed peanuts in Plains with Rosalynn. Instead, he bitterly engaged in active and public efforts to undermine the policies of the elected Republicans who came after him. He INVENTED the jealous, manipulative ex-President model that Obama put on steroids in 2016.
Jimmy Carter flew around the world for decades, un-asked by America, on self-appointed missions of national importance, almost always involving gleefully interacting with raging antisemitic terrorist and/or Communist leaders, always working against the official policies of the ACTUALLY ELECTED Presidents. Carter's hatred of Israel bordered on pathological, and reeked of a sort of cloaked antisemitism that has become quite fashionable today. Somehow Jimmy Carter convinced himself that he was such an important and historic figure that he stood outside and above the U.S. systems of election and governance, even though no one other than the Yassar Arafats and Hugo Chavezs of the world asked him to do so.
Jimmy Carter was a bitter, angry narcissist who cloaked his lifelong, seething rage at the indignity of being body-slammed by Ronald Reagan (someone he considered lesser than himself in every regard) with that genteel "Southern gentleman" accent, vague scripture references and the occasional hammered nail. He purposely and vengefully wreaked havoc on America's official foreign policy for decades and he INVENTED the concept of a meddling ex-President poisoning American political discourse. (In that regard, Obama has been Carter v.2.0--we have Carter to thank for that.)
Literally every aspect of the man's self-serving public life was harmful to America, he knew that, and he did it all anyway because narcissists always operate like that--they cannot help it, and they can never admit fault. Carter's "good man" image was a carefully constructed and nurtured illusion, one that he gladly worked with the corrupt media to maintain.
So please consider these factors before pronouncing "Bad President, good man." Sometimes truth needs to be said even when some find that truth untimely.
Doctor_Zero
@Doctor_Zer0
I'm old enough to remember Carter's gas lines, malaise, turn your thermostat down in winter, and the endless national humiliation of the Iran hostage crisis, so you'll pardon me if I'm not interested in reading any encomiums to his unappreciated greatness.
Carter was the avatar of the illogical and infuriating political myth that demands left-wingers be given endless credit for good intentions, even when their policies are horrifying disasters foisted upon us with fraudulent rhetoric.
The presidency of the United States is not some kindergarten assignment where everyone who plays gets a participation trophy and a smiley face sticker. Carter was an unholy disaster, and he stubbornly executed his stupid policies over the loud objections of better men and women.
He doesn't get a pass because he devoted himself to charitable work after he was thankfully bounced out of the White House by a vastly superior president. Carter's post-presidency included a great deal of vicious and destructive meddling in American diplomacy in the Middle East.
And even if Carter had kept quiet for the past half-century and just focused on building homes for the poor, the damage his administration did to the United States for generations to come was incalculable. Our children still suffer from what he did to education, for example.
Carter's failed presidency should have been studied in detail to avoid similar catastrophes in the future, including WHY he made some of his awful decisions - but those tales of venal backroom deals and political payoffs to special interests would clash with his St. Jimmy image.
The presidency of the United States is a job for serious people that should carry the highest levels of accountability. Jimmy Carter was never really held accountable for the damage he inflicted on this country, and that set a very unfortunate precedent. /end
The key to understanding Jimmy Carter is that he thought America was arrogant and dangerous. He lacked Obama's messianic hubris, so he thought his job was to humble Americans - teaching them to be satisfied with less - and restrain U.S. foreign policy influence. https://t.co/muGK4ss0RN
As Kathy Hochul Claims the New York City Subways Are Safer Than Ever, Another Freerange Murderous Lunatic Pushes a Man In Front of an Oncoming Train Update: Johnson Re-Elected Speaker, 218-215
Leftists know their policies will result in more victims, and they don't care
Five straight days of attacks in the subway: Welcome to the world progressives knowingly created.
From Sunday night's knifing in an L station to Thursday morning's stabbing of an off-duty MTA worker on a Bronx platform, the violence follows the horrific pre-Christmas arson murder of Debrina Kawam and includes Tuesday's miraculously non-fatal shoving onto tracks in Manhattan.
And the hell-ification of the underground is a predictable consequence of "social justice" policies.
Take Kamel Hawkins, 23 and charged with second-degree assault and attempted murder for allegedly shoving that unsuspecting stranger in front of an incoming 1 train.
No surprise: His long rap sheet includes a 2019 attack on a police officer, plus an assault, harassment and weapons possession charge from October and a 2020 case where the judge released him without bail despite prosecutors asking for remand.
Keep letting violent perps walk free, and the violence grows -- but progs insist going easy on criminals matters more than preventing innocent people from being killed or maimed.
They've told us this.
Way back in 2007, Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm, one of the first wave of radical "reform" prosecutors, laid it out: "Is there going to be an individual I divert, or I put into a treatment program, who's going to go out and kill somebody? You bet. Guaranteed. It's guaranteed to happen. It does not invalidate the overall approach."
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and the state legislators behind New York's "criminal justice reforms" might not be as frank about it, but they make the same calculation.
As do those who proclaim the moral urgency of letting the dangerously mental ill roam free and untreated, or allowing millions of unvetted illegal migrants -- rapists, murders and gangbangers among them -- to cross the border.
"Enforcing the law" is an inherently evil, white supremacist project that must be eradicated; the people who get robbed, raped or murdered along the way are collateral damage.
...
And the whole sad wave of underground violence is a predictable -- indeed, predicted -- result of the progressive refusal to fight farebeating, the "gateway drug" of subway crime.
The needless, bloody chaos won't stop until this poisonous ideology is rejected at every level of government.
Not even leftwing lunatics will accept this level of public disorder, mayhem, and slaughter.
She's triangulating against the NY Assembly, blaming them for the state of chaos:
Gov. Kathy Hochul says the recent surge in violence in the subway "cannot continue."
This week alone, a man survived being shoved onto the tracks and fracturing his skull. The new year also started with three subway stabbings in two days. One of the victims was an MTA employee.
Late last month, Debrina Kawam was set on fire and killed on a train in Coney Island.
"Many of these horrific incidents have involved people with serious untreated mental illness, the result of a failure to get treatment to people who are living on the streets and are disconnected from our mental health care system. We have a duty to protect the public from random acts of violence, and the only fair and compassionate thing to do is to get our fellow New Yorkers the help they need," Hochul said in a statement.
She says people on the streets with untreated mental illness "is an issue that has plagued New York for decades."
She says she will include new legislation in the executive budget to change New York's involuntary commitment standards.
"Currently hospitals are able to commit individuals whose mental illness puts themselves or others at risk of serious harm, and this legislation will expand that definition to ensure more people receive the care they need," Hochul said in a statement. "I will also introduce companion legislation to change Kendra's Law, improving the process through which a court can order certain individuals to participate in Assisted Outpatient Treatment while also making it easier for individuals to voluntarily sign up for this treatment. I've been pushing these changes for the past three years -- the time for legislative action is now."
...
The New York Civil Liberties Union said that while Hochul is correct that the status quo regarding mentally ill homeless people is "untenable," the solution she's seeking isn't the right one.
"The change we need is not simply to lock more people away, especially those who pose no immediate threat to themselves or others. That doesn't make us safer, it distracts us from addressing the roots of our problems, and it threatens New Yorkers' rights and liberties," NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said.
Note the below incident -- which is horrifying, discretion advised -- was supposedly not an act of terror. Rather, supposedly, the driver was 69 years old and became "confused" while driving.
But this sort of thing doesn't get stopped when crime is rampant. If NYC weren't an ultraviolent zoo this side of A Clockwork Orange, cops might have stopped this guy from driving earlier.
This is not a “mentally disturbed” person. It’s a psychopath who acted on impulse for kicks because he could, because there is no policing to speak of on the subway. It is the law of the jungle where the weak and outnumbered are prey. We pay billions of dollars in taxes to… https://t.co/T8kKEYZwRB
Elon Musk Accurately Blames UK PM Keir Starmer for Covering Up "South Asian" Groomer/Rape Gangs, and the Leftwing Sociopath Media Rushes to Defend Starmer
—Ace
This is news again because of the partial release of transcripts of a report about the Pakistani child rape gangs -- and the UK government's inadequate response to it.
Here's just a disgusting sample:
The 12 year old had to be "prepared" for her anal gang rape.
They also employed ISIS methods of coercion to keep 11-year-old victims quiet, threatening to burn them alive:
The UK continues taking a lackadaisical wait-and-see approach to criminal illegal alien Islamist invaders convicted of raping children:
Musk pointed out that Keir Starmer was the Crown Prosecutor during the groomer rape gang cover-up:
Elon Musk
@elonmusk
Starmer was complicit in the RAPE OF BRITAIN when he was head of Crown Prosecution for 6 years.
Starmer must go and he must face charges for his complicity in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain.
I saw another Tweet claiming that the Crown Prosecutor must okay all prosecutions for rape. The obvious implication being that Keir Starmer refused to prosecute the Islamist rape gangs.
The sociopathic Rape Culture Media rushed to attack Trump and defend the government which facilitated the mass-rape of children:
The UK "Independent" urges Keir Starmer to stand fast against Elon Musk's non-approved truth-saying:
Keir Starmer should be very afraid. Some of the most toxic forces in British politics are being stirred and amplified by Elon Musk, who has the power of media barons of old -- with even less responsibility.
The pinned tweet on Musk's X account this morning said: "Free Tommy Robinson!" It stays at the top of his page while, underneath, he describes Starmer as the "head of the Crown Prosecution Service when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice"; and calls for Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, to be in prison.
This is dangerous stuff, boosting anti-democratic conspiracy theories based on myth rather than fact.
Robinson -- whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon -- is in prison because he admitted contempt of court by repeating untrue allegations that a teenage Syrian refugee violently attacked fellow students. Yet Yaxley-Lennon's tiny band of supporters -- now including Musk -- insist that he is a political prisoner, jailed for exercising his right to free speech.
Equally, several rape gangs faced justice while Starmer was head of the CPS. While Starmer himself admitted that some cases had not been prosecuted because of a "lack of understanding" of the credibility of the victims, there is no evidence that he was involved in any decisions not to prosecute.
Except that he was head of the prosecution when prosecutions were denied, en masse. I mean, just that.
Other than the fact he has total responsibility, there is no evidence he was responsible.
...
And [Musk] boosts it with the irrationalist memes of the anti-politics right. The latest theme is the demand for a public inquiry into rape gangs, which Phillips, the minister responsible, has turned down for the rather obvious reason that there has already been an inquiry into child sexual abuse, chaired by Professor Alexis Jay, which reported two years ago.
This demand has been taken up by GB News, another new element of the media ecosystem. It was a comment by Liz Truss on a GB News report about Phillips that prompted Musk to reply: "She deserves to be in prison."
Labour has blocked an inquiry into Sir Keir Starmer's conduct as the head of the Crown Prosecution Service while investigating the Oldham child grooming scandal...
When you refuse to investigate crimes, you deliberately freeze yourself in a state of "no evidence."
But of course that's the whole point.
Did the FBI learn that from the UK, or did the UK learn it from the FBI?
Why is Tommy Robinson in a solitary confinement prison for telling the truth?
He should be freed and those who covered up this travesty should take his place in that cell.
And the mass rapes did not stop -- they're still going on today, due to the UK's criminalization of mentioning them and condemning them.
It's not just about "cultural sensitivities" -- it's also about the left wing in every country playing for the votes of Islamist colonizers:
Mario Nawfal
@MarioNawfal
UK'S LABOUR PRIORITIZED VOTES OVER JUSTICE FOR RAPE GANG VICTIMS
Former Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk has revealed that Labour figures, including ex-party chairman Tony Lloyd, pressured him not to link rape gangs to the Asian Muslim community, fearing it would harm their electoral prospects.
This disgraceful political cowardice ignored the horrific abuse of vulnerable children, with estimates suggesting up to a million young girls have suffered at the hands of rape gangs across the UK. Danczuk described being "threatened" by Lloyd to stay silent and accused Labour of sacrificing justice for the sake of votes.
Tory's Kemi Badenoch call for a national inquiry into grooming gangs highlights the urgent need to uncover the truth and hold enablers accountable. Yet, Labour's refusal to support investigations in places like Oldham and Bradford demonstrates a shocking disregard for victims.
The political establishment must stop shielding itself and start prioritizing justice. These victims deserve action--not silence.
Kemi Badenoch is a good leader -- but the Conservatives only elevated her when they had no other choice remaining to them, after their electoral drubbing. They do not agree with her. They are putting her forward as a figurehead to stop the bleeding of support to Reform.
This statement is nice, but it reminds me of Republicans who make noise about illegal immigration when a Democrat President is in charge.
When they actually have the power to do something, they do nothing.
And while I believe Kemi Badenoch is serious about this, her party simply isn't. They are globalists.
Mario Nawfal
@MarioNawfal
UK'S CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER DEMANDS NATIONAL INQUIRY INTO RAPE GANG SCANDAL
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition, is calling for a full public inquiry into the UK's rape gangs scandal. Her demand follows Labour's Jess Phillips rejecting Oldham Council's request for a government-led investigation.
Chris Philp, a senior Conservative MP, supported Badenoch's call, stating that justice is overdue for the thousands of victims across 15-25 towns. Elon also weighed in, slamming Starmer for his failures as CPS head during these crimes.
The scale of this atrocity is staggering, with estimates of up to a million victims, and even more. For decades, systemic failures in police forces, councils, and the justice system allowed these crimes to flourish unchecked.
Badenoch's call is a critical step toward addressing the injustice and ensuring accountability for those who enabled these heinous acts. A national inquiry isn't just necessary--it's a moral imperative. Britain cannot allow these victims to be failed any longer.
Musk is roiling Britain by telling UK voters to drop their conservative affiliation and vote for Reform.
God Save Great Britain
@GSGB01
BREAKING: Reform MP Rupert Lowe blasts the political establishment:
'@elonmusk has done more for these abused British girls in a few days than almost any British politician has in decades.'
What does that say about our political establishment?
The details emerging about what the rape gangs (why call them 'grooming' gangs? It's like calling those who stab people to death 'knife owners') did to girls in Rotherham are downright horrific. The allegations of possible police corruption in the case are almost beyond belief. https://t.co/0SVoxuqw6K
As mentioned, the "Conservative" party is a co-enabler with the leftwing Labour Party. The "Conservative" Party is absolutely committed to the mass importation of the entire jihadist world.
Musk is calling for conservative voters to abandon the left-controlled "Conservative" Party and join Reform, which will actually stop mass migration and prosecute rape gangs, no matter what the "political sensitivities."
This MP cutie polled her constituents about whether she should quit the Tories and join Reform. They said yes.
For Further Reading and Review: Some pages from Douglas Murray's The Strange Death of Europe, discussing the Rotherham rape gangs and the UK government's co-conspiratorial facilitation of them.
I'm not sure what happens if they don't elect a Speaker. I assume there will be further balloting, but if the Perpetual No Caucus keeps voting "no," then there is no Speaker, Congress can't act, and Congress can't certify Trump and Vance's victory.
As potentially extended battles to elect new speakers of the House of Representatives become more frequent, a common fear is repeatedly expressed in the national news media that the chamber cannot act until the new speaker is chosen.
An Oct. 4, 2023, headline in the Washington Post, for example, succinctly captured the fear, proclaiming "The House Can't Function Without a Speaker."
More recently, a USA Today news report on Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) prospects for keeping the gavel in the 119th Congress included the declaration that "members can't tackle any other business until someone is chosen."
The lower chamber in the 119th Congress can function without a speaker and has done so as recently as October 2023, when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was removed by conservative rebels led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) presided over the House as acting speaker while the House Republican Conference struggled before finally settling on Johnson to replace McCarthy.
The House convened at noon today for the first meeting of the new Legislature. The election of a speaker, the swearing-in of members, and the adoption of rules under which the chamber will operate are the first orders of business.
Fears that Johnson may be unable to keep the gavel are justified, thanks to the narrow Republican majority of 219--215. If all 435 members are present and voting, Johnson cannot afford to lose more than one vote.
But here's the thing: If Trump is only certified under an "acting speaker," the left will go back insisting he is an Illegitimate Usurper and it's 2016 #ResistanceReborn again.
Can we just not fuck around to grandstand for once?
U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D) loses her mind on the House Floor after she and other non-voting delegates are not allowed to vote for House Speaker because they represent territories, not states
NOLA Terorist's Mosque Teaches That Jews Take Over Countries, and that European Countries Only Support Israel Because They Don't Want the Evil Jews Coming Back
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the Islamic terrorist who killed 14 people in the New Year's Eve attack on New Orleans, lived near a Houston mosque led by a radical imam who once preached that Hitler massacred Jews because "they like to take control of the economy," video footage shows.
The Jewish people "have many problems, but that's one of the main problems--they like to take control of the economy," Imam Eiad Soudan of Houston's Masjid Bilal mosque said in November 2023, according to footage released by the Middle East Media Research Institute. "Everywhere they go, whatever is the rule, as long as they get to the goal, the means don't matter."
"They seek corruption in the land," Soudan continued. "Hitler hated the Israelites so bad because of the economy thing, they were in control of the economy." He referred to Hitler as "this guy ... with the nice moustache."
Also at Instapundit: Mosque Near Home Of New Orleans Attacker Reportedly Tells Locals Not To Speak Directly To Feds Or Media. Hit the link for that.
If Islam really were the religion of peace that virtually every non-Muslim politician in the Western world has been insisting it is for the last twenty-plus years, we would expect a certain kind of reaction from the mosque that jihad mass murderer Shamsud-Din Jabbar frequented. Yet a mosque that is within walking distance of Jabbar's Houston home has offered just the opposite reaction. Law enforcement and intelligence officials are unlikely to take any notice, lost as they are in woke dogmas and fantasies, but if protecting the American people were their first priority, they would be paying close attention.
On Wednesday afternoon, Masjid Bilal ISGH (Islamic Society of Greater Houston) issued this statement:
Assalamu Alaikum [Peace be upon you] Brothers and Sisters,
I'm sure many of you have heard about the tragic events that took place in New Orleans this morning that are now being classified as an "act of terror" by the FBI.
I want to emphasize the importance of everyone to stay very vigilant and aware of your surroundings. The safety of our community is the most important thing.
Only their own community's safety is important.
If anyone is contacted by the media, it is very important that you do not respond. If approached by the FBI and a response is necessary, please refer to CAIR and ISGH.
It is crucial that we stay united at this time as we condemn these terrible acts. Please stay safe.
JazakAllahu Khairun [May Allah reward you with blessings]
Masjid Bilal Management
This statement was as notable for what it didn't say as for what it did. The mosque expressed no shock, horror, or even disapproval of Jabbar's jihad attack. It offered no condolences to the families of the victims. It offered nothing regarding what it planned to do to ensure that other members of the congregation didn't misunderstand Islam in the way that Shamsud-Din Jabbar supposedly did. It didn't include a word about cooperating with law enforcement efforts, or affirming the mosque members' patriotism and renunciation of jihad violence.
[I]t is obvious that a considerable campaign of recruitment inside the United States is still ongoing. The New Orleans terrorist appears to have been radicalized while in the United States. Whether that was online or via a network within the US will soon be learned.
But we should hope that the full force of the law -- and law enforcement agencies -- comes down on any and all such groupings.
Many in the intelligence community and the police are indeed working hard on such cases. But there is a societal torpor about this work.
If the New Yea's Eve attack had not been jihadist, but had -- for instance -- been some far-right white supremacist, every corner of our media and politics would be rightly lining up to demand answers. We would be asking who the people were who had put such a person up to such an attack. Who had helped him? Who had encouraged him? Who had said it was all right -- in fact good -- to do such a thing?
Even after almost a quarter of a century, it is still different with jihadists. There are too many people who think that there are "cultural sensitivities" that have to be respected. People talk about making sure that whole communities are -- rightly -- not smeared by association.
Yet if people are worried about guilt by association, why not cut that out by being very clear indeed about the sort of people, including Muslims, who do in fact encourage terrorism?
Take the most prominent Muslim group in the United States -- the Council on American Islamic Relations. As well as being an unindicted co-conspirator in past terrorism cases, CAIR's leadership is still full of people who are not anti-terror, but actually pro-terror.
It is quite an achievement if you think about it. To lead a Muslim American organization and praise terrorism, only to then complain that too many people conflate Muslims and terrorism. Ever think you're part of the problem, guys?
...
The fact that there isn't more outrage about groups like CAIR and people like Awad is because they are not as rare as we might wish. And there is too little wider societal courage to call these people out.
That is a very incisive point. If this really were just a few rogue Muslims, there would be no "cultural sensitivities" about denouncing Islamist terrorism.
The trouble is that there is a widespread and popular support for terrorism in the Muslim community -- that's why there are "cultural sensitivities." If this really were "just some extremists," no one, Christian Jewish or Muslim, would have any problem condemning jiahdism.
But it's not "just some extremists." Support for terrorism is common among Muslims, and thus the "sensitivities."
The Israel Defense Force (IDF) announced Tuesday it launched a drone strike that killed a top Hamas commander who was behind last year's Oct. 7 attack on the Kibbutz Nir Oz.
The IDF identified Hamas commander Abd al-Hadi Sabah as the perpetrator behind the kibbutz attack, which resulted in the deaths or capture of nearly half of the community's 400 residents, per Fox News. The kibbutz is located in southern Israel, near the Gaza border.
Sabah was discovered hiding in a shelter in a designated humanitarian area of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, the IDF said.
The FBI says journalists were allowed to enter the New Orleans terrorist's home after:
"FBI Houston cleared the scene Thursday morning and released it back to the property owner. The property owner has discretion as to who they allow/don't allow to enter their property once law enforcement has released it."
I also asked the FBI why they did not seize the laptop, Quran, and other religious materials in the ter*ort's home and they did not comment.
CreditL @JennieSTaer
If the terrorist had been one of those "white supremacist Christian nationalists" the media can never stop talking about -- despite being as non-existent as Jussie Smollett's "MAGA Country" attackers -- you better bet they'd have seized his Bible as evidence and used that to prove motive.
But ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF PEACE so it's not evidence of anything except of loving Allah.
Meanwhile, a CNN snowflake anchorbimbo and CNN's "national security expert" -- a leftwing radical, of course -- says that it was wrong for the New Orleans mayor to have admitted this was terrorism.
Host Pamela Brown asked national security analyst Juliette Kayyem, "I mean, I've sadly covered too many tragedies like this and it struck me because normally you don't come right out of the gate and label it a terrorist attack or not, Juliette, you know, you say 'we're looking into all possibilities' because it's so early, you don't really know. And there were these explosive devices. This suspect shot at police and hit two police officers. Ten people are killed. More than 30 in the hospital. I mean, this is horrific, Juliette, how do you see this?"
One of those who did label it a terrorist attack was Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Kayyem, who thinks Donald Trump is a terrorist, patronized her and, one presumes, others for believing what they saw with their own eyes, "Yeah, I just think the mayor made a mistake. Let's just, you know, in some ways, move on. It has to be clarified. I do not think she should have come out. You actually saw the people behind her, sort of, flinch. She was speaking as a politician and as someone who governs the city that this was terrorizing. It was terrible. It was terror for those there. But we are now in the investigation and prosecution stage."
THE MORNING RANT: A Criminal Conviction and a Reminder - There Are College Students from China Spying on U.S. Defense Facilities
—Buck Throckmorton
Amidst all the chatter about mysterious drones on the eastern seaboard, and talk of foreign nationals coming to this country to attend college or gain employment under special status, how has this story from a few months ago not received more widespread attention?
A Chinese national named Fengyun Shi, who came to the United States to attend college in Minnesota, was arrested and convicted of spying on operations at the Newport News naval Shipyard via drone. He also flew his drone over the BAE shipyard in nearby Norfolk. BAE is a defense contractor that provides “...some of the world's most advanced, technology-led defence, aerospace and security solutions…we develop, engineer, manufacture, and support products and systems to deliver military capability, protect national security and people, and keep critical information and infrastructure secure.” These military shipyards are in Virginia, not Minnesota, where Mr. Shi was supposed to be attending college.
This story had completely escaped my notice until I came across this tweet from The Virginian Pilot newspaper a few days ago.
A Chinese student was charged with six misdemeanor counts under the Espionage Act after his drone got stuck in a tree near Newport News Shipbuilding.
While the national news clearly ignored this story as nothing more than a local crime story, it did get a little bit of local press in Minnesota and Virginia. The story is partly comical, as this Chinese spy got caught when his drone got stuck in a tree, but it is deeply disturbing too.
As reported in Wired magazine last May, despite being in this country to attend graduate school, Fengyun Shi was taking a break from his studies at the University of Minnesota, at which time he traveled to Virginia. While flying a drone in inclement weather (e.g. when there was cloud cover that prevented Chinese satellites from being able to spy) Mr. Shi accidentally got a drone stuck in a tree in a residence just outside the Newport News naval yard. This shipyard produces the United States’ nuclear submarines, among other warships.
When Mr. Shi approached the house to try to get his drone out of the tree, the property’s occupant asked for Mr. Shi’s ID. The occupant then took pictures of Mr. Shi’s ID, along with the license plate of Shi’s rental car, and then called the police. The police advised Mr. Shi to remain there while they called the fire department to get the drone out of the tree, but instead, Mr. Shi fled. Federal officials recovered the drone and found forbidden photographs in a memory card that was on the drone.
When the FBI seized the drone and pulled the photos off its memory card, they discovered images that special agent Shalowitz said she recognized as being taken at Newport News Shipyard and BAE Systems, which is a 45-minute drive away. The affidavit states that on the day Shi took the photos, the Newport News Shipyard was “actively manufacturing” aircraft carriers and Virginia class nuclear submarines.
“Naval aircraft carriers have classified and sensitive systems throughout the carriers,” the affidavit states. “The nuclear submarines present on that date also have highly classified and sensitive Navy Nuclear Propulsion Information (‘NNPI’) and those submarines even in the design and construction phase are sensitive and classified.”
Mr. Shi was charged with multiple criminal misdemeanors in violation of the Espionage Act, including the prohibited filming of a military installation, as well as the prohibited use of aircraft to criminally spy on U.S. military facilities. He subsequently pled guilty to several espionage charges. There’s much more that I am getting to, but how is espionage by a foreign national on U.S. soil only a misdemeanor?
In October of this year, Fengyun Shi was sentenced to six months in prison. This October article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune reveals some more information about Mr. Shi that is very troubling….
Mr. Shi bought the drone on January 3, then flew from San Francisco to Norfolk the next day. On January 5 he flew the drone over the BAE shipyard, before heading down to Newport News on January 6, the day his drone got stuck in a tree while photographing the naval shipyard. After he fled from the scene of his snagged drone, he returned to the Bay area in California, where he was arrested on January 18 ”…before he could board a one-way flight to China.”
If all this isn’t crazy enough, at his sentencing in October in U.S. District Court, Fengyun Shi “was also ordered to be on court supervision for one year after his release as part of his sentence under a World War II-era statute that is part of the Espionage Act.”
Why is this convicted spy, who is a Chinese citizen, going to be released into the United States “on court supervision” after his release from federal prison for spying on the Unites States of America?! In what inverted world is this happening?
Coincidentally, the Wall Street Journal reported this story about drones swarming around Virginia military facilities in October of 2024:
The drones headed south, across Chesapeake Bay, toward Norfolk, Va., and over an area that includes the home base for the Navy’s SEAL Team Six and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval port.
If we don’t want Chinese spies doing surveillance work around U.S. military installations, a blindingly obvious way to stop it is to not allow Chinese spies into our country under cover of student visas or work visas.
In 2006, we had 580k foreign students in America. 10 years later, the number swelled to 1.5 million, where it is today. Another legacy of Obama but embraced by both parties.
It's even more insane that we are letting these foreign “students” who are not even enrolled in college stay in the country so they can spy on our military facilities, and even after they’re convicted and sentenced, they’ll be turned loose in the U.S. to continue spying rather than being deported as hostile foreign agents.
The only explanation for importing foreigners who seek to harm our country is to understand that the people allowing this to happen also seek to weaken and harm the United States.
Good morning kids. In the wake of the horrific Islamic terror attack in New Orleans and the simultaneous near mass casualty event in Las Vegas that have some very problematic connections, primarily that the two maniacs served on the same army base together. Once again, as CBD and I pondered on the first podcast of the new year,
is it the ideology that drives the incompetence, or vice versa, insofar as you have to have some sort of deficiency or incompetence in order to have a worldview that allows what happened on New Years eve and indeed what has been unleashed on America since Obama and ramped up to ludicrous speed with the installation of his vegetable puppet after the rigging and theft of the 2020 election. Our government and far too much of our less and less "private" sector has been committing slow DEICIDE. Not the murder of God, though a cursory look at the state of our culture indicates a strong case for that, but I mean the intentional murder of our nation by D-E-I.
As both a byproduct of and a prime force behind the dismantling of the nation in its effort to hijack it lock stock and barrel, the prioritization of elevating the unqualified and worse, the stridently militant has resulted in mass slaughter as well as the persecution and marginalization of the politically disfavored. Link after link shows our national law enforcement and national security apparatus populated for sure at its highest levels by inept political operatives who for the sake of their puppet masters have destroyed our national security by the abrogation of their oaths to protect the personal safety and security of the American citizenry.
That's bad enough, but then look at the actions, that is inaction of FEMA in the wake of recent hurricanes that devastated parts of North Carolina just before the election. Regardless of the timing, or because of the timing, FEMA intentionally left thousands of people homeless, without power to fend for themselves because they were viewed as Trump supporters.
The greatest threat to our national security is not merely Islam in and of itself, which as nearly 1,600 years of history and the oceans of blood spilled in its drive for global conquest prove, but those who hide behind the bloody keffiyeh of diversity to sew division and transmogrify the victims into perpetrators. Despite the fact that the New Orleans beast had a veritable bomb-making factory for his abode, note:
HOUSTON – ISIS-inspired New Orleans terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar kept a bomb-making workbench in his ramshackle Texas trailer home — where a Quran was left open on a page about “slaying” in the name of Allah, exclusive photos obtained by The Post show.
Jabbar’s north Houston home was filled with chemical residue and chemical bottles, while an inventory of items seized by the FBI — left behind by investigators who raided his house on Wednesday — included a long list of compounds used in bomb-making.
His Quran was propped atop a bookshelf, a centerpiece in his living room, and open to a passage reading, “they fight in Allah’s cause, and slay and are slain; a promise binding…”
If the image of the falling man off the South Tower of the WTC on 9/11/01 deciding it better to plummet 108 floors to his death rather than being burned to death didn't mean anything, than that non-trivial little detail that I highlighted won't register either.
On its way out the door, the Biden administration unveiled its National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate in December. The Strategy, which denied Islamic terrorism and claimed Muslims were the victims of irrational hate, was not only a giveaway to Islamist groups, but it marked yet another failure by the administration to lay out a counter-terror strategy.
Video of President Joe Biden’s often-repeated claim that white supremacy is a greater threat than either ISIS or Al-Qaeda has gone viral, in light of Wednesday’s deadly attack on pedestrians in New Orleans by a suspect displaying an ISIS flag in his vehicle.
Posting a flashback video on social media, Journalist Nick Sortor blamed the attack on the Biden Administration’s downplaying of the Islamist terror threat:
“PRESIDENT BIDEN FLASHBACK: ‘Terrorısm from white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today—not ISIS, not Al-Qaeda, white supremacists.’ An ISIS terrorıst just carried out one of the LARGEST TERR0R ATTACKS in the U.S. since 9/11. THIS IS ON YOU, @POTUS.”
. . . The video is a clip from Biden’s speech in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 1, 2021, in which the president reiterated a claim he had made to Congress:
“As I said in my address to the joint session of Congress: According to the intelligence community, terrorism from white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today. Not ISIS, not al Qaeda — white supremacists.”
“I say this wherever I go,” Biden revealed in a May 13, 2023 speech at Howard University, Politico reported at the time:
“President Joe Biden denounced white supremacy as the ‘most dangerous terrorist threat’ to the nation in his commencement address to Howard University’s graduating class Saturday.
“‘White supremacy … is the single most dangerous terrorist threat in our homeland,’ Biden said. ‘And I’m not just saying this because I’m at a Black HBCU. I say this wherever I go.’”
Funny because Biden's best friends for years were some of the most vile racists – the Dixiecrats. Of course when blacks began realizing this, the Titanic myth that the Democrats from former confederate states en masse switched parties and the Democrats became the party of civil rights was spawned. of the 26 or 28 senators only ONE switched parties (Strom Thurmond) and of the several hundred congressmen, only THREE switched. And it was because of economic policy, not because of racial politics, intertwined to a certain extent as they may be.
The notion that there is some vast undercurrent of White supremacy in the US is provably false. It does not exist and has not existed since Woodrow Wilson, a DEMOCRAT, held his infamous Klan Bake at the White House. The KKK was originally the Armed Militant Wing of the Democrat Party meant to subvert integration and terrorize black GOP voters. Since then, and 60 or more years after LBJ and the Democrats sealed the fate of blacks, we have this mythology that Democrat = Good and Republican = Evil. And it is being used across all ethnic and other demographic lines to divide and conquer.
Despite sham organizations like the SPLC and ACLU's fakery, there are perhaps fewer than 30,000 actual white supremacists in a nation of over 320 million people, fully a third of them or more here illegally and foreigners. And the majority of those 30,000 are found primarily in the prison system. But let's not let facts get in the way of creating a bogeyman.
Of course when the FBI isn't orchestrating insurrections like it did on 1/6/21, it's doing its best to persecute grandmothers praying in front of abortion abbatoirs or manufacture evidence to railroad Donald Trump.
Unless and until we can tear out the corruption and incompetence root and branch from within our government as well as get a handle on Islam, we've got problems, my friends.
Lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.
Newsweek reports that "The informant also reported that Spafford had voiced support for political assassinations and was stockpiling weapons and ammunition. Following the failed assassination attempt on President-elect Donald Trump in July, it was reported that he told the informant he 'hoped the shooter doesn't miss Kamala [Harris].'" He also reportedly told a neighbor that "missing children in the news had been taken by the federal government to be trained as school shooters." He allegedly used pictures of Joe Biden for target practice. FBI: Largest Number of Pipe Bombs Ever Found (And You Won't Believe Where They Found Them)
The New Orleans FBI Field Office has aggressively promoted diversity initiatives on social media, especially in its recruitment efforts. A press release from May 20, 2024, stated the bureau would hold a “Diversity Agent Recruitment (DAR) event” to aid in their search for applicants with “diverse backgrounds, skills, opinions, and perspectives.” New Orleans’ FBI Office, Police Department Are Chock Full Of DEI Nonsense
“If I would have waited no more than a minute, I could’ve been out there hurt, injured, dead. I’m lucky to be alive, the wristbands let us get back in quickly and easily, but I just wanted to go back in and I just didn’t feel like being out on the street anymore,” Birth-Mitchell said. “Maybe that saved me, and I also still feel guilty that I couldn’t help or that other people didn’t make it out. So on one hand you’re happy, on the other hand you feel terrible inside.” ‘I’m Lucky To Be Alive’: Witness Of New Orleans Terror Attack Recounts Chaos That Occurred In Front Of His Eyes
“There’s a fine line between anger and grief and I’m pretty much straddling that line right now. If you don’t believe in objective evil, all you need to do is go walk about 30 or 40 yards that way, we’ve still got bodies on the ground. That’s one of the reasons we postponed the game,” Kennedy said. “I’m here for two reasons: One, these are my people, these are my people’s guests. Number two, I don’t want to hear from anybody in the federal government that they don’t have the resources.” ‘Never Know What They Aren’t Telling Us’: John Kennedy Taking FBI Info On New Orleans Massacre With Grain Of Salt
In 2015, local Texas police thwarted what would have been a massive terrorist attack in Garland, Texas. The saga began when the Islamic State recruited Erick Jamal Hendricks, a North Carolina man, who later befriended an undercover FBI agent. Hendricks connected the FBI agent to radical Islamist terrorist Elton Simpson. FLASHBACK: 10 Years Before New Orleans Terror Attack, FBI Agent Told Another Islamist To ‘Tear Up Texas’
As I’ve noted previously, an Intifada is a spate of mass murders (like the one we just witnessed), bombings and stabbing attacks. They infamously targeted Israeli Jews during two deadly waves between the late 1980’s and early 2000’s. But the hamassholes we’ve allowed to occupy our own nation have made “globalize the Intifada” their number one chant. Hamassholes Cheer On 'Intifada' in Streets HOURS After New Orleans Terrorist Attack
Let’s all give a big shout-out to the “Globalize the intifada” crowd. You got your way! Congratulations. Hope it feels good. For years, citizens of Israel have had maniac jihadists driving at them and trying to mow them down on their streets. But this got only cheers from the dolts on US college campuses and New York street protesters. Then, just before Christmas, Germany again got a taste of this “intifada.” That was when a Saudi immigrant decided to plow a vehicle through a previously happy Christmas market. He killed five people and injured almost 200. Douglas Murray: From college campuses to Afghanistan, we let Islamic terrorism rise again
The PA made good on a threat by its dominant political party, Fatah, last month to take action against Al Jazeera for its unflattering coverage of raids against armed groups in the West Bank. The PA decided to conduct a rare crackdown against militant groups lurking in the Jenin refugee camp, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, after several vicious street battles. Al Jazeera Compares "Palestinian' Authority to Israel After Getting Censored for ‘Misinformation’
More recently, Massad appeared on a Pakistani podcast and claimed that European Jews had simply invented their link to ancient Israel — despite millennia of Jewish tradition, and documented migration back and forth to Israel. Columbia Professor Who Celebrated October 7 to Teach Course on Zionism
It's hard to say what the worst thing is about Mike Schmidt's tenure as Multnomah County district attorney, but his latest move on his way out the door should secure his spot as the worst DA ever in Portland, Ore. This guy's specialty was attacking churches. Schmidt never charged him and his buddies who targeted churches during the George Floyd riots. Woke DA Seeks Final Revenge on Voters Who Kicked Him Out of Office
“I lost my job to Indian Outsourcing by Verizon,” wrote one user, adding: “Tens of Millions of others have lost their jobs in a similar fashion. You are telling my Daughter that her college degree means nothing anymore because she now has to compete against 7 Billion people across the entire PLANET for a job,” he added, warning of a “bloodbath” in the midterms if the President-elect does not make a course correction, followed by another impeachment. Trump Posts Pro-H1B Piece from Far Left Editorial Board. The Responses Are Worth Reading.
The poll’s findings cast doubt on proposals that Congress should increase the number of H-1B visas being issued. Notably, only 26 percent support increasing the present influx of foreign workers. DATA: 60% Oppose Increase to H-1B Visas.
Japan’s Nippon Steel is proposing granting the U.S. government veto power over any cuts to U.S. Steel to clear the way for its acquisition of the American company. The proposal comes after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) referred the decision to Joe Biden to either approve or block the merger last week.Biden, who leaves office on January 20, 2025, has until January 7 to make a decision. Failure to act by this deadline would result in automatic approval of the merger. Nippon Steel’s Latest Gambit in U.S. Steel Deal.
RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, DEMOCRAT-LEFT WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS, JUNK SCIENCE, LYSENKOISM
Biden’s reportedly forthcoming order would permanently ban new lease sales for oil and gas drilling in certain regions of the outer continental shelf, according to Bloomberg News, which cited anonymous sources familiar with the situation. Some elected Democrats and many well-funded green groups have pushed Biden to implement permanent environmental policies in the waning days of his [so-called quote-unquote] presidency to fluster Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda. [Null and VOID on Day one of Biden Will Reportedly Hand Environmental Lobby One Last Gift [GRIFT] On His Way Out The Door
The conceit I am referring to concerns the voracious lions of artificial intelligence (AI) and the utopian dream of decarbonization. The AI revolution needs the red meat of reliable power – in science-fiction-like quantities – while the decarb dreamers’ windmills and solar panels can deliver only unsatisfying amounts of marginally nutritious straw. Many investment managers own shares of AI leaders[1] such
(hat tip to cob, Buck Throckmorton- jjs) AI Lions and Renewable Straw
Weiss, the former chief of staff of Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), was reported dead by the sheriff’s department in Washington County, Maryland, on Jan. 1. An investigation into the circumstances of his death remains underway. The sheriff’s office said he “was found dead around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning” and his death is believed to be a suicide. At the time of his death, Weiss was reportedly away from his Colorado home visiting family in Maryland. Colorado School Administrator Fired Amid Child Pornography Allegations Found Dead
American education has gone full circle from “Separate but Equal” to “Everybody is equal” to resurrecting “Separate but Equal.” Jim Crow Education Comes to New York City
ABORTION
The pro-life message is one of many made by Pope Francis during his pontificate. He has even gone as far as calling abortion practitioners “hitmen” during a trip to Belgium last year. However, the Pope has at times also called American Catholic conservatives “backward” in their political beliefs, and he opened the door to same-sex individuals receiving blessings from the Church.“ Pope [Fiction] Francis Begins 2025 With Pro-Life Message.
DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST AND RINO SCANDALS, MESHUGAS, CHUTZPOCRISY
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the FBI, Kash Patel, has not signaled whether he is open to investigating the former congresswoman. Patel was an ardent defender of the rule of law during his illustrious career in government. Cheney says she should not go to jail for alleged wrongdoing during her tenure on the committee. Joe Biden to Award Liz Cheney Presidential Citizens Medal as She Braces for Potential FBI Probe (Irony Cross No Class - jjs)
Trump’s inaugural should confront the Biden-era cover-up, highlight the dangers of concealed incompetence, and pledge safeguards to protect the presidency's integrity and accountability. Trump’s Inaugural Address and the 25th Amendment
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, in his New Year’s address, underscored Taiwan’s role as a critical component of the global “defense of democracy.” Lai reiterated Taiwan’s willingness to engage in dialogue with Beijing but did not back down on strengthening Taiwanese military capabilities. According to Taiwan’s defense ministry, the new year commenced with Chinese warplanes and ships conducting a “combat patrol” around Taiwan. Such maneuvers, which involve air and maritime deployments near Taiwan, have become a frequent occurrence. Xi: Nothing Will Stop Us Taking Taiwan.
The details: Researchers at Leiden University Medical Center, with $1,578,317 in backing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have demonstrated that they can effectively modify malaria parasites (called GA2) and use mosquitos to transmit them to humans through bites. Bill Gates is Funding ‘Flying Vaccinators.’
Increasing evidence shows that it is either a mental disorder or, even worse, left-wing parents virtue-signaling through their children. So-Called Transgenderism Is A Leftist Malady
“The Stop W.O.K.E. Act protects the open exchange of ideas by prohibiting teachers or employers who hold agency over others from forcing discriminatory concepts on students as part of classroom instruction or on employees as a condition of maintaining employment,” DeSantis’ office previously said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “An ‘open-minded and critical’ environment necessitates that one is free from discrimination. We intend to appeal.” DEI Grifter Explains How Republicans’ Anti-DEI Legislation Crippled Her Business
American holiday observance has been modified piecemeal over the last half century to create an increasingly progressive federal calendar. Our Progressive Calendar
Born in Budapest as Ágnes Klein in 1921, the 10-time Olympic medal winner almost lost her chance to compete in the famed World Games. She was born to a Jewish family, and when World War II broke out, her gymnastics career was ended by the Nazi regime that overtook Hungary. She lost one opportunity to compete when the 1940 Olympics were canceled due to the war and then was forced off her team in 1941 over her Jewish ancestry. World’s Oldest Olympic Champion, Gymnast Agnes Keleti, Dies at 103
NOTE: The opinions expressed in the links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.
ALSO: The Morning Report is cross-posted at CutJibNewsletter.com if you want to continue the conversation all day.
FBI investigating reports of an effort to bomb SpaceX's Boca Chica Starship facility
In an interview Friday, he said he was there on the afternoon of
Christmas Eve when an SUV pulled up with five male passengers who rolled
down their windows to converse. They said they were from the Middle
East. “I said something like, ‘What are y’all here for? ’ and the driver
said, ‘Oh, we’re here to blow (Starship) up,’ ” Wehrle said. “I just
went stone cold, and he said, ‘Oh, I got you. I was joking.’ ”
As the conversation went on, though, Wehrle’s visitors said at least
three times they were in South Texas to attack Starship. He reported the
incident to SpaceX and the sheriff’s office and said he was contacted
later by an investigator.
Podcast: Happy New Year! We discuss the New Orleans Islamic terrorist attack, the stupidity of the current security apparatus, and more!
Just to amplify the last entry: We started paying for pay-TV services so that we would not have to watch commercials, and could watch the original uncensored versions of movies.
Amazon and many other pay TV services now force you to watch commercials unless you pay even higher monthly fees, and now we're back to watching the same censored versions of movies we used to see on TBS.
Vandals: Amazon Prime cuts the key scenes in It's a Wonderful Life of George Bailey contemplating suicide The whole plot of the movie concerns an angel's intervention, showing George what everyone's life would be like without him in it. If you cut the scenes of him thinking about exiting his life, then what is even the point of the movie?
Remember when we naively thought that Bezos and Amazon were generally on the right side of things? How absurd we were. I re-watched The Name of the Rose this past year on Amazon and noticed that the semi-important scene of Christian Slater's character losing his virginity to a peasant girl were cut out. My thought was that Amazon must be using a cut of the movie shown on TV or something. I don't know if Amazon is aware it is running censored content, or if they're demanding these cuts, or seeking out versions of the film that remove politically-sensitive material. Whatever the reason, they should be ashamed and run the actual movies again. What is the point of any communications platform that engages in censorship?
Via Black Orchid, Nichole Shanahan's thoughts on the tech/H-1B debate It is nice that we are actually permitted to debate actual policy questions again. You know, like the right guaranteed to Americans in the Constitution as our inalienable birthright, which we had until the past ten years of authoritarian tyranny by the Deep State and intelligence services.
All I want for Christmas is more leftwing fruitcake cope videos BTW I cued up that video after he played the Don LeMon "Elon is really president" video. I figured you saw that in a prior post. But if you don't read my posts, just go back a couple of minutes to see it.
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