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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
"We have charged the two alleged ISIS-inspired terrorists who attempted to bomb a protest in New York City," Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X on Monday afternoon. "We will not allow ISIS's poisonous, anti-American ideology to threaten this nation. Our law enforcement officers will remain vigilant."
The charges include providing material support to a terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction.
The Terror Teens hoped to murder more people than their heroes, the Muslims who bombed the Boston Marathon.
In the NYPD vehicle en route to the NYPD precinct, BALAT, without being questioned by the NYPD officers transporting him, made the following spontaneous utterances, in part and as captured on the transporting NYPD officers' body-worn camera footage: 'this isn't a religion that just stands when people talk about the blessed name of the prophet... We take action! We take action!'; and "'I didn't do it someone else will come and do it.'
After arriving at the precinct and being advised of, and waiving, his Miranda rights, BALAT requested a piece of paper and, after being given a paper and pen, wrote the following: 'All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds! I pledge my allegience [sic] to the Islamic State. Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar! Emir B.' Based on my training and experience, I know that "kuffar" is an Arabic term that refers to 'non-believers' or 'infidels,' and that 'Die in your rage' is a slogan used by ISIS and based on a verse in the Quran.
Law enforcement officers later asked BALAT if he was familiar with the Boston Marathon bombing, and if that was what BALAT had hoped to accomplish. BALAT responded: 'No, even bigger. It was only three deaths.'
Pro-terrorist leftwingers justify Muslim terrorism:
The leftwing media rushed to justify the attempted terrorist bombing, saying that "provocateurs" were targeted, so, shrug:
since you're suggesting that violence against "provocateurs' is justified, am I right in assuming the right is equally permitted to throw bombs at leftwing provocateurs? Or nah? @donniehttps://t.co/avmXZZegia
Iran Names New "Supreme Leader," Who Is Immediately "Injured" In An Airstrike
—Disinformation Expert Ace
A commenter pointed out on Friday that there are numerous "Ayatollahs," but only one "Supreme Leader." I had mistaken the word "Ayatollah" as meaning "Supreme Leader," which it doesn't.
Gunther Eagleman
@GuntherEagleman
9h
🚨Iranian state TV just announced: Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been "elected" as the new Supreme Leader! - @TreyYingst
Sometimes Trump is funny. He announced that Mojtaba did not have the endorsement of the real leader of Iran, himself, and so would not "last long" in the position.
Defiant L's
@DefiantLs
3h
Trump issues a warning to the new Iran Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei,
"He's going to have to get approval from us... If he doesn't got approval from us, he's not going to last long."
Raylan Givens
@JewishWarrior13
🚨 WSJ: Trump to his aides: I will support the elimination of Mojtaba Khamenei if he does not agree to give up the nuclear program
The Israelis are said to be hunting for him.
This has not been confirmed, but there are claims he's already been hit in an airstrike:
Eyal Yakoby
@EYakoby
2h
BREAKING: Mojtaba Khamenei was reportedly severely injured, one of his legs has been amputated, and he may not even be aware that he is the Supreme Leader.
I don't know if I buy these reports. I first heard speculation that he had already been injured when Iran TV described him as "an injured war veteran." People took that to mean he was injured in this war. But I think they were likely just giving him some Stolen Valor to make him sound like a tough-guy hero and not an impotent dicksucking pussy.
In Indiana, a Marion County Superior Court judge issued a permanent injunction March 5 blocking enforcement of Indiana's abortion ban on the outrageous claim that there is a so-called religious right to kill babies in abortions.
The judge blocked the ban for a certified class of people who claim killing a baby in an abortion is an exercise of their religious beliefs.
The ruling is prompting sharp criticism from pro-life advocates, who called the decision a perversion of religious freedom protections.
Judge Christina R. Klineman ruled that the state's 2022 abortion law violates Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act by substantially burdening the religious exercise of the plaintiffs. The class includes members of Hoosier Jews for Choice and others whose beliefs hold that a woman's mental or physical health takes precedence over the right to life of an unborn child. Never mind that abortions have been linked for decades to depression, suicide and adverse mental health problems.
"The state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act bars a law that substantially interferes with class members' religious beliefs that a pregnant person's mental or physical health takes precedence over that of a zygote, embryo, or fetus," Klineman wrote.
The state did not show it had a compelling interest justifying protecting babies from certain death, she claimed.
The judge further stated: "The abortion law would allow a plaintiff to seek an abortion if her pregnancy were the result of rape, but not if it were mandated by her religious beliefs. The state has not justified this differential treatment by establishing that its interest in the same prenatal life changes based upon the reason for terminating a pregnancy."
Planned Parenthood, which is for some reason ailing financially after an end to federal funding for abortion -- which is very surprising to me, because Planned Parenthood told me for years that their main business was giving pap smears and screening for ovarian cancer -- has a new grift to generate money: Botox injections.
WSJ:
Planned Parenthood Wants You to Get Your Botox at Its Clinic
Facing a $100 million revenue gap after federal budget cuts, one California affiliate looks beyond reproductive health to attract a new clientele
...
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, the largest affiliate of the national abortion provider, is overhauling its business model with a slate of new services...
Now, along with access to birth control, abortions and testing for sexually transmitted infections, patients can order an IV hydration after a night of drinking--or smooth crow's feet. They might soon be able to get laser hair removal and cosmetic fillers.
The institution of marriage "fundamentalism" reinforces White supremacy, according to an academic paper released by George Mason University professor Bethany Letiecq.
Letiecq's paper claims Americans have become accustomed to marriage fundamentalism in order to achieve "benefits, rights and protections."
Marriage fundamentalism, like structural racism, is a key structuring element of White heteropatriarchal supremacy," the paper reads.
Letiecq begins the piece by noting "as a White, cisgender woman, I am currently living with my partner and co-raising our children in a committed heterosexual union outside the institution of marriage." She continues, noting the origins of both White supremacy and marriage before explaining how each became favored by religious conservatives.
"Proponents of marriage fundamentalism include conservative, Christian, and right-wing organizations, such as the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), and the Family Research Council which recently gained tax exempt status as a church," Letiecq wrote.
Marriage fundamentalism, the scholar claims, has roots in Manifest Destiny and colonialism, leading to the "delegitimization of diverse family and kinship structures." Due to the amount of non-traditional living arrangements of LGBT families and "grandparents rearing their grandchildren," the nuclear family is actually the least common living situation in the country, the scholar said.
The Telegraph, itself a simp dhimmi outlet, claims this was just a "mistake" rather than what it actually was, deliberate pro-terrorism propaganda.
The BBC mistakenly altered a speech by Pete Hegseth on the war in Iran, making him appear to say the United States was targeting the Iranian "people".
BBC Persian, which broadcasts to audiences inside Iran, mistranslated remarks by the US secretary of defence, telling viewers Washington was bringing death to the Iranian "people".
In fact, Mr Hegseth had said the Iranian "regime" was being targeted.
The mistake was seized upon by pro-Israel media campaigners, who claimed that it cast doubt on the BBC's impartiality. It also triggered a backlash on social media.
Ah. There was some "seizing" on the "mistake" by "pro-Israel media campaigners."
The row risks putting the BBC on another collision course with Donald Trump, who launched a $10bn (£7.5bn) lawsuit against the corporation last year after The Telegraph revealed it had altered a speech in a way that made him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot.
Mr Trump has justified the ongoing war in the Middle East by arguing that Tehran's leadership, not its population, poses a direct threat to American national security after repeatedly calling for "death to America".
The BBC, which carried Mr Hegseth's Pentagon address live on Monday, translated the word "regime" as "mardom", the Persian word for "people". It later issued a correction.
Speaking of pro-terrorist propaganda: Tucker Carlson said that Trump's call for "unconditional surrender" is really just a call for foreign troops to "rape Iranian women and girls," so Trump should not call for unconditional surrender and his brave friends in Iran should never agree to such a campaign of foreign despoilation of their daughters.
Don't surrender, Iran -- Jews just want to rape your children.
And Americans, too. But I think he means the Jews. It's what he always means now.
He also took time to accuse Mark Levin of using Jewish Kaballah Witchcraft to cast a literal Jew-spell on Mike Huckabee.
Tucker Carlson is now claiming that Mark Levin is essentially using witchcraft to create truth simply by speaking, and that Mike Huckabee is under some kind of spell that’s causing him to support Israel. pic.twitter.com/L8EJqxVXtL
The bobblehead dick-servicing unit Me-Again Kelly just nods along with this. She has no questions about Jewish mind-control sorcery being "real."
Jinet Gharibian
@gharibian_jinet
1h
The idea that America is "under the spell of Jews" or controlled through "Jewish witchcraft" isn't new or insightful, it’s a recycled conspiracy theory that traces back to centuries of European religious prejudice.
In medieval Christian Europe, including within parts of Catholic culture, Jews were often demonized and accused of dark, mystical influence over society.
Those myths like secret Jewish power or supernatural manipulation were used to justify discrimination and persecution.
Even though the modern Catholic Church formally rejected antisemitism during the Second Vatican Council through the declaration Nostra Aetate, the old narratives STILL linger in certain corners of political and internet culture.
When people today talk about "Jewish spells" or mystical control, they're not exposing a hidden truth they’re repeating medieval propaganda dressed up as modern commentary.
Iran's Women's Soccer Team Protested the Regime By Refusing to Sing Its Islamofascist Anthem; Iran Declares Them "Wartime Traitors;" Australia Is Determined to Send Them Back to Iran to be Arrested (and Maybe Hanged)
—Disinformation Expert Ace
They were playing in Australia. They know if they go back to Iran, they'll be tried as war criminals.
5 Iranian women soccer players flee hotel, seek asylum in Australia, exiled crown prince says
Five members of the Iranian national women's soccer team have left the hotel where they were staying in Australia and sought asylum in the country, according to Iranian opposition figure and exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi. The Sydney Morning Herald also said the women -- who were dubbed traitors by Iranian state television over the weekend for declining to sing their national anthem before a game -- had fled the hotel and were planning to seek asylum in Australia.
Australian authorities have been urged to help the Iranian team's players after their exit from the Asian Cup, over fears of what might happen to them if they fly back home as scheduled amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
The office of Pahlavi, whose father, the Western-backed Shah, was ousted during the Islamic Revolution in 1979, said on social media that his opposition group had learned of the five players seeking asylum, naming them in the post.
"These five courageous athletes, currently in a safe location, have announced that they have joined Iran's national Lion and Sun Revolution," the post from Pahlavi's office added, a reference to the pre-Islamic Revolution flag of Iran.
Sources in the Iranian-Australian community told the Morning Herald the women were "receiving support" after making a break from the rest of their team and its handlers in the Gold Coast area on Monday night.
"Police have taken them somewhere safe," Brisbane-based human rights activist Hadi Karimi told the paper. "It's great, it's amazing."
Australia's Department of Home Affairs did not immediately respond to a CBS News request to confirm that the five had applied for asylum.
If Australia grants refuge to the women it is likely to draw sharp criticism from Iran.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Monday that she didn't want to "get into commentary" about the women's fate.
Before their first game of the tournament in Australia, against South Korea, the players declined to sing or salute their country's national anthem, prompting calls for harsh punishment from conservatives back inside Iran. The Islamic Republic's state television network branded them "traitors" and accused them of "the pinnacle of dishonor."
...
In their two subsequent matches, the team sang and saluted their anthem. Alireza Mohebbi, a correspondent in Australia for the opposition Iran International news network, told Australian network ABC the players would not have done so by choice."It's completely obvious that the Islamic Republic's regime, and the security team which is with the players in Australia, forced them to sing the anthem," he said. "In the first match with South Korea they didn't do it, but now with all the pressure and media spreading the news around the world, it's completely obvious the regime pushed them not just to sing the anthem but to do the military salute. There is no doubt."
Trump is telling the cowardly dhimmis in Australia that if they're too scared to grant them refuge, the US will take them.
Millions upon millions of fake "refugee" Muslims are allowed to pour into these formerly western nations without any scrutiny, but when girls threatened with murder make a legitimate request for asylum, these formerly western countries are too afraid of upsetting the ummah to grant it.
While touring abroad in Australia, the Iranian women's national football team refused to salute or sing the regime anthem.
As a result, the demonic TV host of IRIB's "Pavaraghi" show declared them traitors and said they will be punished when they return to… pic.twitter.com/c8PHPXra8U
The terrorists are the sons of naturalized citizen Muslim parents.
Denaturalize and deport. We don't have to put up with this.
One of the accused terrorists busted for lobbing explosive devices near Gracie Mansion flashed a sick salute honoring ISIS as he was led in shackles from a police precinct Monday.
Emir Balat, 18, was seen holding up his right index finger -- a universal salute for the terror group -- and grinning at the press while being led by a cop and an FBI agent.
Balat, wearing a black T-shirt and beige pants, made the gesture before one of the officers flanking him slapped down his hand.
ISIS fighters have often used the index finger gesture in their propaganda. The gesture is also used by many Muslims to demonstrate their commitment to monotheism.
Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi, both from Pennsylvania, were set to face federal charges on Monday.
The pair was arrested Saturday after allegedly trying to detonate a homemade "Mother of Satan" bomb during a protest outside New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's Upper East Side residence.
Law enforcement sources told The Post that one of the two suspects used the Arabic phrase "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) after their police interview.
Balat, whose parents are reportedly from Turkey but who became naturalized citizens in 2017, grew up in a four-bed two-bath home in the leafy Pennsylvania suburb of Langhorne, worth an estimated $653,000, while his alleged sidekick lived in a $2.25 million six-bedroom home near the New Jersey border.
Agents were seen raiding Balat's home following his arrest, as a "terror investigation" was underway.
The two teenagers reportedly made pro-ISIS statements while in police custody, and admitted to watching Islamist terror propaganda videos, federal law enforcement sources told Fox News correspondent CB Cotton.
...
The device, which consisted of a sports drink bottle filled with volatile explosive material TATP, set inside a glass jar surrounded by nuts and bolts, according to CBS News, could have been fatal if it had detonated.
— Jake Lang - January 6 Political Prisoner 🇺🇸 (@JakeLang) March 7, 2026
This really is an all time photo. A protestor shouting about the pros of immigration is interrupted by an Islamic terrorist throwing a bomb jumping over him. pic.twitter.com/3TyBfewCYT
• Those 92,000 non-farm jobs that were lost include about 10,000 government employees.
• An undetermined number of NGO (non-governmental organization) workers whose funding has been cut off by Trump/DOGE were among those lost jobs too. These are jobs that conservatives have long advocated for elimination.
• The cold weather in February caused over 200,000 people to be unable to work.
• According to the Office of Personnel Management, Trump / DOGE has eliminated 264,000 federal jobs since he took office in January 2025. That is about 11% of the federal workforce taken off the government payroll in barely a year.
• Over the past year, employment of native-born Americans is up significantly. I get differing results based on whether we are talking about within the past 12 months or since Trump’s inauguration, but there are hundreds of thousands more native-born US citizens with jobs.
• Employment of foreign-born workers in the US is down over 500,000 since Trump’s inauguration.
• If all the fretting about the fragility of the economy were real, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell would have reason to finally cut interest rates, but he won’t. (Of course this is also driven by Powell’s partisan animus to Donald Trump. Powell is an Obama/Biden loyalist who, in my opinion, seeks to harm the Trump presidency. The end of his disgraceful tenure in two months will be a breath of fresh air.)
With the changes that President Trump is making by prioritizing US citizens over non-citizens, and by prioritizing taxpayers over tax recipients, there are obviously going to be some economic disruptions. But these are also necessary, and they are disruptions that we conservatives have been seeking for decades.
Isn’t it funny how all the “economic conservatives” of NeverTrump who have preached in favor of smaller government for decades keep sneering that Donald Trump is not a “true conservative,” even though President Trump is the first Republican in my lifetime to actually slash the federal government upon taking office?
��FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT HITS LOWEST RATE IN 60 YEARS.
In January alone, President Trump CUT 42k government jobs while ADDING 172k private sector jobs.
The Heartland Institute is holding its 16th International Conference on Climate Change next month, featuring a who’s who of the leading scientists and climate realists who have been educating the public on the reality of the climate hoax.
As a proud “climate denier” I will once again be attending and reporting on the conference. It is at the Hotel Washington in Washington DC on April 8th and 9th. I met several Ace of Spades readers at the previous climate conference in 2023 and I know that some of y’all will be in attendance this year. If so, I’d be delighted to shake your hand.
Climate communism seemed like an unstoppable force just a few years ago. The scientists who pushed back against media censors and government agencies pushing “net zero” are brave people who risked their reputations and livelihoods. They are heroes to me, like all the brave souls who have fought authoritarians and communists throughout the ages.
Here is a link with more information if you are considering attending. I’d be delighted to see you there.
For those at home and abroad who don’t know what to make of President Donald Trump’s talk of “unconditional surrender” from Tehran and how the next supreme leader is “not going to last long,” allow us to translate: He expects Iran to find leadership that isn’t committed to an insane Islamist agenda. That is, one that won’t seek nuclear weapons and ICBMs, sponsor global terror (including efforts to assassinate him) or work to impose Islamist puppet governments across the Middle East — all at the expense of the long-suffering Iranian people. Call it: Make Iran Normal Again.
The news of Mojtaba becoming the next Supreme Leader of Iran comes after President Donald Trump told ABC News that the next Supreme Leader of Iran would “have to get approval” from the United States, adding that without approval “he’s not going to last long.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump suggested the possibility of a ground operation had not been ruled out, saying U.S. forces could move in at a later stage of the conflict if necessary. “Right now we’re just decimating them, but we haven’t gone after it,” Trump said, referring to Iran’s nuclear material. “But something we could do later on. We wouldn’t do it now.”
The context here was not a full-blown ground offensive but some sort of limited special ops mission to secure the nuclear material. Even still, and I'm no expert, I have to believe this would require a large number of personnel as well as aircraft and perhaps ground vehicles. Oy. Even if successful, the fact that Khameini's son would become the next fuhrer with much of the previous Nazi high command still in power, Israeli Air Force bunker busters notwithstanding, how much longer can this go on. Unless a non-Islamic armageddon-seeking Muallahocracy takes control of Iran, my fear is that all of this will have been for naught.
In calling for unconditional surrender, Trump is seeking not just regime change. He seeks the destruction of the Islamic regime that has held Iran in its fearsome grip since 1979, when the Ayatollah Khomeini flew in from Paris to commence his theocratic reign of terror. Richard Falk, writing in The New York Times, cheered the event, predicting that Khomeini would show the world what “a genuine Islamic government can do.” I agree that Khomeini did just that. But I reckon that all the bodies he had hung from cranes did not exactly fulfill Falk’s expectations. . .
Meanwhile, halfway around the world in the Western Hemisphere, the Communist dictatorship in Cuba is entering its final days. The daring extraction of Nicolás Maduro from Caracas at the beginning of January cut off Cuba’s supply of oil. Most of the island has been without power for days. Riots have erupted in Havana. “Down with Communism” is the refrain. On Thursday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said that he is open to talks with the United States on “any issue” in order to build “a civilized relationship between neighbors” that is “mutually beneficial.” In Costa Rica, President-elect Laura Fernández says that she wants to work with the Trump administration to confront organized crime in order to avoid becoming ridden with drug cartels in the way Mexico has been. “Mexico, for me, is a reference point for where we don’t want to end up.” As I write, Trump is meeting in Miami with El Salvador president Nayib Bukele, Argentina president Javier Milei, and other Latin American leaders at the Shield of the Americas ceremony. The goal? First, to crush the drug cartels that have been poisoning Americans for years. Second, to stop the flow of illegal immigration to the United States. Third, to work together to forge mutually beneficial commercial and security relationships.
. . . It is difficult to keep up with Donald Trump’s dizzying pace. Since January 20, 2025, and with ever-increasing velocity, he has been stuffing decades into weeks. I don’t think there has ever been anything like it in American history.
Indeed. President Trump in both his terms, both domestically and in foreign policy has succeeded in overturning the tables of he money-changers in the temple, so to speak. At the barest of bare minimums he has exposed the hypocrisy and charade of the professional political class and done what he could, almost singlehandedly to attempt to reverse course.
Federal prosecutors in South Florida are preparing a comprehensive investigation into numerous government officials who oversee the communist regime that controls Cuba. The United States Attorney for the District of Southern Florida is spearheading the inquiry, which is focused on uncovering evidence tying Cuban Communist Party officials to allegations of drug, immigration, economic, and violent crimes, with the aim of allowing the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to bring swift indictments should the regime fall.Notably, the investigatory actions in the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Southern Florida come as President Donald J. Trump ramps up pressure on the Cuban government to abdicate its rule and transition away from the communist ideology imposed by the island’s late dictator, Fidel Castro, and subsequently enforced by his brother Raúl Castro. Since the removal of Venezuelan narco-dictator Nicolás Maduro from power earlier this year, Trump has contemplated action against Cuba, which maintained close ties to the Marxist regime in Venezuela. The U.S. President has even floated the possibility of military action against the communist island once current hostilities with the Islamic Republic of Iran conclude.The case being built by U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones in South Florida could provide pivotal legal and political justification for potential Trump administration actions against Cuba. As part of the effort, Quiñones has formed a working group that includes prosecutors from his office, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as well as the Treasury Department, the State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
¡Hay Caramba! (Listen closely to hear the sound of Fredo Corleone and Hyman Roth packing their bags in a hurry!)
Have a great Day!
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According to the report, officials have debated whether the material would be physically removed from Iran or diluted on site by nuclear specialists working alongside special operations units, possibly including scientists from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Report: Trump Weighing Special Ops Raid to Secure Iran’s Enriched Uranium Stockpile
The news of Mojtaba becoming the next Supreme Leader of Iran comes after President Donald Trump told ABC News that the next Supreme Leader of Iran would “have to get approval” from the United States, adding that without approval “he’s not going to last long.” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Son, Mojtaba, Selected as Supreme Leader of Iran
Multiple members of the Assembly of Experts said Sunday that a majority decision on a successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been reached. Assembly member Mohsen Heydari said “the most suitable candidate, approved by the majority of the Assembly of Experts, has been determined,” the Times of Israel reported, citing the outlet Iranian Students’ News Agency. Fellow member Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri separately told Fars news agency that “a firm opinion reflecting the majority view has been reached.” Iran Claims To Appoint New Leader
For those at home and abroad who don’t know what to make of President Donald Trump’s talk of “unconditional surrender” from Tehran and how the next supreme leader is “not going to last long,” allow us to translate: He expects Iran to find leadership that isn’t committed to an insane Islamist agenda. That is, one that won’t seek nuclear weapons and ICBMs, sponsor global terror (including efforts to assassinate him) or work to impose Islamist puppet governments across the Middle East — all at the expense of the long-suffering Iranian people. Call it: Make Iran Normal Again. Trump’s simple demand: Make Iran normal again
Roger Kimball: Donald Trump is betting that decisive force—not endless stalemate—can topple regimes, realign alliances, and compress decades of history into weeks. Unconditional Surrender: When Wars Are Fought to Win
CIVIL WAR 2.0, LEFTIST PERSECUTIONS, DEMOCRAT PUTSCH, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION
The Left and Iran share a centuries-old obsession with millenarian utopias, projecting a perfect world while embracing chaos to achieve it. Iran and the Left: They’re the Same Picture
The mural, painted on a building at Brookland Park Boulevard and North Avenue, shows a dark-skinned woman holding a watermelon slice with seeds that spell out “Free Palestine,” WWBT reported. Former Richmond Crusade for Voters president Jonathan Davis told the outlet the image immediately troubled him. Pro-'Palestine' Watermelon Mural Sparks Backlash In Black Community: "Used To Demean Us"
A politician who has built nothing wants to tear down what others have achieved. The Man Who Loves To Tax
Stephanie Minter, a 41-year-old mother from Fredericksburg, was found with multiple stab wounds on Richmond Highway in Fairfax County on Feb. 23, according to a Fairfax County Police Department press release, quickly charging Abdul Jalloh, an illegal migrant from Sierra Leone with a long criminal history, with Minter’s murder. Democratic State Sen. Scott Surovell said the murder, which has been blamed on Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, happened because United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was carrying out operations in Minnesota and Memphis. Democrat State Senator Claims ICE Is To Blame For Illegal Butchering Virginia Mom
President Donald Trump announced that the United States military and the Israeli Defense Forces had launched Operation Epic Fury in a video posted on Truth Social early Saturday morning. Kian Tajbakhsh, who was imprisoned after the 2009 Green Revolution, related what an Iranian official told him during “CNN NewsNight” on Thursday. CNN Panel Goes Haywire After Iranian Political Prisoner Says Trump Didn’t Start War With Iran
His sweaty, nicotine-fueled, obsessive behavior suggests that he’s not just hunting for clicks. Tucker Carlson’s decline UPDATED
THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Eight months before the crucial midterm elections, the administration of President Donald Trump is battling high living costs. Trump’s Race Against Time
Wright said, “The Trump administration has been all in on lowering energy prices, and I would say quite successfully. We have seen a dramatic decline in gasoline prices, in diesel prices. Soon, you will see it in electricity prices as well. So the Trump administration, in stark contrast to the Biden administration, his goal has been to lower energy prices, the Biden administration quite successful in raising energy prices. Gasoline today is still $1.50 a gallon cheaper than it was in the middle of the Biden administration. But you’re right. We want it back below $3 a gallon. And it will be again before too long.” Energy Secretary Wright: Gas Prices Will Only Stay Up for Weeks — This Is Not a Months’ Thing
Jurors found Asif Merchant, whom authorities say worked for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), guilty of murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries, according to the press release. Prosecutors said Merchant entered the United States in April 2024 and began laying the groundwork for political assassinations before law enforcement dismantled the plot. Iranian Agent Who Tried To Assassinate Trump Found Guilty
RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, DEMOCRAT-LEFT WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS,
THE 2020 and SUBSEQUENT ELECTION HEISTS , SHENANIGANS/FRAUD and AFTERMATH
The South Dakota House of Representatives passed SB 175 on Wednesday. Much like the SAVE America Act, the SB 175 seeks to require documentary proof-of-citizenship for residents registering to vote. The House approved the measure in a veto-proof 64-3 vote after it successfully cleared the Senate (28-6) last month. While Thune Slacks On SAVE America Act, His Home State Passes Its Own Version Of The Bill
Despite the fact that the bill’s main focus — requiring valid proof of citizenship for voter registration — is popular among voters regardless of party, Schumer shared a post on X referring to the SAVE Act as “Jim Crow 2.0” and claiming that millions of people would be “disenfranchised” if it were to pass. (Democrats would be hindered in stealing elections! - jjs) Schemer Melts Down Over Trump Voter Crackdown Push — Hints At Next Democrat Move
L'AFFAIRE EPSTEIN
“The [guards] had a duty to ensure the safety and security of federal inmates in their care,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in 2019. “Instead, they repeatedly failed to conduct mandated checks on inmates, and lied on official forms to hide their dereliction.” Report: Epstein Prison Guard Googled Him Twice Minutes Before His Body Was Found (Googled, like with a pillow? - jjs)
DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST AND RINO SCANDALS, MESHUGAS, CHUTZPOCRISY, INSANITY
Jesse Jackson's funeral was held Friday at the House of Hope on Chicago's South Side. Every major Democrat who still matters showed up: Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Jill Biden, California Gov. Gavin Newsom. That’s right: sitting with a bunch of other couples, Barack Obama once again went stag. This Might Be the Clearest Sign Yet the Obamas’ Marriage Is a Total Lie
Lloyd Billingsley: Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger (D-CIA) is the one to watch. Agent Double-O-2028
Millsap told Boyle that his entry into the race followed a dispute over a 40-acre parcel he owns near Atlanta that activists targeted because it was located next to what he referred to as “Cop City.” Millsap stated Antifa activists occupied the land and blocked development. “They moved into my land illegally,” he remarked, adding that local officials in DeKalb County “refused to remove them as trespassers from my land.” Exclusive: Film Studio Executive Ryan Millsap Launches Georgia Congressional Bid After Antifa Occupied His Land
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL
No injuries were reported. Police received reports of a “loud bang” or explosion around 1 a.m., Oslo police said in a news release. The explosion was caused by some sort of incendiary device, Oslo police representative Frode Larsen said during a news conference Sunday. Investigators believe the embassy was the target and are searching for the perpetrators and their motive. Police Investigate Explosion Outside U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway
After decades of failed nation-building, Trump’s America First doctrine signals a new American century—one where nations win freedom themselves and the U.S. leads by strength and example. The New American Century
The result proves that a similar impact could be used on some asteroids to deflect them from hitting the Earth, though we would need to know a lot about that asteroid prior to launching the mission to accurately predict the orbital change. Otherwise, any impact could be a dangerous crap shoot that could do more harm than good. Dart changed the orbit of the Didymos/Dimorphos binary asteroids around the Sun
The Coronograph satellite is the heart of this mission. It records the data, available because the Occulter blocks the Sun from view so that the corona, the Sun’s atmosphere, can be seen. Based on this report, it does not look good that the spacecraft can be recovered. ESA loses contact with the coronagraph satellite of its duel-satellite Proba-3 mission
FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY
Hollywood and the culture war now reward stories that cast villains—real or imagined—as proof of who is good and who is bad. The Good, the Bad and the Vampires
Coincidentally, the 35th anniversary of the end of the Gulf War came with the start of a new conflict in the Persian Gulf. While further comparisons are premature, it should be noted that the Gulf War is not the last war that ended in an unambiguous American victory. That would be the eradication of the ISIS caliphate during President Trump’s first term. But the Gulf War is a victory worth remembering if only because such victories have become so few. Michael Kelly’s War — And Now, 35 Years Later, Ours
A regime’s loyal voice begins to question the lies - and sparks the first whisper of revolt. Short Film: The Voice of a Lie
ALSO: The Morning Report cross-posts at CutJibNewsletter.com usually within an hour or so of posting here, if you want to continue the conversation all day.
They transport the robot to the building site in a shipping container, and it constructs the framing to order on-site, taking a day to complete a four-week job.
Prefab frames have been a thing for a long time, but this makes it a far more flexible solution.
Project I've been working on at my day job, shifting a quarter petabyte of data and dozens of applications to a new cluster, is finally done. And it all seems to work.
And costs 95% less to run than at AWS.
Musical Interlude
Disclaimer: Yes, the lyrics mean precisely what you might think. Possession of this album is now illegal in Australia, except in the Northern Territory where it is mandatory.
Sunday night ONT is here! Did you enjoy your extra hour of daylight? Or are you in one of those non-conformist areas that stays on standard time all year? Didn't President Trump say he was going to do away with the bi-annual clock changes? Or is is semi-annual? Doesn't bi-annual mean twice a year OR every other year? I'm so confused! Anyway - what are your thoughts on Daylight Savings Time? Keep doing it? Stay on Daylight Time perpetually? Stay on Standard Time perpetually? Why do I ask so many questions? Do you hear me? Do you care?
Jimmy's Seafood notices Ben Stiller going full retard!
Hey Ben people keep tagging us in the comments
— Jimmy’s Famous Seafood (@JimmysSeafood) March 7, 2026
The implied "GFY" certainly fits!
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AI is Asshoe
I admit to using AI platforms occasionally. AI is obviously not going away, so I figure I'll try to use it to my advantage. Grok is the least shitty of them all, in my opinion. ChatGPT sucks donkey balls -- it is left leaning and argumentative. The Pentagon seems to be OK with that for some reason. The Dept of Defense (War?) recently launched an AI portal for its military and civilian employees. That has led to backlash against Open AI.
OpenAI just handed one of its biggest rivals a massive PR victory, in a blunder that even CEO Sam Altman admitted had optics that “don’t look good.”
On Friday, Altman announced that OpenAI had reached a new agreement with the Department of Defense over how its AI systems would be deployed across the military, an act that many saw as the company crossing the picket line. That’s because Anthropic, a company founded by former OpenAI employees, had refused to give in to the Pentagon’s demands that it give the military unrestricted use of its Claude AI, even as CEO Dario Amodei insisted that Anthropic’s AI not be used for autonomous weaponry or the mass surveillance of US citizens.
It was a move that could come at great cost for Anthropic. The Pentagon had vowed to ice the company out of contracts with the federal government by declaring it a “supply chain risk,” and even threatened to seize its tech.
But at least in the short term, it’s OpenAI that’s facing more blowback for its decision. Online, scores of users — ranging from your typical AI bro to, we kid you not, Katy Perry — are saying they’re ditching ChatGPT in favor of Claude because of Altman’s deal with the Pentagon. Indeed, Claude surged to the top of the App Store over the weekend, and as of Monday, still claims the number one spot above ChatGPT, which is currently in second place.
A recent thread in the r/ChatGPT subreddit calling on users to to quit the AI chatbot quickly became one of the forum’s most highly-upvoted posts of all time.
“You’re now training a war machine,” the thread reads. “Let’s see proof of cancellation.”
Love these videos! One day Weasel is going to issue a cease and desist to Doof Enterprises, LLC over repeated use of this kind of content outside of his Gun Threads. Until then -- "Hang on Fred!"
— Thrilla the Gorilla (@ThrillaRilla369) March 6, 2026
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'Ette Couture (Courtesy of Piper)
It's that time of the week - when we turn the ONT over to our good friend Piper for a bit. Here's this week's fashion pr0n.
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Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2026 is in full swing, and while it's heavy on elegant glamour, structured tailoring, and celebrity-packed front rows, a few moments have veered straight into delightfully outrageous territory. We're talking pieces that make you do a double-take, and probably screenshot for the group chat. Here's a roundup of the most wildly over-the-top, boundary-pushing, and just plain bonkers things we've seen on (and off) the runways so far this week.
1. Matières Fécales' Alien Backstage Nightmare
This underground-ish presentation (tied to Paris Fashion Week's off-schedule energy) went viral for its backstage moments featuring models with alien-like contouring, distorted facial features, ghostly pale skin, and freaky contact lenses that turned them into otherworldly beings. It's not your classic "pretty dress" moment—it's pure surreal shock value, leaving viewers fascinated, horrified, and meme-ing nonstop. Michèle Lamy sightings only amplified the eerie vibe. Outrageous level: 11/10. This one's for the "fashion is weird and we love it" crowd.
2. Loewe's Polly Pocket Latex Fever Dream
Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez's sophomore Loewe outing embraced childhood whimsy... but made it unhinged. We're talking latex dresses molded to the body with intricate toy-box patterns, rubber scarves twisting around necks and shoulders like deranged accessories, and an overall "raided a mischievous toy chest" energy. It's meticulous craft meets gleeful absurdity—think high-luxury playtime gone rogue. Not subtle and absolutely conversation-starting. If "craft gets weird in a good way" is your vibe, this collection delivered.
3. Dior's Lily-Pad Heels and Voluminous Tutu Extravaganza
Jonathan Anderson kicked off the week with a garden-party spectacle in the Jardin des Tuileries, front row stacked with Anya Taylor-Joy, Jisoo, Priyanka Chopra, and more. The collection opened with massive voluminous tutus, followed by playful peplums, jazzy jeans, and—wait for it—heels sculpted to look like lily pads. It's grand, glorious, and a touch ridiculous in the best way: high fashion meets fairy-tale whimsy. Not outright shocking, but the sheer scale and playful exaggeration make it feel like a dream you want to live in.
4. Saint Laurent's Silicone-Coated Lace Rebellion
Anthony Vaccarello marked his 10th anniversary with razor-sharp Le Smoking tributes, plunging necklines, and sultry sheer layers. The standout? Lace coated in silicone for structure, shine, and a subversive edge—turning delicate fabric into something almost armor-like and extra defiant. Paired with pointy sky-high stilettos, leather, and plastic skirts, it's magnetic, body-baring, and provocative. Timeless glamour? Sure. But dialed up to feel dangerously naughty.
5. Bonus Street Style Shenanigans
The runways get the glory, but the sidewalks are serving chaos too:
Paris Fashion Week still has heavy-hitters like Chanel, Balenciaga, and Louis Vuitton coming up, so expect more madness before it wraps on March 10. In the meantime, these early standouts prove the City of Light isn't afraid to get a little unhinged
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Thanks, Piper!
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DJ Doof - This Date in Music History Edition
from thisdayinmusic.com
On the subject of "fashion" --
On this date in 1990: Cher won the worst dressed female, and worst video for 'If I Could Turn Back Time', in The Rolling Stone Magazine's awards
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Born on this date in 1957: Clive Burr, drummer with UK Rock group Iron Maiden who had the 1982 UK No.1 album The Number Of The Beast
On this date in 2003: Former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler was injured when the Honda motorbike he was riding was involved in a collision with a Fiat Punto car. The 53-year-old singer and guitarist suffered a broken collar bone and six broken ribs in the accident which happened in London's smart Belgravia district in mid-morning traffic.
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Weekly commenter stats for week of 3-8-2026
AoSHQ Commenter Statistics:
Number of posts: 83
Number of comments: 25535
Number of unique hashes: 1787
Top 10 commenters:
1 [570 comments] 'whig' [80.96 posts/day]
2 [449 comments] 'TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films'
3 [437 comments] 'Aetius451AD work phone'
4 [436 comments] ''
5 [380 comments] 'Oldcat'
6 [377 comments] 'runner'
7 [337 comments] 'Aetius451AD'
8 [298 comments] 'Bulg'
9 [297 comments] 'San Franpsycho'
10 [289 comments] ' Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _'
Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!
Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be the Second March Edition? Seems like only last week it was the First March Edition!
I am out of town which means two things; a) this will be a lower than usual effort on my part, and 2) I probably won't be around much in the comments tonight. Please be nice to each other!
With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?
Are you shooting low left/right? Well don't do that. For our visual learners, here are some tips.
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Safety First!
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Stuck Cylinder?
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Mounting a Scope?
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Bolt Carrier Lube
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Our Pal Hand Tools
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Highway Patrol!
This week's episode: Dead Hunter!
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Invasion of Astro-Monster!
Three monsters! I'm all tingly!
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Cigar of the Week
This week our pal rhomboid scores again with this excellent review of the My Father Blue
My Father, along with many other big Nicaraguan cigar makers, has expanded their operations to Honduras. The My Father Blue is their first cigar using mostly tobacco from Don Pepin Garcia's farm in Honduras, and the first release from their new Honduras factory. A US connecticut broadleaf rosado wrapper contains binder and filler from Honduras. The cigar is softly box-pressed, with a nice medium brown color. The smoke from this stick (the petit robusto, 4.5 X 50) was rich and ample, and the burn line needed only a little management.
First half of this small stick offered an interesting blend of mild earth and coffee bean, with a tangy note and faint sweetness on the finish. Exceptionally smooth as well. Latter half got earthier, with the other elements fading, but the noticeable smoothness continuing. Medium-full seems accurate for this one. This is one I will be trying again, but probably the robusto or toro vitolas. Many cigars have noticeable differences between the various sizes, and this one I'm guessing might benefit from a larger size. To me the smoothness of this blend stands out more than anything.
The Blue was one of the more ballyhooed releases of 2025, and it delivers. It's available online for around $8.50 and up.
Excellent, rhomboid! Thank you!
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Here are some different online cigar vendors. You will find they not only carry different brands and different lines from those brands, but also varying selections of vitolas (sizes/shapes) of given lines. It's good to have options, especially if you're looking for a specific cigar.
A note about sources. The brick & mortar/online divide exists with cigars, as with guns, and most consumer products, with respect to price. As with guns - since both are "persecuted industries", basically - I make a conscious effort to source at least some of my cigars from my local store(s). It's a small thing, but the brick & mortar segment for both guns and tobacco are precious, and worth supporting where you can. And if you're lucky enough to have a good cigar store/lounge available, they're often a good social event with many dangerous people of the sort who own scary gunz, or read smart military blogs like this one. -rhomboid
Anyone have others to include? Perhaps a small local roller who makes a cigar you like? Send me your recommendation and a link to the site!
Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!
That's it for this week - have you been to the range?
Plain old Hush Puppies! I used to eat them... a lot...at a good southern-influenced restaurant in NYC, and of course I order them whenever I see them on the menu in the real South!
But making them? Yup, it's easy, but I can't remember the last time I tried.
Well...tonight that changes!
But I think I will make an interesting dipping sauce, just to be difficult. Maybe Tahini-based, or even Chipotle-honey!
There is a huge difference between preferring foods that are not filled with unnatural chemicals simply because it is aesthetically pleasing to eat real food, and claiming that chemicals that contribute to safety, longevity, and taste should all be banned because of possible health effects.
I'm in the first camp. I prefer unadulterated foods, but I am not running screaming from the store if I see a food that has some sort of man-made preservative or stabilizer. The health effects are based on biomedical research that even in its best days is filled with errors. Nowadays, my supposition is that the research is politically motivated and is probably nonsense.
The E.U.'s position is based on a report of the Scientific Committee of Veterinary Medicine about veterinary health published in April 1999. The report states that there's a risk of "developmental, immunological, neurobiological, immunotoxic and carcinogenic effects" from these hormones.
Notice the weasel-words used to describe the supposed dangers? "Can be..." May cause..." "linked to." Absent epidemiological studies that show causation, it's just feelings. And that is perfectly okay if it is admitted. But these puritanical scolds hide behind their increasingly discredited science (Covid vaccine anyone?).
Just say it" "We find food additives distasteful in our food-centric culture, and we prefer as pure food as we can produce without impacting populations on the margins." You know...the people who might go without because rich Westerners can afford more expensive food!
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Cooking food on racks is a wonderful thing. The bottoms don't get soggy, cooking is more even, stuff gets crispier and browner...it's a win-win!
Except for when it comes time to clean the damned racks that are liberally coated with cooked on BBQ sauce.
I might need to buy a sand blaster!
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This sounds pretty damned tasty! Anyone ever make it?
The creaminess sounds like a perfect side. I like creamy grits and risotto and stuff like that, so this might be right up my alley!
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While I am not one of those lunatics who go to particular pubs in Dublin just to enjoy a perfectly pulled Guinness...I do enjoy a pint now and then. And two nights ago I was eating with family and the older brat ordered a Guinness, which sounded perfect for the rest of the meal (the Beefeater Martini I had just finished didn't go with pulled pork).
But to his and my chagrin, the Guinness came not in a pint glass out of a keg, or even a can with the nitrogen capsule! No, it came in a bottle.
And I didn't hear Simon & Garfunkel singing when I tasted it. In fact, it was pretty crappy! Frothy without being creamy, too cold, and it definitely was on the bitter, not mellow side.
Well, the garlic is out in the sunshine, probably soon to be eaten by those vile rodents with bushy tails and a penchant for damaging my home. But if they survive the squirrel apocalypse, and actually grow into something edible, I will be in garlic heaven! In case it doesn't, send all of your excellent home-grown garlic to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.
Rumor has it that the Bourbon Bubble is bursting. I have seen no evidence of decreasing prices, but maybe the bursting started somewhere else! I think the sweet spot is $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.
The problem...or the solution...is to buy lots of bourbon, take tasting notes, and eventually arrive at your favorites! It should take forty or fifty years, but it is worth it!
Listening to Tucker Carlson's increasingly unhinged blather about America's absolutely justified war against the Islamic Republic occupying Iran is reminiscent of Tokyo Rose or Lord Haw Haw during the Second World War.
Tucker is spouting unbelievable nonsense that directly contradicts empirical evidence, yet he continues to be platformed by social media and the compliant dinosaur media because his message is in part rabid criticism of Donald Trump and American Hegemony.
And what's the other part? Well, foaming-at-the-mouth Jew-hate, in the guise of blaming the Israeli government for manipulating Donald Trump into going to war against Iran, suggesting disloyalty on the part of American Jewry, and further claiming that there is no Iranian intransigence...that it is entirely caused by American and Israeli aggression.
The supposed plot to kill President Trump and other officials? DISINFORMATION!
Tucker Carlson is nothing more than a paid propagandist, trying to undermine his own country at the behest of his masters in Tehran and Qatar. Although he seems to be working for the Mullahs for free, because they are otherwise engaged and probably don't have the cash to pay him anyway. I guess it's just a labor of love for him.
At least Lord Haw Haw had the decency to leave Great Britain and go to Germany during World War II. Tucker insists upon enjoying the advantages of being an American citizen in America while simultaneously working to injure the country and strengthen its existential enemies in Iran and elsewhere. He is also viciously critical of "Christian Zionists," whom he claims are deluded, and have misinterpreted the Gospels. And we all know what an amazing scholar of the Bible Tucker is, so I guess we should take him seriously.
Curiously unmentioned in his rants are the facts of 47 years of Iranian warfare against America and the West. Also unmentioned are the many thousands of innocents murdered by Iranian proxies in the Middle East and in other parts of the world, and that is right out of the Goebbels Handbook!
Optimistically, Tucker Carlson's influence is going to wane, as his obvious partisanship and even more obvious stupidity begins to eclipse his measured and calm demeanor.
My personal theory: Tucker Carlson is dumber than a rock, but for many years at media outlets with writers and editors and producers and executives controlling his stupidity and hatred, his idiocy was hidden.
Now, without that advantage, the true Tucker Carlson emerges, and wow...he is a f*cking idiot!
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 3-8-2026 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
—Open Blogger
Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (test results not guaranteed). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, especially if you are wearing these pants...(HT: Piper, who wore these to the TXMOME last year.)
So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, set your clocks forward an hour or three, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?
This was set up in the lobby of the university library where I used to work (but never worked for). I just happened to be on campus that day and needed to go to the library to visit my old office. As you can see, students today prefer fantasy and science fiction by a large margin. Romance and mystery are close to tied, though romance has a slight lead. The "other" category is quite a bit behind, especially when broken down into the subgenres. It's an interesting snapshot of what today's college students are reading these days.
PHANTOM BOOKSELLERS
The YouTuber above gives an overview of how the online marketplace works for books, dividing up the marketplace into four main tiers based on the quantity of books being sold versus the prices charged for those books.
The "phantom booksellers" he refers to tend to operate in the middle two tiers (II and III) because that's where they can optimize profits on the demand curve. Buyers in the top tier (IV) are high-end collectors who know what they want and will be more diligent about ensuring that they receive a quality product, even if price is no object. Buyers in the lowest tier (I) are simply looking for the book and aren't too careful about the edition they receive since they simply want to read the book. I'd put myself in the lowest tiers (I and II) when it comes to buying books. Most of the time I don't care about the condition or quality of the book as long as it's reasonably readable.
I'm sure I've been burned by phantom booksellers more than once, though, considering the quantity of books I've bought over the years. I've certainly received books that didn't meet my expectations and in a couple of cases I received the wrong book. I've also had a few orders that experienced unexpected delays, causing me to cancel the order after too long.
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COMPLETIONISM
Hi. My nic is "Perfessor" Squirrel.
I'm a completionist.
For reasons I can't explain, many times when I start reading a series of books or just reading books by a single author, I find myself compelled to obtain ALL of the books in the series, or ALL of the books by an author. It's like an itch under my skin that I just have to scratch.
However, it's not so compelling that I'm going to overextend myself to obtain rare or valuable editions of a book just because it will flesh out my collection. Collectors and completionists have a lot of overlapping qualities, but they are not quite the same thing.
A collector tends to be much more interested in obtaining specific editions of a book so as to have a matching set of a series. Or they'll purchase multiple editions of a book to have all of the possible editions available. Maybe one set of books is for reading and another set is for display.
A completionist, by way of contrast, tends to be more focused on obtaining the story within the book, so specific editions are not particularly important. Sure, it's nice when a completionist can find the desired edition at a reasonable price so as to have a matching set of a series (e.g., all first-edition hardcovers), but it's not a requirement for owning the book. Simply enjoying the story is the primary criterion for obtaining the book.
I do have a few restrictions on my completionism, which tends to keep it in check. I refuse to pay huge premium prices for a book if it's particularly difficult to find. For instance, sometimes mass-market paperbacks will be priced for hundreds of dollars on Amazon. No thanks. I may try to find it available elsewhere if I really, really want it. I'm even OK with purchasing the Kindle edition if it's reasonably priced compared to an expensive physical copy.
I'm also willing to forgo completing books in a series if I don't find the series particularly compelling. However, if I do find a series enjoyable, then I'll probably make an effort to get as many of the books that are available (again, for a reasonable price).
I'm also likely to forgo getting ALL the books in a series that's still being published because it's part of a huge franchise. Sure, I have a bunch of Star Wars and Star Trek novels, but I'm not feeling compelled to collect 'em all. But if I see one I haven't collected yet while browsing through a used bookstore's wares, I might be persuaded to pick it up.
What about you? Are you a completionist? Or a collector? Or both?
MORON RECOMMENDATIONS
Also, this week I re-read John Wyndham's The Kraken Wakes, aka Out of the Deeps. I read it at fifteen and have always remembered it fondly. I'm pleased now to report that it holds up very well. There is a strong sense of British wit as he lampoons the governments of the world, including his own, and their reaction to an invasion of beings which have taken over the deepest part of the oceans and are intent on wiping out the land-dwellers.
It's quite Wells-like. It begins very quietly and disquietingly, and proceeds from there over a five-year period just after WWII. Recommended.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 22, 2026 09:13 AM (wzUl9)
Comment: It's always nice when you can revisit a book you read as a youngster and realize that it still holds up well into adulthood. To me, that's a mark in favor of an author who is writing a story that will withstand the test of time, one of the essential criteria in writing a true classic.
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I'm in the third book of Travis Baldree's cozy fantasy* series, Brigands and Breadknives. It's your classic story of an elf ranger on a perilous journey to take a prisoner to justice.
The goblin outlaw has a magic-forged breadknife named Shankling, made by the same swordsmith who made her elf captor's snooty and long-winded blade Nigel. This Elder Blade-ling is more punk rock than lute madrigal. "Look at this white steel! Snowy as hells, right? I've got that, you know, weight of significance. Runes all over the place. Soul of an ancient hero and all that."
*Yeah, yeah, roll your eyes. It's fun.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at February 22, 2026 09:28 AM (kpS4V)
Comment: There's nothing wrong with a fun fantasy read! Not all fantasy has to be grimdark with primary characters being killed off in every other chapter. Even light-hearted fantasy can have its moments of gravitas, especially when the author is exploring the essence of the human condition. Terry Pratchett was a grand master of this.
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Last week I read Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett and it's laugh out loud funny British humour. Was never a fan of Pratchett but this one has sent me looking for more
Posted by: kelly at February 22, 2026 10:34 AM (GxGGi)
Comment: Speaking of Terry Pratchett, this was one of the earliest ones of his I've ever read. It's a great introduction to one of the core groups of the Discworld series of books. I've often seen Guards, Guards recommended as an introduction to the series as a whole. You'll get to meet the Night Watchmen along with the wizards at Unseen University, both of whom are essential to the series. Great stuff. Just remember the secret pass phrase if you intend to join the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night.
As mentioned above, I'm a completionist, so I decided to complete F. Paul Wilson's The Secret History of the World. A few of the books were difficult to track down (or too expensive) for a print edition, so I settled on a Kindle edition. I'm OK with that, since my goal is to read the missing bits and pieces I haven't read yet, not have display copies of each of the stories. As you can see below, they come from a variety of sources.
The Compendium of Srem by F. Paul Wilson -- Kindle edition. Novella. The Spanish Inquisition discovers a tome of eldritch, forbidden lore. It refuses to be destroyed through their efforts.
Black Wind by F. Paul Wilson -- Used paperback.
Young Repairman Jack 1 - Secret Histories by F. Paul Wilson -- New copy. Trade paperback.
Young Repairman Jack 2 - Secret Circles by F. Paul Wilson -- Used copy. Trade paperback.
Young Repairman Jack 3 - Secret Vengeance by F. Paul Wilson -- Used copy. Trade paperback.
Repairman Jack: The Early Years 2 - Dark City by F. Paul Wilson -- Discarded library copy. Hardcover.
Repairman Jack: The Early Years 3 - Fear City by F. Paul Wilson -- Discarded library copy. Hardcover.
Secret Stories: Tales from the Secret History by F. Paul Wilson -- Print-on-demand. Trade paperback.
Quick Fixes: Tales of Repairman Jack by F. Paul Wilson -- Print-on-demand. Trade paperback.
The Peabody-Ozymandius Traveling Circus Oddity Emporium by F. Paul Wilson -- Print-on-demand. Trade paperback.
The Fifth Harmonic by F. Paul Wilson -- Kindle edition. Stand-alone novel within The Secret History of the World.
WHAT I'VE BEEN READING RECENTLY
I enjoyed re-reading the urban fantasy series The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, so I decided to re-read The Secret History of the World by F. Paul Wilson. Some of them will be new reads because I didn't have all the stories in the series (see above). I'm reading them in chronological order of when the events occur, more or less.
The premise behind the series is that there is a secret war going on between the forces of the "Otherness," an eldritch horror from beyond our reality, and the "Ally," a slightly more benign cosmic entity that seeks to preserve our world, but doesn't much care about the humans inhabiting it. Many key events in history can be tied to this secret battle, though the history books don't cover all the details. For instance, the Twin Towers came down because a cult of fanatics wanted to retrieve an ancient talisman that was hidden beneath Building 7.
The series consists of different sub-series, along with a number of short stories and novellas that have been published independently in various sources. It was a bit of a challenge to collect almost all of the stories. Wilson helpfully provides a complete guide and timeline to the series in the most recent editions of his books. As near as I can tell, I have it all except for the short story "Fix," co-authored with Joe Konrath and Ann Voss Peterson. I'm hoping this one short story isn't the key to understanding the entire series.
The Compendium of Srem by F. Paul Wilson
This short novella explores the history behind a tome of eldritch forgotten lore from the so-called "First Age." It's found by an order of monks in service to the Spanish Inquisition in 1498. Naturally, the Inquisition seeks to destroy this demonic book, but is unable to do so. It resists all attempts at destruction, shrugging off fire, acid, and even repeated blows from an axe.
Wardenclyffe by F. Paul Wilson
This novella explores what Nikola Tesla was really up to at his Wardenclyffe facility on Long Island in 1903. Obsessed with providing cheap wireless power, his experiments yield success, but at a terrible, terrible price, tearing a hole in reality
Black Wind by F. Paul Wilson
In the years leading up to World War II, Japan was attempting to establish itself as a leading world power. To do so, a secret order of monks seeks to reclaim the power of the Black Wind, which was powerful enough to stop the Tokugawa Shogunate from destroying the secret order. They hope to use the Black Wind to completely dominate the world.
The structure of this book is a bit odd because it changes between first-person perspective when the viewpoint character is the American Frank Slater and third-person perspective for any other viewpoint character. It's classic F. Paul Wilson style of writing, though, as he shows us the viewpoints of both heroes and villains in the story.
The Keep by F. Paul Wilson
Two groups of Nazis find themselves trapped in a mysterious keep in the Transylvanian Alps while an ancient horror hunts them down one by one. They are so desparate they turn to a Jewish scholar to help them defeat this evil being, who is more ancient than he claims. Meanwhile, a servitor of another cosmic entity travels to this keep to stop the ancient evil he had locked up there over 400 years ago.
This is our first introduction to Rasolom, the major villain of the Secret History going forward. Here, he's portrayed as a former boyar of Vlad Dracula, though his backstory reveals he's something much more ancient and evil.
Reborn by F. Paul Wilson
Glaeken thought he'd stopped Rasolom in the keep. He was wrong. Now evil is stirring again in a small town on Long Island in the 1960s. Jim Stevens inherits a multi-million estate from a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, then eventually discovers the truth behind the scientist's experiments. The end result is that the One is returning to the world again, seeking to claim it for the Otherness he serves.
Secret Stories: Tales from the Secret History by F. Paul Wilson
This is a collection of short stories that all touch on the Secret History in some way or another. For instance, "Demonsong" recounts the battle between Glaeken and Rasolom during the First Age in a sword-and-sorcery homage to Robert H. Howard.
My favorite story in this book is "The Barrens," where a woman is contacted by an old friend to explore the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, looking for clues that will lead to discovery that threatens to shatter the boundaries of reality itself.
Quick Fixes: Tales of Repairman Jack by F. Paul Wilson
Repairman Jack is F. Paul Wilson's most popular character. He wrote several short stories about him, giving readers more insight and background into Jack's day-to-day life. He's a "fixer," an urban mercenary lurking in the bowels of New York City's underworld. On paper, he doesn't exist, having no official documentation whatsoever. If you need help that no one else can provide and if you can find him, he might be able to offer you a repair job--for a price, of course.
Two asteroids, in fact, the pair Dimorphos, which was the direct target, and Didymos, around which it orbits.
The deliberate impact not only shortened the orbital period of Dimorphos by half an hour from its original twelve, but slowed the orbit of the pair around the Sun by... 10 micrometers per second.
The experiment was four years ago; it took a while for the difference to add up to enough to detect.
If it feels like that's taken twenty years, it may be because it has. Aptera was founded in 2006, with its corporate existence punctuated with a couple of bankruptcies along the way.
The new C8 instances are a lot faster - as much as 70% - than the Zen 3 C6 instances that we were using at my day job before we moved out of Amazon entirely.
The maintainer of Python package Chardet, which dets chars, replace the manually-written code with a version largely generated by Anthropic's Claude, and swapper the license from LGPL to MIT, raising complaints from the original developer (maybe) who assigned the license, which prohibits future relicensing.
The thing is, "copyleft" licenses in the GPL depend on copyright law for enforcement, and AI-generated content can't be copyrighted, at least in the US, so...
If he'd just renamed the package it would probably be fine.
Also, it apparently rewrote and optimised the inner loop of the code to be 48 times faster, which is something of a win.
Welcome to Club ONT - a collaboration of The Disco and The Dino.
CSA (Club Service Announcement) - Daylight Savings Time will cause us to lose one hour of Club time tonight. Adjust your partying timeline accordingly!
A United Nations plane carrying a large number of ambassadors was flying across the Pacific Ocean to go from America to Japan, when suddenly they lost several engines. They were too far away from any land, including Hawaii. The pilot announced that after jettisoning as much as they could from the cargo bay and fuel tanks, they still needed to reduce the overall load by 600 pounds, or three people to reach the closest airport. The crew was needed to fly the plane to safety, so three of the ambassadors would have to sacrifice themselves for everyone else by jumping to their deaths in the ocean below, as there were no parachutes.
While a crew member opened the emergency door, the French ambassador stepped forward. "Vive la France!" he exclaimed as he plunged to his demise. Next, the British ambassador approached the door and said, "God save the king!", and plummeted to a watery grave. Finally, the American ambassador stood up, grabbed the Mexican ambassador and yelled, "Remember the Alamo!" and pushed him out.
Hat tip: JohnFNot Kerry
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A wealthy Texan commissioned an artist to paint him a mural depicting general Custer's last words at the Alamo. He gave the artist free range as to how he would arrange the mural. Weeks passed as the mural was in progress, but eventually the time came for the wealthy man to view the work.
He entered the room, full of expectation, to see a mural depicting a large blue fish with a halo atop a hoard of copulating Native Americans on the hillside below.
"What the hell is this?" the man said. "That's not what I asked for."
"Oh, but it is," said the artist. "It shows the true last sentiments and words of general Custer. I figured they'd be 'Holy Mackerel, look at all those fucking Indians!'"
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Drink of the Night
Tonight we drew the 5 of Clubs from our deck of playing card cocktails
A network outage that caused several government offices to lose phone and Internet services in an Ohio county is now being blamed on a meddlesome squirrel.
Medina County officials said the Feb. 20 outage that knocked out phone and Internet services at government facilities including the county prosecutor's office was initially thought to be caused by contractors accidentally slicing through underground fiber.
County Administrator Matt Springer revealed at last week's commissioner's meeting that the true cause has now been found to be a squirrel that built a nest inside the fiber infrastructure and chewed through multiple lines.
In Arab countries like Oman, camel beauty contests are a big deal! Breeders from far and wide bring their best specimens for a chance to win the title of ‘most beautiful camel in the land,’ but in recent years, events have been plagued by scandals involving various cosmetic enhancements.
Last month, the 2026 Camel Beauty Show Festival in Al Musanaa, Omanaa, was rocked by the disqualification of 20 participants after veterinarians ruled that they had been artificially enhanced. Botox, lip fillers, silicone reshaping, and artificial hump inflation were some of the forbidden procedures discovered during the inspection.
Camel beauty contests are an important part of Arab tradition. For centuries, camel owners struggled to emphasize features like glossy coats, long, well-set necks, full lips, long eyelashes and firm humps through selective breeding and grooming, but in recent years, cosmetic enhancements have become very common.
Video segment at the link. Go ahead - discover more!
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Club ONT Department of Stupid Human Tricks
This woman can play two recorders at the same time - one with each nostril.
Perhaps the most whelming thing about the video is that it has over 2.4 million views and almost 5300 comments.
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Not sufficiently whelmed? How about the world's fastest talker?
This video has 119 million views and over 259,000 comments. Are you not whelmed, now?!
— Dudes Posting Their W’s (@DudespostingWs) March 5, 2026
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The Club ONT Jukebox
A march for March
(That catchy song was featured in Season 5, Episode 4 of Better Call Saul).
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Let's stay on the road!
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Top 10ish Comments of the Week
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Club ONT brought to you by:
Valid questions
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Club ONT is not responsible for injuries incurred in the course of time travel. If you are interested in falling back rather than springing ahead, the white haired guy in the carport tinkering with the aluminum sportscar might be able to help. His name is Emmett but he also responds to "Doc."
A couple of years ago, I went through all of the Best Picture winners and wrote about the whole experience over the course of about a year. I've been revisiting the whole exercise recently with an eye towards this year's ceremony, and I think I've come away with new thoughts.
Firstly, I think One Battle After Another will win the big award. Why? Well, I still haven't seen it (that'll change if it wins, it's on HBO Max), but it won the Golden Globe, the PGA, and the DGA awards. It's historically unusual for a movie to win that much (the different organizations have a lot of overlapping voters) and lose. I don't really care. I've only seen Frankenstein, F1, Train Dreams, and Sinners from the list of nominees (I'd vote for Frankenstein out of the three I've seen).
However, the point of this is to wonder...why the hell should anyone care?
Is it unusual to hear the message these days that no one cares? Not at all, so I know I'm not the first on that front. However, I think I've come up with some reasons that not many others have considered. The first and foremost is the self-conscious effort by the members of the Academy, several thousand highly respected individuals at the height of power in the world of Hollywood, to separate their premiere awards ceremony from popular taste. And it didn't actually start that recently.
In the beginning, Louis B. Mayer wanted to control the rest of Hollywood not directly under his control at MGM. To help head off the rise of labor unions in Los Angeles, he started the Academy to create something of a clearing house for labor disputes that put the studios at a point of power over talent. He followed that up with the Academy Awards the following year to, as he put it, give out baubles to the talent so they would make the movies he wanted made. MGM made films designed to appeal to the masses. He made middle-brow fare with big stars and lots of entertainment value (and spiraling costs, which would doom the studio no matter its successes in later decades). Long after Mayer lost power in the industry, that ethos largely maintained through huge upheavals in the industry brought on by the downfall of the studio system and the rise of television as a main competitor.
Through the 60s and 70s, the Academy was awarding big money makers that people respected. The vast majority of these films were in the top ten earners of the year. Many of them were top three. However, that changed in the 80s.
The 80s was when Hollywood discovered that franchise/genre filmmaking could be a huge money maker. Genre was always an embarrassing necessity to the studios. Cranking out cheap B-westerns to keep the cash flow positive so they could pay for prestige pictures like The Life of Emile Zola that took longer to make and cost more. However, the 80s, in the wake of the unprecedented successes of Jaws and Star Wars, saw Hollywood find the most reliable revenue stream in theaters in decades: the sequel.
And Hollywood has always hated it. Anything populist in appeal became fodder for franchise filmmaking, and the Academy simply...stopped nominating the biggest money makers as an unspoken rule. Oh, you can find exceptions. Titanic is the big one, but they are very much exceptions. The movies awarded progressively got smaller with smaller returns over time. That dovetailed over the past twenty years or so when the Academy just decided to flip their middle finger at the public, starting with the snubbing of The Dark Knight in 2008 (which wasn't nominated for Best Picture) and extending to today where the only real huge success (there have been smaller successes) was Oppenheimer which feels like an apologia to Christopher Nolan for the Dark Knight snub.
The Academy intentionally told the people, for decades, that their tastes didn't matter when it came to the Academy's biggest annual gala. That the public was good enough to make slop for, but that slop wasn't worthy of praise. No wonder TV ratings are down so much. Seriously, who cares about Nomadland?
An Ideal World
Let's take all of that away, and assume that the Oscars are actually only concerned with awarding the best movie of the year, no matter where it comes from. Should you care? Should you, a peon out in the hinterlands, like me, with no say in major decisions in Hollywood, with no influence beyond our tiny addition to the economic side of the business, with no direct ties to people actually in the industry, care about the Oscars?
No.
No, you should not.
The Oscars are an industry award show. They are the top tier of an industry coming together to celebrate the professional accomplishments of each other. You know who else has an industry award annually? The American Society for Quality, the professional organization for statisticians and industrial engineers. Do you care about who gets their annual fellowship? I kind of care because my father won it twice, but that's it. And the ASQ probably affects our daily lives more than the Academy. Their contributions to industrial processes creates efficiencies that make our lives better. What about the Academy? They entertain us for a couple of hours at a time, at best, and then we're off to live our lives. Should you care about the people who made those and the baubles that they hand to each other?
Absolutely not.
“But, TJM, they are experts and know so much about what makes a good movie. Why should I ignore them?”
Because that's an argument by authority and the Academy is a terrible authority. From the beginning, the entire thing has been about control. Control of the direction of the industry. Mayer did it rather openly. The 50s-70s was an obvious battle between old school studio filmmakers and the emerging New American Cinema (the contrasts between Oliver! and Midnight Cowboy, winning back to back, as well as The French Connection and The Godfather, also winning back to back, are illustrative). The 80s was a real attempt to direct the industry away from the money makers overall. The Academy had residual cultural influence from the decades of them picking from popular movies, which allowed the fiction of their leadership to last for a while. But, the open embrace of politics in the 2010s (really started in the late 2000s) was just accelerating a trend that had already started thirty years early. And that's not even talking about people like Harvey Weinstein mastering the Oscar campaign (begun in 1978 with The Deer Hunter) to win with movies like The English Patient.
The Spectacle
But what about the ceremony itself. Is that worth watching? Well, that's a joke question, right? One reason ratings have cratered is that the show is boring. Which is weird since you have the premiere entertainers of the premiere entertainment industry showing the world that they don't know how to put on a show.
But I think the problem is the format itself. There is literally no drama on display for three hours. Say what you want about the politicization of sports, but the actual show on display is filled with the drama of physical feats. What is the drama inherent in the Oscars?
It's the reveal of the choice. Except, that's not drama. The drama itself is the choice. Those choices were made privately by Academy voters as they cast their ballots. They were when PricewaterhouseCoopers counts the ballots. It's not when someone opens an envelope. That's manufactured tension that lasts for mere seconds. Think of reality television like Survivor. The end of every episode is just a vote that lasts for 5-10 minutes, keeping people riveted to their sets because we are actually seeing the drama play out. It's not great drama, but it's something as we watch the people discuss their choices, go off to write down a name, and then Jeff Probst brings the ballots out one at a time. In contrast, The Oscars has movie stars stiffly deliver badly written dialogue, we get a metaphorical drumroll as they open an envelope, and then they reveal the result of drama. It's brief, manufactured tension, and in between are dresses and tuxedos.
It's honestly a bad show, and it always has been. It helped that the glamour of older Hollywood was more pristine in its presentation due to tighter control of PR agents who kept the biggest stars aloof from most day to day concerns. Outside of the movies themselves, the Oscars were one of the only places to actually see many of the biggest stars of the day. Now, they're just easier to see outside of those venues, so the Oscars is less special. (Also, I would argue that it was the glamour that attracted people, of which the stars were representative, not the stars themselves. I have a long held-antipathy to the very idea of the star system, finding most interpretations of it to be deeply flawed.)
Should You Watch?
I'm not your supervisor, but I'm certainly not going to. I'll probably keep up a blog post on my phone that updates with the winners and refresh every half an hour or so as I watch something else because I have a basic curiosity about the affair.
You see, the list of Best Picture winners is actually...a really good list of movies. Does each individual movie represent the best of the year? I don't...really care. There are a handful of bad movies, but there are a lot of good and a whole lot of great films honored. That list of films is not a bad thing to go through in an ongoing education of film (mostly American) history. But it's no more authoritative than my own lists or the AFI's lists or the BFI's lists or the lists you made about your favorite movies. The presence on this list of Best Picture winners does not make them better. Their absence on the list does not make them worse.
The key though is that the Academy is a nest of snakes who are actually using the industry awards show to jockey for power over the direction of the industry as a whole (you know...the stated point of the whole thing from the beginning), an effort that makes no sense anymore since the winners tend to be tiny movies that can't affect audience tastes anymore since few people see them. I mean, seriously, Anora is so sexually explicit that it will never reach a wide audience (it made $21 million at the US box office, a profit for the $5 million budgeted film). It's also really good, by the way.
Anyway, I love the medium, but I cannot be bothered with the people who make the movies giving each other baubles. It's a minor curiosity, and I am tired of thinking about it.
The Mystery of the Mary Celeste (Rating 1.5/4) Full Review "However, the script is way too thin, the directing doesn't give enough time to really build anything, most importantly a dangerous tone or mood, and the resolution feels like just another disconnected piece to end a series of disconnected pieces." [YouTube]
Death in High Heels (Rating 2/4) Full Review "Still, this is probably the best of the pack so far. That's not saying a whole lot, but it's a more intentional package from the pre-war films." [YouTube]
Dick Barton: Special Agent (Rating 2/4) Full Review "Still, Hammer has to start making something outright good at some point, right? Maybe when they hire Christopher Lee." [Library]
The Dark Road (Rating 1/4) Full Review "At least it's short at less than 70 minutes, but that 70 minutes is largely just dull." [Library]
Dick Barton Strikes Back (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "Still, he does his best, and he can't quite save it. It's close, but not there. Oh well, it was a modest entertainment for a time. I have to appreciate that as it comes." [Library]
The Man in Black (Rating 2/4) Full Review "That being said, this is…mediocre but passable. It's not good, but it's not outright bad either. It's just milquetoast and not really worth much thought." [YouTube]
Room to Let (Rating 2/4) Full Review "I'm disappointed that my difficult trek to discover this movie didn't yield something more fruitful and entertaining, but really I shouldn't be surprised that all I got was milquetoast Hammer out of it." [Personal Collection]
Contact
Email any suggestions or questions to thejamesmadison.aos at symbol gmail dot com.
I've also archived all the old posts here, by request. I'll add new posts a week after they originally post at the HQ.
Please check out my videos from the last couple of weeks, mostly Oscar focused:
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 landed on paper cutting.
As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. All (legal) hobbying is welcome. I understand that some people pay attention to military hardware, tactics and strategy as a hobby. Discussion of current events permitted but must be made in the form of hobby commentary. Pants are optional. As always, puns are welcome and encouraged.
Play nice and do not be rude. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.
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Paper cutting? Yes, paper cutting.
It takes patience and precision, but some people are wise in the ways of cutting and layering paper to make three dimensional art. Seems like a sharp knife and a working knowledge of negative space helps quite a bit.
We'll do a separate theme someday on origami and paper airplanes, so let's leave those for another time. No need to confuse paper cutting with paper folding.
Your dino host has a small brain and short arms, so cutting paper is beyond my reach. Need your contributions in the gray boxes for help.
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Thomas Witte:
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Not sure what makes this paper cutting "Japanese," but interesting to watch an artist create a piece based on a photograph:
Not sure what makes this paper cutting "Swiss," but interesting to watch this artist make her pieces from scratch. She cuts only with scissors. Worth watching to see her workspace too.
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Works by an Ohio artist from Joe Kidd (who gets credit for the theme suggestion):
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EPSON is a Japanese company that makes printers. They sponsor a wide variety of Japanese auto racing teams. Everything you see on this page on their website can be printed on paper and made in three dimensions. Race cars, transport trucks, and even pit lane crew and equipment.
Warning - the website is in Japanese, so you either need to know how to speak Japanese or know how to translate.
There are many other race car paper templates on the interweb if this intrigues you. Some are basic and targeted to children. Others are more sophisticated (like Formula One cars).
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Cutting silhouettes with a live subject seems like quite a challenge:
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If you're really fancy, making pop-up cards out of paper is impressive.
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Cutting paper snowflakes isn't exactly the same as other paper cutting here, but the content would be incomplete without it!
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Want to know more about the manufacturing of curling stones? Lots of interesting nuggets in these two videos. The heavy Scottish accent is included for no additional charge.
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NOTICE: Next week the theme will be calligraphy and the written word. Think tools and technique, process, and end results. If you have suggestions, contributions, photos of your work, or photos/links of pieces by others that would qualify, please send. Space permitting, we'll feature Horde submissions in the content. If you don't send anything, I'll just post pages from the Book of Kells.
Even if you make no submissions, have a think during the week and come prepared!
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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did an wood lathe turning theme. 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, contribute your own. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things but don't run with scissors.
Podcast: CBD is joined by Buck Throckmorton (the EV industry's worst nightmare)... we discuss how the template of the Marshall Plan and "You Break It You Bought It" has been discredited by President Trump, Mexico is a flashpoint or an opportunity, more EV debacles, should we reserve employment for US citizens only, and more!
Nick Sortor
@nicksortor
NOW: The crowd goes TOTALLY SILENT when Biden tells them HE closed the border -- not Trump
Even a crowd full of DEMOCRATS know that's a total lie
Maybe having a dementia patient out there attempting to rewrite history ain't the brightest idea, @DNC
Nancy Mace to force a House vote of sexual misconduct report and harassment by congress members and staff. The wood chipper is no respecter of persons. Do it.
Posted by: kingsman
Podcast: Sefton and CBD Talk SOTU and the Dem's vile behavior, Donald Trump's love of country, Iran is coming to a head, is Mexico intractable, Mamdani's NYC is circling the drain, and more!
Forgotten Early 80s Schmatlz Mystery Click Honey, I was your hero
And you were my leading lady
We had it all
Just like Bogie and Bacall
Ooof, it's worse than I remembered.
China Is Not Our Fren: Chinese government posts AI generated content featuring attacking and killing American soldiers. Pay attention to the ridiculous AI banter of the US soldiers. [dri]
Podcast: Sefton and CBD discuss AOC's brilliant entrance into geopolitical policy, Jesse Jackson's demise, Transsexual Psycho Killers, is NYC about to get taxed even more? Olympic athletes who bite the hand that fed them, and more!
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