Ace: aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
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
Epstein Files Reveal Bill Clinton Cavorting With Very Young Women on Pedo Island; Democrat Flacks and Leftwing Media -- But I Repeat Myself-- Claim Trump Is "Curating" the Photos to Make Slick Willy Look Bad
Donald Trump's Department of Justice on Friday released more than 300,000 pages of photos and evidence connected to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The vast trove includes images showing the disgraced financier and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell socializing with high-profile figures, including former president Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson.
One photograph appears to show Clinton in a swimming pool alongside Maxwell and several unidentified, partially clothed women.
Clinton broke his silence on Friday to turn the tables on Trump, releasing a statement that declared: 'The White House hasn't been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they'll try and hide forever.'
Uh-huh. Should he have released them this morning instead, Slick?
Isn't he on some kind of Congress-imposed deadline?
Britain's disgraced former royal, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, also appears in the material, along with his former wife, Sarah Ferguson. References to Trump are limited in the documents, and he has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the case.
Meanwhile, a recent NY Times hit piece failed to connect Trump to Epstein's crimes.
Byron York
@ByronYork
4h
The New York Times makes another big effort to connect Trump to Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. Fails again. "The Times interviewed more than 30 former Epstein employees, victims of his abuse and others who crossed paths with the two men over the years. The Times also obtained new documents that illuminate their relationship and scoured court documents and other public records...An examination of their history by The New York Times has found no evidence implicating Mr. Trump in Mr. Epstein's abuse and trafficking of minors."
“The reason Bill Clinton’s picture is in the Epstein files is because this has ALWAYS been a story about Bill Clinton and NOT Donald Trump. We should call it the CLINTON FILES, not the Epstein files.” pic.twitter.com/RHQBmcZKEf
I'm having nostalgia flashbacks to the foreign grifter and gold-digger Arianna Huffington appearing on every single TV show that had a guest cancel on them in 1997, screaming about "Beeel Cleeenton" seventeen bazillion times.
Before she changed her grift and became Leftist Entrepreneur.
AGAIN: Violent Deranged Homeless Man, Set Free By Leftwing Judges Over and Over Again, Randomly Slashes and Permanently Blinds a 75 Year Old Woman
—Ace
Below the fold, a cop says that this homeless criminal is "notorious" for randomly attacking people.
Yet he was allowed to roam the streets, menacing and attacking citizens.
Oh and they said "he usually just punches people" I guess that is okay...
Posted by: steevy
Tuck's News
@tucksnews
HORROR: 75-Year-Old Seattle Woman Loses Her Eye After 'Serial Assaulter' Known to Cops Hits Her Face at Full Force with Wooden Board with Screw (VIDEO)
Meanwhile, in the Democrat hellhole of Seattle...
A 75-year-old woman lost her eye after she was brutally attacked by a serial assaulter who has a history of punching and stabbing people.
42-year-old Fale Vaigalepa Pea hit Jeanette Marken in the face with a wooden club with a screw through the end of the plank as she was standing on a street corner in downtown Seattle after picking up a food order earlier this month.
Surveillance footage shows Pea approached Marken and swung the wooden club with full force at her face.
Bystanders rushed to Marken after she hit the ground. She was rushed to a nearby hospital and treated for her facial injuries.
Family members told KOMO News that Marken lost eyesight in the damaged eye.
Kevin Kijewski
@KevinKijewski
This shocking Seattle video exposes the failure of soft-on-crime policies under Democrat prosecutors like King County's Leesa Manion, a recipient of George Soros funding. Repeat offender Fale Vaigalepa Pea - arrested eight times in 2025 alone for assaults, drugs, indecent exposure, and more - brutally attacked a 75-year-old woman with a spiked board, leaving her permanently blind in one eye and requiring facial reconstruction.
George Soros has backed over 100 similar prosecutors nationwide to socially reengineer our communities, including potential Michigan Democrat Attorney General nominees Karen McDonald and Eli Savit. We also can't ignore the mental health crisis fueling this violence - too many cycle through arrests without treatment, endangering innocent people.
As Michigan's next Attorney General, we'll fully prosecute violent offenders, support law enforcement, and pursue real solutions to protect families and address the mental health crisis endangering our communities. It's time to make Michigan safe, normal, and red again in 2026.
An elderly woman was savagely attacked in broad daylight by a man wielding a wooden board with nails in it.
Jeanette Marken, 75, was left permanently blinded in her right eye after being hit in the face with the makeshift weapon in Seattle, allegedly at the hands of repeat offender Fale Vaigalepa Pea, 42.
Family members told KOMO that a screw sticking out of the board gouged out Marken's eye, and after several surgeries she was told she will not recover her eyesight in the eye.
Marken's son Andrius Dyrikis told the outlet that the random attack has left the family stunned, saying: 'To take a wood club with nails and hit her at full force in the face? I don't understand it.'
...
Police said Pea was 'notorious' for attacking random victims on Third Avenue in Seattle.
The bodycam footage showed a paramedic question the officer after he recognized Pea, asking: 'Who is this guy?'
'He's a regular. He usually punches,' the officer responds.
'I guess today he decided to escalate from his usual.'
According to KOMO, Pea's string of offenses dates back to 2011, when he stabbed two people at a party.
One of the victims in that attack was stabbed eight times, yet despite a jury finding Pea guilty of the savage attack, he received a sentence of just 18-months community custody.
Pea continued racking up criminal offenses over the years, including one in 2020, four in 2023, and one in 2024.
This year, the King County jail reported that Pea has been booked into custody a staggering eight times, for offenses including assault, indecent exposure, drug offenses, and property destruction.
However, KOMO reported Seattle Municipal Court and King County Superior Court records show none of his arrests this year resulted in charges - until the alleged attack on Marken.
Pea is now charged with assault in the first degree, and will remain in custody until he has a competency hearing later this month.
Prosecutors cited Pea's lengthy rap sheet in a charging document for the assault on Marken, saying that his 'egregious actions in this case, as well as his prior assaultive criminal history, demonstrate that he is a substantial danger to the community and is likely to commit a violent offense.'
Dyrikis said he felt let down by the justice system for allowing the repeat offender to roam freely on the streets despite his history.
'He's a usual? A usual what? Attacking people? Civilians? What the hell is wrong with your system?' he questioned.
'I want someone to at least say to my mom, 'Hey, we're working on this, we're fixing it... I want them to say, 'we notice, hey, we're working on it.''
Oh and he's also a transgender. Whether he's a "real" transgender (I use that term with reservations) or just another thug who has a Courtroom Gender Epiphany, I don't know.
BREAKING: Violent repeat offender who was known to police just randomly slashed a 75-year-old woman in the face in Seattle and permanently blinded her pic.twitter.com/fXH2bXpsMc
0 AP stories on Jeanette Marken 0 PBS stories on Jeanette Marken 0 NYT stories on Jeanette Marken 0 NPR stories on Jeanette Marken 0 WSJ stories on Jeanette Marken 0 BBC stories on Jeanette Marken 0 CNN stories on Jeanette Marken 0 WAPO stories on… pic.twitter.com/KogLaTWrWd
Bari Weiss Halts "60 Minutes" Hit Piece on Trump Over Sending Criminal Illegals to El Salvador, Saying Further Reporting and Context is Required; The Left Freaks Out
—Ace
It's the same kind of entitlement that the hard-left progressives and communists infesting the federal bureaucracy have: It doesn't matter who the president is, it doesn't matter what his policies are, it doesn't matter if America voted for those policies -- they're the ones in charge. They own the place. Leftists are appointed by Nature to rule over all other men.
CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss defended her decision to pull a controversial "60 Minutes" segment on an El Salvador prison, telling staff Monday the piece "wasn't ready" and needed more reporting -- pushing back on accusations that the last-minute move was politically motivated.
Weiss addressed the backlash during a network-wide editorial call, saying she held the segment because "we simply need to do more," according to a recording reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
"I held a '60 Minutes' story and I held that story because it wasn't ready," Weiss told CBS News staffers on Monday. When reached by The Post, CBS News confirmed the accuracy of the Journal's reporting.
Weiss said the story "has already been reported on by places like the [New York] Times, the public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment in this prison. So to run a story on this subject, two months later, we simply need to do more."
She said the only newsroom she wants to run is one where editors can have "contentious disagreements" while assuming "the best intent" of colleagues -- an implicit criticism of "60 Minutes" correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.
"The only newsroom that I'm interested in running is one where we are able to have contentious disagreements about the thorniest editorial matters and do so with respect and crucially where we assume the best intent of our colleagues," Weiss said on the editorial call on Monday.
Alfonsi blasted the decision in a Sunday email to top correspondents, writing that she learned just a day earlier that Weiss had "spiked our story" and arguing the move was political, not editorial.
That's a laugh. Every story 60 Minutes runs -- or chooses not to run -- is political. They did no stories on Biden's mental decline, for example, nor any negative stories on Obama, Biden, or Hillary Clinton.
But they choose to run hit-piece after hit-piece on Trump.
These are choices, and they're animated by political animus. But they insist that they have access to an Objective Holy Standard of Newsworthiness that you wouldn't understand -- and neither would professional journalist Bari Weiss.
Your facts are opinions, their opinions are facts.
Just like your speech is violence, and their violence is speech.
...
"Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices," Alfonsi wrote, according to the Times.
As someone at Hot Air pointed out, the RatherGate forgeries passed your attorneys, too.
All it takes to avoid a defamation suit when making allegations about a public figure is no provable malice.
Note that CBS "news" staffers take the position that a story doesn't have to be true and accurate to run. It merely has to not be provably defamatory.
By the way, 60 Minutes has already done this story. And they'll do it a dozen times more unless they're told they are supposed to be "journalists," not DNC staffers.
...
Weiss rejected Alfonsi's characterization during the morning call on Monday, saying the prison conditions had already been reported by the Times and others and that airing a similar story months later required additional reporting, including making "every effort" to get key principals on the record and on camera.
"To me, our viewers come first, not a listing schedule or anything else," Weiss said on Monday.
"That is my North Star and I hope it's the North Star of every person in this newsroom."
It's not. They're political actors with a political agenda.
Note that that last report claims that CECOT is back in the news because "interest in CECOT is spiking." This is a typical media lie. Interest -- meaning public interest, general interest -- isn't "spiking." The passive verb is deliberately chosen to obscure the actual actor -- the left-wing Democrat media is pushing the story again. "Interest" is not organically "spiking." Left-wing propagandists are pushing the story again, with nothing new to add to the story, to inflame the public as part of a political op.
Hello! How are you?! I missed you over the past three days.
The computer is connecting to wifi now. But I disconnected from the internet for most of the weekend. I'm seeing pictures of Bill Clinton in a pool. What's the context? Is Bill Clinton just getting into shape and encouraging Americans to swim?
I see him getting massages too. Is he raising awareness about rotator cuff health and maintenance?
THE MORNING RANT: As Warner Bros Discovery circles the drain, CEO David Zaslav extracts generational wealth for himself
—Buck Throckmorton
A subject that I frequently re-visit is corporations that are mismanaged into financial and operational crises while leadership lavishly rewards itself.
While I have kept an eye on the headlines regarding the takeover bids for Warner Bros Discovery, I hadn’t bothered to read much deeper, because the entertainment / media industry is a bit of a mystery to me, and because it is controlled by my political adversaries. But perhaps in part for those same reasons, I have become friends with the pseudonymous “George MF Washington,” who is a closeted conservative working with the movers and shakers in Hollywood. Mr. GMF Washington kindly suggested to me that I add David Zaslav’s personally rewarding destruction of Warner Bros Discovery (“WBD”) to my “bad business tally.” Mr. Washington wrote:
To add to your bad business tally… WB’s David Zaslav did such a bad job his distressed studio is about to functionally disappear… there will be hundreds if not thousands of layoffs, many from the very divisions that created the value Netflix now wants to own. And despite this abysmal record, Zaslav is going to walk away from this deal with the reward of generational wealth for his failure.
It doesn’t take much digging to see what a mess Zaslav has made, and how obscenely he has rewarded himself despite (or because of ?) the destruction he has wrought.
Some quick background - David Zaslav was a successful executive at NBC before taking the helm at Discovery Communications. Meanwhile, AT&T had bought Time Warner Media in 2018. By 2022, AT&T decided to unload that same entity, which it had renamed Warner Media.
Mr. Zaslav and Discovery took on about $40 billion in debt to buy Warner Media, plus it assumed Warner’s existing debt, leaving the post-acquisition company (named Warner Bros Discovery) choking on about $50 billion in debt. The cost of digesting the merger, along with a variety of operational reasons, caused WBD to start losing money, which was really inconvenient since it needed to service all that debt.
Over the following three years, Warner Bros Discovery lost over $21 billion.
These tremendous losses necessitated severe austerity measures, including several rounds of layoffs putting thousands of employees out of work. Those laid off employees weren’t actors. They were everyday people behind the scenes in sales, accounting, production, etc.
The actual owners of the company, its stockholders, also took a financial drumming thanks to Zaslav’s stewardship of the company. A decade ago, Discovery stock was trading at about $40 per share, and it hit $50 per share shortly before the Warner Brothers acquisition. But as WBD bled red ink and focused on cost cutting, its top line revenue started decreasing too. Losses combined with negative revenue growth are a toxic combination to investors, resulting in the stock price dropping about 80% to less than $10 per share.
Despite the rolling financial catastrophe at Warner Bros Discovery, Mr. Zaslav continued to be richly compensated. Over the past three full years, his total compensation exceeded $140 million. In 2024 alone, a year that WBD suffered an $11 billion loss on declining revenue, Mr. Zaslav was rewarded with total compensation of $52 million.
Despite WBD’s persistent losses and its doubtful ability to service its debt, it houses a valuable film library, and it still owns some desirable properties such as HBO and Warner Bros Studios. Netflix and Paramount are both making bids to purchase WBD at about $30 per share, which doesn’t recoup all the money investors have lost, but it is much better for stockholders than the bankruptcy that seems imminent if WBD remains independent.
Unfortunately for WBD’s employees, its acquisition will result in thousands more jobs being eliminated by the acquiring entity.
But where does that leave Mr. Zaslav and his executive team? Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, upon the sale of Warner Bros Discovery, Mr. Zaslav will receive $30 million in cash plus another $537 million in equity, for a total golden parachute of $567 million. Several of Zaslav’s top lieutenants will also receive golden parachutes worth in excess of $100 million. That is impressive compensation for destroying a company. Think of how much they’d be worth if they were running a profitable company with revenue growth.
I am a free market capitalist. I don’t write these types of articles because I’m seeking government action to regulate away the behavior of people such as Zaslav. Just the opposite. To keep the socialists at bay, there is an obligation for us free marketeers to police those who are accessing levers of power to extract wealth rather than create wealth. If corporate boards don’t start putting some controls on parasitic executive behavior, people will start voting for politicians who will.
Oh, heck yeah! Let me do a little research and put together a post. I’m so glad that Zaslav and his heirs are set for life after he ran WB into the ground. Those lost jobs, livelihoods, and ruined lives are mere statistics. The transfer of wealth from WB to Zaslav is inspiring.
The Milwaukee County judge on trial for helping a violent illegal immigrant elude federal law enforcement authorities has been convicted on one of the two charges against her.
A jury late Thursday found Judge Hannah Dugan guilty of felony obstruction but determined there wasn’t enough evidence to convict her on a misdemeanor charge of concealing an individual from arrest. Her attorney told reporters that Dugan will appeal the conviction, a verdict that should serve as a wake-up call to judges who disregard laws they don’t like in the furtherance of judicial activism.
Well of course she'll appeal, since despite my seeing this as a positive sign, given the nature of who occupies far too many a judge's seat in far too many an American courtroom, she might have a shot at winning an appeal. And yet she lost in a Wisconsin court which as we all know, thanks to Madison and Milwaukee is not the conservative bastion that it seemingly ought to be, especially in the eyes of a NYC transplant like me. But be that as it may, here's hoping this criminal is disbarred, disrobed and never gets within 1000 miles of a judges bench except as a defendant, and ultimately serves a lengthy stretch in a federal lockup.
Earlier this year, on June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court rendered a major victory for religious freedom in Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission. In a unanimous judgment authored by Justice Sotomayor, the Court reversed an earlier order in favor of Wisconsin. The justices reasoned that Wisconsin violated Catholic Charities’ First Amendment rights in denying it a tax exemption because it thought the services provided were not primarily religious insofar as its employees “‘do not proselytize or serve only Catholics’ in the course of performing charitable work.”
On remand, Wisconsin officials ignored the Supreme Court, again denying Catholic Charities’ request for an exemption. However, on December 15, 2025, in Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission, on appeal, the state’s high court summarily ruled that Catholic Charities is entitled to the requested exemption from unemployment taxation. As such, this column reviews Catholic Charities’ judicial history before reflecting on its impact on religious freedom. . .
. . . On December 15, 2025, in Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission, Wisconsin’s highest court summarily ruled that “[i]n light of the Supreme Court’s holding that this court ‘impose[d] a denominational preference’ that does not survive strict scrutiny…we determine that Catholic Charities [and its sub-entities are] eligible for the religious purposes exemption to [state] unemployment taxation. . .
. . . Catholic Charities is noteworthy because members of the Supreme Court, including separationists Justice Sotomayor, author of its unanimous opinion, with fellow separationist Justice Jackson penning a separate concurrence, put aside their ideological differences in rectifying Wisconsin’s having trammeled Catholic Charities’ First Amendment rights. . . In sum, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court finally applied precedent properly in protecting Catholic Charities’ religious freedom rights. In so doing, Wisconsin’s judges acknowledged that because secular jurists lack the authority, and expertise, to interpret what qualifies as being at the heart of the Catholic Church’s or any other church’s mission, they must defer to the judgments of religious leaders who define their missions.
So smacking down a rogue justice who interfered with federal law enforcement and actually aided and abetted a cviolent criminal evade apprehension and a decision that upholds religious liberty, we are given a couple of things to keep hope alive.
Just a few years ago, it used to be that anti-Semitism was mostly on the left and repugnantly identifiable and condemnable by most. . . The right used to be a unified corrective to left-wing anti-Semitism. It still polls nearly 70 percent in favor of Israel. For a while longer, it is far more likely to condemn anti-Semitic violence than the left. But recently, its own base, in varying degrees, has come full circle and joined the left in its distaste for Israel and Jews in general. . . One hallmark of the new right-wing furor against Jews and Israel is the strange symbiosis they employ. Formerly edgy podcasters become vicarious hosts of virulent anti-Semites. The partnerships are a way of not directly owning up to their toxicity but just “putting it out there.”
. . .Candace Owens initially championed Kanye West (“I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up, I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE."). Then she graduated to expressing her own old anti-Semitic tropes: “There is just a very small ring of specific people who are using the fact that they are Jewish to shield themselves from any criticism. … All Americans should want answers because this appears to be something that is quite sinister.”
Tucker Carlson hosted critics of the U.S. effort against Hitler in World War II and Israel-behind-it conspiracists before escalating to inviting Nick Fuentes on in a mostly friendly manner—which might be attributed to his interview format, except he has attacked fellow conservatives far more than has odious Fuentes.
I have no idea how Carlson and Owens were brought up or arrived at their beliefs about "Jews" or "The Jews?" I assume that both have either inherited/absorbed the beliefs of their parents and families which have been passed on for generations. It's not the world's oldest hatred for no reason. Or, even worse, maybe they engage in this merely for personal gain.
It's a very short walk from Charlie Kirk and 9/11, to the Deicide trope and even believing that Jews use the blood of Christian children to make Passover matzohs.
And that's that, my friends.
Have a great day!
And lastly, a quick shout-out and a huge thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.
ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY LINKS
Victor Davis Hanson: As leaders equivocate and extremists unite left and right, open season on Jews spreads across the West—unchecked, unnamed, and certain to grow deadlier. Slouching Toward Open Season on Jews
‘Judges are not above the law. Their core function is to respect the rule of law, not to undermine it,’ attorney Daniel Suhr said. (Shouldn't she be stripped of her law license before serving a lengthy prison sentence? Court Finds Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan Guilty Of Obstructing ICE
Grim-faced Albanese and his wife were further jeered with one man yelling out “blood on your hands” joined by a second who cried, “you are not welcome.” Other hecklers could be heard yelling out, “you don’t represent Australia” as he refused a call to apologise to members of the Australian Jewish community for his inaction. ‘Shame’ — Leftist Australian PM Anthony Albanese Booed at Bondi Terror Attack Vigil
NATIONAL GUARDSMEN GUNNED DOWN IN DC, by Biden-Imported Islamic Savage
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who previously worked with a CIA-backed partner force in Kandahar and entered the U.S. in 2021 through the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome, has been arraigned and is facing charges in the Thanksgiving-week ambush-style shooting that left 20-year-old Spc. Sarah Beckstrom dead and critically injured 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe. George W. Bush Institute Urges Americans to Sympathize with Afghans After D.C. National Guard Attack
The power failure left a large swath of the northern part of the city in the dark, beginning with the Richmond and Presidio neighborhoods and areas around Golden Gate Park in the early afternoon before growing in scope and size, the Independent reports. Massive San Francisco Power Outage Leaves 130,000 Homes, Businesses in the Dark
Efficient rail moves goods faster, cheaper, and with less environmental strain than trucking, freeing up highways and reducing road maintenance costs for taxpayers. Powering America’s new golden age with rail
As many have noticed, America isn’t as safe as it used to be, but each of us can create our own zone of relative safety by staying aware and acting smart. Why America Must Relearn Situational Awareness
Roger Kimball: As the media frets over Trump’s “fatigue,” he dominates the world stage, confronts woke institutions like the Smithsonian, and proves once again that reality keeps wrecking the anti-Trump narrative. Trump Never Sleeps—But the Media Keeps Dreaming
New York Times columnist and PBS News Hour talking head David Brooks loves himself some Stalin and Mao analogies. Back in May, he compared Elon Musk and DOGE to the murderous dictators. This Friday, he compared President Trump, the renaming of the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center, and “gigantic portraits” of Trump to the communist tyrants and claimed it reminded him of the “Stalin era.” Brooks Claims 'Gigantic Portraits' Of Trump Remind Him Of 'The Stalin Era' (But Obama's pants crease soiled his panty liner - jjs)
RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, DEMOCRAT-LEFT WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS,
Beth Rivkah High School in Brooklyn exemplifies family values and academic rigor. An Educational Jewel in Crown Heights (Don't let Sharpton see this! - jjs)
SECOND AMENDMENT
The 32-year-old grandson of President John F. Kennedy is running for the 12th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Jerry Nadler. His proposal, dubbed the “Ricochet Rule,” would impose financial penalties on states that fail to conduct strong background checks for gun buyers, the New York Post reported. JFK Grandson Wants To Fine States If Their Guns End Up At NYC Crime Scenes
THE 2020 and SUBSEQUENT ELECTION HEISTS , SHENANIGANS/FRAUD and AFTERMATH
There should be no excuse why Americans cannot return to a national electoral snapshot, with appropriate procedural guardrails in place, on one day. Let’s Return to Election Day
The longer Western “experts” ignore the fact that Palestinian authorities routinely repeat that this is a religious war, the longer they will continue to recommend solutions, such as the vaunted two-state solution, that are not solutions at all. If you’ve been misdiagnosed, the medication you’ve been prescribed will not heal you. And that’s the situation today regarding Israel and the Palestinians. Gaza Imam Reveals the Key to Understanding the Entire Israeli-'Palestinian' Conflict
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem released a video on social media showing a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter landing on the deck of an oil tanker in international waters off the coast of Venezuela. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump declared the government of Venezuela to be a Foreign Terrorist Organization and ordered the complete naval blockade of the country. U.S. Snatches Venezuela Oil Tanker in Dark‑Hour Strike on Narco‑Terror Funding
The ongoing collapse of the German chemical sector signals a political crisis -- one that will not end until this new socialist experiment has completely failed. A Collapse in Germany’s Chemical Sector Is a Bad Omen
The message is not complicated. Anthem’s profits are rising because your costs are. And unless policymakers, providers, and the public push back, this model will only spread. Patients will have fewer choices, doctors will have less autonomy, and families will continue to pay more for less. This BIG Insurer Is Now Punishing Hospitals for Putting Patients First.
“The bulk of STEM funding is not of this nature. . .No one viewed this as working for free. . .An environment of reduced research funding is here to stay.” How to Reform Science Funding
He speaks among people as equals, openly sharing the daily struggles that come with being human in this world. Scott Adams is America's patriot
At Christmas, sentiment rings hollow when policies shrink families, erase unborn children, and protect failing schools—because a nation’s future is measured by how it treats its kids. A Christmas Present for the Children of America
During America’s bicentennial, seven million Americans visited John Wayne’s ‘Freedom Train’ exhibit to celebrate America — but for America’s 250th, legal hurdles threaten to stop the Freedom Train in its tracks. Will Amtrak Let The American Freedom Train Roll?
Rob Reiner did for Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) what Ray Kroc did for hamburgers, what Henry Ford did for the automobile, and what Genghis Khan may have done for sexually transmitted diseases; he brought it to the masses. Reiner's tweets weren't informative, clever, or funny; they were over-the-top insulting and, more importantly, accusatory, so much so that an acne-besotted incel from Butler, Penn., might want to take a shot at Trump. . . .Was Rob Reiner a Deep State Spook? Roll the Tape...
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.
The press drove this huge initial demand - 70,000 robots. So next year we're going to do four times that. We made 300,000 robots. We even made a television commercial, but we were a bunch of geek engineers, so it totally failed. After Cyber Monday we were sitting with 250,000 robots in our warehouse like, "Oh my God, the world's going to end."
Then something good happened. The guy running our website said, "Why did sales quadruple yesterday?" We hadn't done anything. What had happened was Pepsi had started running a TV ad with Dave Chappelle. He walks into this beautiful home, picks up a potato chip, and a Roomba comes out. He's like, "A vacuum cleaner!" He throws down the potato chip, the vacuum eats it, then chases him. His pants are ripped off. He stands up in boxers. A beautiful woman appears, and he says, "Your vacuum cleaner ate my pants." We sold 250,000 robots in two weeks and realized we knew nothing about marketing.
And now for Lina Khan's FTC, the AntiPepsi:
The amount of money and time spent was indescribable. I would not be surprised if over 100,000 documents were created and delivered. iRobot invested a significant part of our discretionary earnings against fulfilling the requirements that went along with doing the transaction. Amazon was forced to invest many, many, many times that. There was a whole team, both internal and external employees and lawyers and economists working to try to, in as many different ways as possible - because it seemed like our message was falling on deaf ears - demonstrate that this acquisition was not going to create a monopolistic situation.
It was never going to create a monopoly. The FTC didn't care. It wanted scalps.
There was daily activity for 18 months associated with this. Perhaps most telling, when I was testifying as part of being deposed, I had a chance to walk the halls of the FTC. The examiners on their office doors had printouts of deals blocked, like trophies.
Sunday Overnight Open Thread - December 21, 2025 [Doof]
—Open Blogger
The Winter Solstice is upon us
Howdy Hordelings! Today is the day with the shortest amount of daylight. Tomorrow starts a cycle of increasing daylight each day. It'll be June 21 before you know it!
Today also begins Christmas week. How are your plans coming along? Working this week, or burning leave? What else is on your mind? Step on in, pretend to check out the content, then share your words of wisom in the gray boxes.
Canadian billionaire and former National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender, Patrick Dovigi, has officially put Bill Gates’ once-hyped superyacht through its paces.
The 119-meter hydrogen hybrid megayacht, named Breakthrough, recently sailed from Europe to Miami after a massive refuelling stop in Gibraltar.
It was the longest trip that the Canadian hockey player had taken on the yacht, and the fuel he needed to take the trip came with an eye-watering price tag.
That single fuel bill reportedly came in at a staggering $435,000.
Video segment at the link. Go ahead and check it out - you'll totally feel like Bill Gates and the guy who bought his big ass boat are everyday folks like you and me.
The man, surnamed Li, had been working as an engineer for a company in Jiangsu Province for over a decade when he was let go because of his frequent and long bathroom visits during work hours. The case was recently reported by the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions after the engineer took his former employer to court over his termination.
In its defense, the unnamed company submitted surveillance footage showing Li taking14 extremely long bathroom breaks, the longest of which lasted four hours, in a 30-day period between April and May 2024. Its lawyers also presented evidence that management had contacted Li via chat app when noticing his disappearance, but received no replies, mentioning that his position required him to always be available during work hours.
Check out the story at the link to see how everything came out.
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In case you are unfamiliar with the "four hour" bit I was paraphrasing above
What other vintage commercials do you still vividly remember?
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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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When Fashion Meets My Over-the-Top Christmas Tree
Usually we’re swooning over the latest runway triumphs, the perfect pumps or a statement coat on Melania that left us all breathless. But this week, with the holidays twinkling brighter than a diamond tiara, my fashion obsession has spilled over into something unexpected: Christmas trees. Christmas trees, you ask? Why yes, because down here in the South, we simply don’t do subtle when it comes to our evergreens. We go big, lush, gloriously layered, and unapologetically extra. Plus, couture can make anything better, even a pine tree. So when I spotted what Burberry, Ladurée, and the like have done to hotel lobby trees this season, I knew these sensory masterpieces demanded a spotlight. Let’s step into the magic…
Burberry at Claridge's
One of the most talked-about collaborations this year is Burberry's partnership with London's Claridge's hotel. Chief Creative Officer Daniel Lee designed a 16-foot traditional tree in the lobby, adorned with around 600 hand tied bows crafted from surplus Burberry fabrics, a nod to Victorian symbols of unity. Hanging bells and chess-piece ornaments inspired by Burberry's Equestrian Knight Design add a playful, heritage twist, tying into the label's signature checks and motifs. The overall vibe? Effortless British elegance meets cozy maximalism.
Ladurée at The St. Regis
For a dose of decadent Parisian indulgence, French patisserie Ladurée teamed up with The St. Regis hotels in New York and Washington, D.C. The 12-foot trees shimmer with sumptuous velvet bows, oversized macarons, dried florals, and colorful baubles, topped by a grand peacock-blue bow. It’s a feast for the senses, aligning with fashion's ongoing love for food-inspired motifs (think Moschino's playful collections). This collab’s vibe is glittery, gold-toned whimsy.
David Laport at Riggs
Dutch couture darling David Laport dazzles at Riggs Washington D.C. with "Golden Origins"—an 18-foot celestial masterpiece of hand-sculpted gold pleats nodding to the hotel's banking heritage. It’s vibe is bold, architectural, and sensorially explosive.
Urs Fischer at The Connaught
Spheres filled with AI-generated human faces glow via LED lights on this outdoor marvel. Symbolizing global togetherness, a take that blends tech with fashion's boundary-pushing narratives (think Balenciaga's digital innovations). This vibe is ethereal avant-garde.
John Derian x The Green Vase at The Dewberry
In Charleston at my beloved Dewberry, John Derian joins forces with Livia Cetti of The Green Vase for a celebration of pure American style and artistry. The central tree stands tall in a miniature mossy forest of smaller evergreens and faux bois, while paper garlands bloom with delicate dewberry flowers, paperwhites, and amaryllis, handcrafted petals so lifelike you can almost feel their velvety softness and catch a faint, fresh floral whisper. The vibe is layered, collected elegance with a whimsical decoupage charm. Utterly divine.
My own tree? It’s a full-on spectacle: floor-to-ceiling Fraser fir dripping in layers of ribbon, chinoiserie ornaments, velvet bows, polished metals and just enough sparkle for an aesthetic of nostalgic elegance. Tell me about your tree and if you went with a fancy vibe, traditional aesthetic, or something completely different!
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Thanks, Piper!
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DJ Doof - Guess The Theme
Thursday's theme was a bit challenging. Tonight's is super easy. Difficulty level 1 out of 5
You're not on that list, are you??
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Tonight's ONT brought to you by conspiracy theories from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away
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Tonight's ONT was produced in advance by Doof Enterprises, LLC. Year-end donations are still being accepted. While not legally tax deductible, you could certainly give it a try!
Your feedback may or may not be very important to Doof Enterprises. Follow Mr. Doof on X @doof2112 or do the email thing – doof2112 at proton dot me. All I want for Christmas are some Rush deep cuts!
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 Pre-Christmas edition?! That must mean Christmas is drawing near. Four days, in fact. Is all of your shopping done? If I don't have a chance to say it later, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?
Still working on our flinching fundamentals this week. Are you focusing on not doing this?
No flinching discussion is complete without the input of a Navy SEAL.
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Sooper Rare 1911
This would make a nice gift for me.
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Home Invaders vs. Porch Pirates
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Christmas of Yesteryear
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Christmas in Appalachia
Kind of makes you think, huh?
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Christmas Favorite
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Do You Have a Kitty?
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"Best Of" Accidents Involving Nuclear Weapons
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Our Pal Electron Theory and the Diode Tube
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Highway Patrol!
This week's episode: Motel Robbery!
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War of the Colossal Beast!
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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?
We are rapidly approaching that special week in December that requires festive foods. Seriously, I think it's the law, or at least in the Bible! Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day all require some ridiculous, complicated, overly time-consuming, expensive culinary effort to make them special!
Or you could make Sloppy Joes.
Actually, now that I look at an actual sloppy Joe, it is less appealing than the image I have in my mind's eye from, oh, 40 years ago!
My point though is that festive doesn't have to mean complex. And it certainly doesn't have to mean expensive. Sure, if your tastes run to lobster and foie gras and caviar, and those are your favorite foods, then have at it!
But if your favorite food is a great cheeseburger dripping with your special sauce (ketchup and mayo?), then make that!
I am hosting a New Year's Eve dinner, and I am going to keep it simple. I had to restrain myself, because one of my favorite dishes is a French regional dish called Cassoulet, which is really just beans and meat. But...it is also a three day affair if done from scratch, so while it is absolutely delicious, I'll hold off a bit and make that on some dreary long weekend in March.
I made Paella for a combination Hanukkah/Birthday celebration last week, and while it was successful, I was disappointed by the quality of the Chorizo that I used. My regular purveyor didn't have any, so I bought Boar's Head Chorizo at a good supermarket in my area. It looked...fine. But when I began to cut it into small chunks to be sauteed, I discovered that it was extremely hard (shut up!); far firmer than my go-to stuff. Yes, there are a bunch of different styles of Chorizo, but this stuff was like a dried salami, and not the best choice for Paella. And...the folks over at Boar's Head were quite skimpy with the paprika!
But was even worse was how damned salty it was! Far too salty, even for a dish that can handle a lot of salt. I had to back off on salt for the rest of the dish! Luckily I also bought some Keilbasa, just on a lark, and that worked out extremely well, and will be in my next batch.
One thing this Chorizo crisis reinforced in me was tasting the ingredients. It is a very good idea that cooks know what they are putting into their food. Maybe not the raw chicken, but it is important to know your ingredients, and the best way is to pop a bit into your mouth!
Oh...of course I stirred it! It is vital to stir the rice so that the flavors are distributed evenly, and it begins to cook without the hot and cold spots in the Paella pan affecting the final result. Once most of the liquid has evaporated and the rice no longer moves freely, that's when to stop! But don't listen to that "Pete Bog" curmudgeon.
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Biomedical research is famously inexact, and is filled with weasel-words like suggests and associated and possibly. But I choose to believe this one because...duh!
Higher intake of high-fat cheese and high-fat cream was associated with a lower risk of all-cause dementia, whereas low-fat cheese, low-fat cream, and other dairy products showed no significant association. APOE ε4 status modified the association between high-fat cheese and AD. Our study's observational design limits causal inference.
Of course, my interpretation of this is that happiness reduces the risk of dementia, and high-fat cheese makes people happy!
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I grabbed the only hamburger buns on the shelf, and while the burgers were great, with the biblically-mandated Kraft American Cheese (two slices!) on top, the bun was an embarrassment. Clearly it was in the pool!
Now, I am not suggesting that the bun should overlap the burger, and I am not resistant to the idea of a slightly larger burger, but this bun exceeded design limits.
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Well, this is a new one for me! And I am very happy to have stumbled upon it. Brussels Sprouts Gratin sounds like something that I should have had, but I guess I was raised poorly and made some bad decisions in my life.
Sadly, "Dad Cooks Dinner" makes a hugely problematic modification to the recipe he cribbed from (the execrable J. Kenji López-Alt)!
I followed Kenji's basic technique but left out the bacon because some of my guests are vegetarians.
This is madness!
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A friend graciously gave me some genuine grown-in-the-USA garlic, and I tasted one clove and planted the rest, because my pathetic failure last year is an anomaly...right? I hope so, because it's in the ground (actually, a large pot), and it had better work this time!
Send all of your extra antelope 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!
How did I get the couch down into the basement in the first place? Because bringing it back up was an exercise in spatial recognition and geometry, and I did not do well.
Smacking the switch plate with the edge of the couch hard enough to crack some plaster was not the original plan. Is there some cosmic plan for this sort of stuff, that only the hard edge hits fragile things and the 90% of the couch that is soft and padded just goes its merry way?
I'll probably go to Home Depot, buy a Sawzall, and cut the entire door frame out of the stairwell. That way I won't be constrained by anything in the future.
Or just burn the whole damned thing down to the foundation!
On December 17th, 1903, one hundred and twenty-two years ago on a windy sand dune in North Carolina the world was changed. Two brothers, bicycle mechanics from Ohio ran a contraption made of wood, cloth, and wire down a rail until it gained enough speed to become airborne. The first manned powered flight. In the scale of recorded human history, about 5,000 years, 122 years is a trivial span. I would suspect that no similar span anywhere in that history has been as technologically prolific as these last 122 years. The 122 years preceding flight likely are the second most prolific. The power of steam had been harnessed to propel trains, boats, early automobiles, and mechanized farm equipment. Metallurgy flourished. Electricity had been turned from a novelty to useful applications that were just beginning to be implemented. Fossil fuels and the internal combustion engine had burst onto the scene.
The Wright Brothers pioneering pursuit of flight was only made possible by the application of power derived from what was at the time a groundbreaking innovation. A lightweight gasoline engine designed by an employee of their bicycle shop that weighed 180 pounds and produced 12 horsepower. He had hand built the engine in six weeks using simple tools such as a lathe and drill press. And it worked!
It is difficult to overstate the importance of what the Wrights accomplished. In the few years following the first flight aviation exploded into the public consciousness and the pace of change in design, reliability, airworthiness, and range was significant. The First World War supercharged the development of the technology and culminated in the development of fast, maneuverable machines that could be armed with guns and bombs. Military tactics changed to accommodate the new technology. The interval between the wars supercharged the development of airplanes and modern aviation both from a civil and military standpoint. During this same period similar advances were occurring in just about every field of science and technology. Just as the telegraph had eclipsed the Pony Express to spread news, radios and air mail surpassed the telegraph. A dominant theme delivered in that stream of news was the pace and breadth change.
One hundred twenty-two years. Both of my grandfathers were born before the first manned flight. Their great grandchildren may be able to go to space. I may be able to go to space. What an incredible time to be alive.
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 12-21-2025 ["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 (Jesus Christ was born!). 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, unless you are wearing these pants...(HT: TheJamesMadison was unavailable for comment)
So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, sneak a peek at a Christmas present under the tree, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 "Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill[e] toward men!"
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."
-- Luke 2:13-15 (NKJV)
PIC NOTE
As much as we like to tear AI apart, sometimes it does amazing work. I described the scene as pictured above and Grok really came through for me! Now the real question is when is Musk going to develop his army of robot squirrels to gather nuts for me?
WRITING A BOOK AS A LIPPOGRAM
I had heard of this book, but didn't know much about it until now. Imagine the creative thinking that has to go into writing a 50,000 word novel that doesn't use the letter "e." Not once. That's some serious OCD at work. Not for me. Science fiction authors Stephen Baxter and Frederick Pohl would also struggle with this. Stephen Baxter created the Xeelee Sequence of novels, which chronicle mankind's aeons-long battle against ancient aliens nearly as old as creation itself. Frederick Pohl wrote the Heechee Saga, where mankind discovers alien technology they don't understand but can exploit to expand our horizons and escape an overcrowded, resource-exhausted Earth.
Other authors have taken up the challenge, to varying levels of success, I guess. I suppose now we could simply ask Generative AI to write a story that doesn't use the letter "e." Or any other letter. Or maybe write a story only using the letter "e."
One of our regular commenters is already well on his way:
How long before we csn stsrt going lord of the flies snd stsrt msking pointy sticks. Becsuse I've got s lot of sticks out bsck, msny of them slresdy very pointy.
Posted by: bsnsns Dresm at December 19, 2025 12:58 PM (3uBP9)
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5 SCI-FI CLICHES TO AVOID
Here are the cliches:
Scientific Info Dumps -- A lot of stories are guilty of this when the author is trying to convey information about the world to the reader. When done well, it feels natural, because we are experiencing the information as a character would. When done poorly, one character is telling another character information the second character already knows.
Aliens with Silly Weaknesses -- Unless a story is comedic, writers should avoid this at all costs! Aliens should feel, well, ALIEN, thus if they are antagonists, then the heroes should really struggle to find an alien's Achilles heel. Making them vulnerable to a common substance (like water in Signs) is dumb and makes the aliens look stupid and impotent. Doctor Who is full of examples of this.
Slopppy Time Travel -- Time travel stories are among the most challenging to write if you want to maintain a certain level of consistency in a timeline. The most common "out" is to explain it via multi-verse theory. The problem is that this can also be very difficult to explain to your audience well. It also opens up more plotholes and paradoxes.
Rushed Romance -- I've seen this in a few stories, but it's not confined to just science fiction. Any genre can suffer from this problem if the characters are not well-developed. Including romance subplots means focusing on the characters and their relationships more than focusing on just the science and technology within the story. Not ever author is going to take the time to explore both aspects in sufficient detail to lead to a satisfying outcome. One or the other will suffer as a result.
Tech Ex Machina -- Sometimes this can work, but it can also lead to a rushed and unsatisfying ending because the end result was "too easy." There's nothing wrong with introducing a new technology in a story that resolves plot threads, but the outcome needs to feel as though it's a natural result, rather than a way to fix a plot hole. The Last Jedi movie was quite guilty of this with the "Holdo Maneuver." This new application of technology absolutely WRECKED space travel and warfare in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Neither Rian Johnson nor J.J. Abrams can write their way out of a paper bag, so J.J.'s dumb explanation for it in The Rise of Skywalker was, "It was a million-to-one shot!" as though he'd just fallen and landed on Fusilli Jerry.
Note that cliches in and of themselves aren't necessarily bad writing. We use cliches for a reason and when they work well, they can make a story entertaining to read or watch on television. The Sherlock Holmes/Agatha Christie style mystery has been done to death by countless authors and television shows, but we still enjoy them.
Of course, as Brandon points out, they can be overused and thus become annoying to the reader/viewer. Or the author simply doesn't know how to use them effectively within the story.
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BOOKS BY MORONS
Sarah A. Hoyt has a new Christmas-themed collection she's just released:
Christmas In Time: A Collection of Short Stories
(Sarah A. Hoyt's Short Story Collections)
From award-winning author Sarah A. Hoyt come six tales of time travel, parallel worlds, and the furthest reaches of space—all bound together by Christmas miracles and the choices that define us.
Meet Time Corps agents who risk madness to prevent reality from splintering. Follow a mathematician pulled into a parallel universe where his twin captains starships between worlds. Watch as mysterious children arrive from impossible futures, and discover Victorian lighthouses that serve as anchors in the storm of time itself. Journey from blood-soaked space stations to asteroid colonies at the edge of the known universe.
This collection includes "What Child Is This," a prequel to Hoyt's acclaimed novel No Man's Land, revealing how a child's accidental time-slip can save a man’s life and create the bonds of family love.
MORON RECOMMENDATIONS
I read Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I've read a lot of science fiction and I don't know how I missed this author. Shroud is a high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen moon. It is pitch black, but alive with radio activity. Due to an accident, Juna and Mai are forced to make an emergency landing there in their small, barely adequate vehicle. Unable to contact their ship, they are force to journey across land, sea, and air. Chapters alternate between the human viewpoint and the viewpoint of Shroud's dominate species as they try to understand each other. Fascinating story, interesting characters.
Posted by: Zoltan at December 14, 2025 10:51 AM (VOrDg)
Comment: I almost bought Shroud when I was looking at Adrian Tchaikovsky stories, but decided to go for his Final Architecture series. It sounded interesting, sort of like Pitch Black in some ways. I'm not a huge fan of survival stories, so I decided against it in the end. Maybe if I like The Final Architecture I'll come back and revisit this.
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Started my traditional Christmas books. This week was The Christmas Cantata, one of the Liturgical Mysteries series by Mark Schweizer. An older friend, now gone, got me a signed hardcover edition as a gift. I was already a fan of the series. This one is a mystery but not a murder mystery. It is heartbreakingly poignant at times, includes his trademark humor, and is a story of redemption and acceptance. I fell in love with it on that first reading years ago and look forward to it every season.
Posted by: JTB at December 14, 2025 10:49 AM (yTvNw)
Comment: Since Christmas is just around the corner, I thought it would be nice to highlight Moron-recommended uplifting literature. It's always nice to have a spiritual pick-me-up when I am feeling low. Or when it feels like the world is spiraling into utter chaos. There is always a plan, even when we can't see it. HE can see it, which is good enough for me. I'll simply try to play my role in His grand design.
Both of my bosses were kind enough to give me a couple of gift cards as a small token of appreciation for my work, so I naturally spent them on books. I used one to buy the first book of a series, another to buy the second book, and then went ahead and purchased the third book on my own:
The Final Architecture Book 1 - Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Final Architecture Book 2 - Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Final Architecture Book 3 - Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovksy
WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:
Star Trek - The Next Generation - Masks by John Vorholt
Like most Star Trek novels, this is an extended episode. In fact, it reads very much like it might have been a storyline from ST: TNG that was abandoned for some reason. Maybe it was too long. Maybe the showrunners felt they couldn't do it justice. Doesn't matter. I just strapped myself in and enjoyed a pleasant stroll across the world of Lorca as seen through the eyes of the crew of the USS Enterprise-D
Storywise, two hundred years ago (give or take), an Earth colony ship carrying a troupe of minstrel performers crashlanded on Lorca. The tectonic instability and other environmental factors destroyed much of their technology, so the survivors cobbled together a quasi-medieval society with a highly-stratisfied caste system based on masks. Everyone wears a mask all the time and your mask identifies your role in society. You can challenge others for their mask via duels as a way to advance in society. Otherwise, you are stuck as a peasant mask. Naturally, the higher the rank, the more elaborate the mask. The most valuable and important mask is the Wisdom Mask. Whomever wears that has earned the right to be the leader of all Lorcan society.
Against this background, the crew of the Enterprise are bringing a Federation ambassador to welcome the Lorcans back into Federation society after being rediscovered recently. Oddly, the Prime Directive is in effect because they are now a pre-warp civilization, even though they had warp-drive technology in the past. The Federation ambassador has his own agenda for Lorcan society. The Ferengi also get involved because they've been exploiting the Lorcans for their masks, which they can sell for profit on the black market.
As I mentioned, it's really just an extended episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. There's even a mid-episode cliffhanger when Captain Picard is presumed dead (minor spoiler: he isn't).
Eternity's End by Jeffrey A. Carver
I picked this up at my most recent public library book sale. It's the story of a man who escapes a pirate fortress in space, only to be recruited for a top-secret mission by an alien race to find out what those rascally pirates are really up to. I think Carver was influenced by both Cordwainer Smith and Frank Herbert. His description of space travel through the dangerous, chaotic Flux sounds exactly like something Smith or Herbert would write. Legroeder, the main protagonist, belonged to the Rigger Guild before he was abandoned by them for reasons he's still trying to understand. "Rigging" is some sort of psychic ability to navigate the pathways through the Flux (hyperspace). The Flux has dep layers to it that are extremely hazardous to space travel, but may also hold many secrets. Carver has decent world-building skills here. Legroeder is an "everyman" who has been given some training, but nevertheless serves as the audience surrogate for this strange universe. There's also a fair amount of political intrigue. A starliner was lost in the Flux over a hundred years ago. From time to time, people report seeing it again. However, the Centrist worlds are bound and determined to squash any information about it, and will go to any lengths to prevent Legroeder from divulging information about the lost ship or even seeking more answers. They even framed him for murder to try and shut him up (when they weren't trying to assassinate him outright.)
You know how I said that the Minisforum AI X1-255 mini-PC that I bought cost 60-70% more on Minisforum's US store?
Strike that.
The US store was quoting me prices in AUD, making it just 10% more expensive than from Amazon Australia. (It's also available on Amazon US but they only have one in stock so you'd have to be quick.)
I used it last week trying to extract information from a thoroughly-but-incorrectly-documented API, with ultimate success. The API was shit but the AI saved me hours of painful iteration trying different functions looking for one that worked.
On the other hand, if you're carrying out a task where you know what to do you are likely better off doing it yourself, because you will end up with fewer and less severe bugs and a much better understanding of what the code is doing.
And it will in all probability save time doing it yourself.
Specifically they need to start optimisation before they even ship an early-access version, because they can no longer just recommend 32GB of RAM when customers can't buy 32GB of RAM.
While Larian themselves have not been guilty of this, I'm not sure being forced to optimise games from the start is a bad thing given the number of titles that have launched recently in a state that left the unplayable on even the fastest available hardware.
The value of your service provider not being able to recover your password is that they can't do anything else to your account either because they don't know who you are.
It's an underpowered overpriced gimmick called the Nex Playground aimed squarely at children. It uses motion tracking to let them interact directly with games without needing a controller, or any particular level of hand-eye co-ordination.
Saturday Night "Club ONT" December 20, 2025 [The 3 Ds]
—Open Blogger
Welcome to Club ONT. A collaboration the 3D's - The Disco, The Dino, and The Doggo. Five days until Christmas - we're in the home stretch. Come on in, unwind, and relax for a bit. Eggnog, Chex-Mix, both white and multicolored lights. We took the mistletoe down after the Christmas party.
That comment places RickZ and mindful webworker on the Club ONT VIP list. Lifetime of restroom tokens, complimentary jug of hooch, and the subtle nod that parts the velvet ropes (ok, the ropes are kite string and yarn, but still).
Two tourists were driving through Wisconsin. As they were approaching Oconomowoc, they started arguing about the pronunciation of its name. They argued back and forth until they stopped for lunch.
As they stood at the counter, one tourist asked the restaurant employee: "Before we order, could you please settle an argument for us? Would you please pronounce very slowly where we are?"
The employee leaned over the counter and said: "Burrrrrr, gerrrrrr, Kiiiing."
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Today I was beat up by a busty woman in an elevator. Evidently I was staring at her breasts when she said please press one. I don't remember much after that.
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(H/T - Teresa in Fort Worth)
Joe passed away; His will provided $30,000 for an elaborate funeral. As the last guests departed the affair, his wife, Helen, turned to her oldest friend. "Well, I'm sure Joe would be pleased," she said. "I'm sure you're right," replied Jody, who lowered her voice and leaned in close. "How much did this really cost?" "All of it," said Helen. "Thirty thousand." "No!" Jody exclaimed. "I mean, it was very nice, but $30,000?" Helen answered. "The funeral was $6,500. I donated $500 to the church. The wake, food and drinks were another $500. The rest went for the memorial stone." Jody computed quickly. "$22,500 for a memorial stone? My God, how big is it?!" "Two and a half carats."
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 stick
1 cup sugar, dark brown
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups hot water
3/4 cup dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
cinnamon sticks for garnish
Instructions
In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and vanilla extract to the bowl and mix until well combined.
Transfer the spiced butter mixture to an airtight container and store in the fridge or freezer until ready to use.
To make the hot buttered rum, add 2 tablespoons of the spiced butter mixture to a mug.
Pour in 2 ounces of dark rum and top with 1 cup of hot water.
Stir until the spiced butter mixture is dissolved and the drink is smooth.
Garnish with a cinnamon stick or whipped cream, if desired.
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For Our Patrons Who No Do Not Partake
CBD is right, these recipe links are out of hand with the nonsense and scrolling required to get to what you want. Recipe below is going off memory and spitballin'. Your memory jokes are not that funny.
Grasshopper. Non-alcoholic style.
2 cups of vanilla ice cream (or whatever seems about right - give it a 'smoosh')
3 TBS Crème de menthe syrup (non-alcoholic, green mint syrup)
1 TBS Crème de cacao syrup (non-alcoholic, clear chocolate-flavored syrup)
Whipped Cream. Because whipped cream.
Maraschino cherry (fancy pants garnish)
Chuck all ingredients into blender (press the button - this is an important step)
Blend until you get that smooth, rolling thing going on with ingredients
Pour into most convenient glass in the cupboard and top with Maraschino cherry
Glance in mirror and raise your glass as you walk by
A Romanian murderer who sued God for "fraud" and "betrayal of trust" for failing to answer his prayers has had his case dismissed in court, a newspaper has reported.
The daily Evenimentul Zilei says 40-year-old Mircea Pavel brought charges against "the defendant God, who lives in the heavens and is represented in Romania by the Orthodox Church" for failing to free him from evil.
Mr Pavel, who is serving 20 years in jail for murder, accused God of "fraud, betrayal of trust, corruption and influence peddling."
"At my christening, I made a deal with the defendant aimed at freeing me from evil," he wrote.
"But the latter has not respected that agreement until now, although he received from me various assets and numerous prayers."
The court in Timisoara, in western Romania, dismissed the case, ruling that "God is not subject to law and does not have an address."
Service of process doesn't work well for the devil either. A 1971 case in Pennsylvania titled "Mayo v. Satan and His Staff" involved a prisoner in Pennsylvania. The judge described the claim as alleging that "Satan has on numerous occasions caused plaintiff misery and unwarranted threats, against the will of plaintiff, that Satan has placed deliberate obstacles in his path and has caused plaintiff's downfall. Plaintiff alleges that by reason of these acts Satan has deprived him of his constitutional rights."
"We question whether plaintiff may obtain personal jurisdiction over the defendant in this judicial district. The complaint contains no allegation of residence in this district.
We note that the plaintiff has failed to include with his complaint the required form of instructions for the United States Marshal for directions as to service of process."
Even though two of these Cadillac hubcaps were repolished, they still command a high value because of their brand and design. It uses the spring-loaded retention famed for its extra protection capacity.
Links are like beer. If one is good, two are usually better. Historical summary.
1680: First used on Newton Reaction Carriages
Pre-1915: Mostly made of nickel-plated brass
1920s: Mostly made of aluminum
1927: First snap-on center caps for wire wheels
1930s: Spring-loaded retention clip used
1938: Full wheel covers introduced
1940: Hubcaps expanded in size for function
1940s: Dog dish hubcaps featured on base model vehicles
1950s: Lack of hubcaps represented in drag racing
1960s: Stainless steel full-spoke wheel covers introduced
1970s: Plastic wheel covers introduced
1980s: ABS wheel covers replaced steel hubcaps on all cars
Here is a rundown of Christmas train rides in the United States. Any done a Christmas train adventure?
Sip a cup of hot cocoa and nibble a warm sugar cookie when you hop aboard the 1880 Train‘s one-hour Holiday Express journey with Santa and Mrs. Claus. These holiday train rides depart from Hill City in the heart of the Black Hills, near some of the state’s biggest attractions, including Custer State Park, Crazy Horse Memorial, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Adults may purchase a spiked ticket and enjoy their hot drink enriched with a potent potable served in a keepsake mug.
Club ONT Recognizes Energetic Christmas Decorations
Because nothing says 'Murica quite like a Christmas light show (with fireworks) that is bright and busy enough to distract nearby air traffic.
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Club ONT disclaims any responsibility for injuries sustained by Grandma from incidents with reindeer. Reindeer are known for being out and about this time of year and not all Reindeer have the benefit of a red-nosed guide. Caution is warranted.
The Netflix original film A House of Dynamite will likely contend for Academy Award nominations and victories. The movie is directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who won a Best Director Oscar in 2010 for The Hurt Locker.
Bigelow has directed several near-classics (or camp, depending to whom you are speaking) such as Zero Dark Thirty, Point Break and Blue Steel.
From The Hurt Locker forward, however, she has become the go to filmmaker for military dramas and thrillers, and thus we arrive at 2025’s A House of Dynamite.
A House of Dynamite is another entry into what can only be called the nuclear holocaust sub-genre of war pictures. From Dr. Strangelove to Fail Safe to War Games to By Dawn’s Early Light (and on TV The Day After), the countdown to nuclear war and –sometimes— its aftermath never seems to get old. How could it really? The end of the world is inherently terrifying and addictive to think about.
In Bigelow’s latest rendering, we follow the detection of a missile launch from somewhere in Asia as the rocket travels toward the United States. The movie takes a novel approach to the topic, dividing into three, nearly real-time parts from different perspectives.
The first point of view belongs to a team at a remote military post in Alaska which detects the launch, tracks it, and fires counter measures. The second is from the national security bunker beneath the White House, as assembled personnel coordinate diplomatic efforts between foreign governments, cabinet secretaries, and the President himself— while also reviewing response scenarios. The third is from the President of the United States, as he is informed of the danger and considers counter attack scenarios that could engender Armageddon.
A House of Dynamite is well-scripted and well-paced. Some will not like the structure and the switches in point of view, but it mainly works.
Yet here is the rub: in all her years of capturing warfare and military ops on film, I am not sure Bigelow was ready for an enemy as crafty and lethal (a movie killer) as DEI.
One can make any picture one likes, but nominations and awards by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences for Best Picture of the year now come with a catch. In order to be considered for the top Oscar, a movie must allot a certain percentage of roles and work to minorities and/or underprivileged classes.
Formally, it is called the ‘Representation and Inclusion Standards’. You can follow the link to see the full set of requirements. Don’t meet the standards and you can forget about a Best Picture nomination. The rules are as decipherable as instructions on how to put a desk from IKEA together. Or to be more literary, they are Byzantine.
There are probably bean counters somewhere who help studios figure out if they are complying.
What does it add up to? It makes many movies worse than they should be and possibly some great pictures average. In the case of A House of Dynamite, DEI detracted from the tension and fluidity the film worked hard to establish. How? Allow me to explain.
As mentioned, A House of Dynamite depicts a presumed nuclear missile launch from a foreign adversary (North Korea most likely). Whether it is the Norks or not what becomes certain is the missile will hit a target in the United States in twenty minutes. An alphabet soup of agencies and departments are scrambled to assess the situation and strategize a response as well as fallout.
Interspersed through each sequence, we follow the storyline of a top FEMA agent who is charged with readying a plan should the missile attack destroy a major American city (Chicago is the projected landfall). This FEMA agent is a black woman.
Her thread of the movie bears no weight on anything that happens. She is not in any kind of chain of command that would be necessary to shooting the missile down or planning a counter attack against the aggressor.
Some might think it is interesting to see how FEMA prepares, but in the context of this narrative, these glimpses contribute nothing dramatic. They are entirely extraneous, and had they been excised it would not have affected the story in the least.
The second instance of DEI is not just mundane, it is ridiculous. It occurs only in the second sequence, when government officials are attempting to ascertain the source of the missile launch.
The entire intelligence apparatus appears befuddled, so the deputy national security advisor calls the one person alone who can validate or invalidate the North Korea theory: some woman (presumably of Korean or Asian ancestry) who is attending a Gettysburg battlefield re-enactment.
I am sure experts can point out details A House of Dynamite gets wrong in terms of who is in charge of what and how certain rooms look or operate. But it takes no technical familiarity to see it is that the two-minute appearance of this character is anything more than a DEI concoction.
I doubt DEI requirements affect every movie’s story in the negative, and perhaps sometimes the quotas are met off screen (in the crew and staff), but in A House of Dynamite, it was obvious to me DEI hobbled the script in these two very distinct sequences.
If I am being charitable, I might say these are simply bad choices—unrelated to DEI— but I do not think a veteran storyteller such as Bigelow would be this clumsy if her hand was not being forced.
The dumbest aspect to all of this is the President—in A House of Dynamite—is a black man (played by Idris Elba), and the person in charge of the subterranean, White House ops team is a woman (Rebecca Ferguson). Plenty of supporting roles are filled by minorities and women. Were these not enough to meet the quotas?
In storytelling, it has long been advised to “kill your darlings.” That is, as a writer or director, you often fall in love with a piece of dialogue or a scene, and because you are emotionally attached to it you cannot see it should be cut. But if you work up the gumption to kill that darling, you end up with a better result.
Now, the Academy is telling filmmakers not only to preserve darlings but also insert certain darlings, no matter what the narrative consequences. What an abysmal way to guide creators.
Furthermore, why exactly do we need DEI guidance for movies (or anywhere)? It is 2025. Has the work of Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Oprah, Tyler Perry (ugh) and many others been stopped from appearing or succeeding?
As concerns, A House of Dynamite, once you exclude the two sequences I mentioned, the conservative argument against affirmative action had already won. The best people for the roles (Elba and Ferguson) got them and played them well. The movie did not need anything tacked on, unless it was to soothe the ideological egos of DEI loons.
In fact, let’s call DEI in the movies (or anywhere else) what it is: classic Marxism. In trying to right inequities and level the playing field, it destroys everything saving the technocratic class which adopted the rules and self-congratulates itself astride the ruins.
And just as Marxism discourages work and gain, I wonder if DEI standards will discourage filmmakers from making movies that have traditionally earned nominations. Many top tier filmmakers will refuse to be hamstrung by arbitrary rules, and poetasters will be the only ones left making pictures eligible for Academy Awards.
If one believes the quality of Hollywood’s best films have been declining the past two decades, that slide will become a freefall—all made possible by a faulty and pernicious house of DEI.
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. As previewed, the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies (TM) landed on Christmas Ornaments, Part 2.
Last week, the call went out for Horde Christmas ornament submissions. Are you thinking "I'm a grinch that did not submit an ornament, but I am eager to see what others submitted. I can't wait to get into the content!" I knew it. Enjoy.
[Top Photo: The Official Club ONT Restroom token Christmas ornament.]
As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. All (legal) hobbying is welcome. However, politics, current events and religious debates can live in threads elsewhere. Pants are optional but please fully assess the temperature situation if you choose to go without. Puns are welcome and encouraged. No AI was used in the preparation of this post. Commentary on active sporting contests is permitted.
Play nice. Don't be a troll and do not feed the trolls.
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Wrote this last week and still seems to apply, so works for a repeat.
Christmas ornaments are more than plastic, wood, metal or glass. They may have aesthetic value but usually they are important and valued because of their origin story. Could be a special person or relative that gifted it. Could be someone that made it. Could be a treasure from travels or a family tradition. Could be the age and previous owners. Ornaments often have value because of their meaning.
THANK YOU to Morons who submitted treasures for the thread content. Enjoy their stories and share some of your own.
Stories of any holiday crafting is welcome on the thread this week.
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From Piper:
This beautiful angel means so much to me. Every time I look at it, I smile, not just because it's lovely (it truly is), but because it reminds me of the extraordinary way paths cross. Who would have thought that a little corner of the internet - a blog, of all places - would bring together people who would become such genuine, wonderful friends? But that is what happened.
Not only this, but my mom collected angels, which made this even more special - and exactly what I needed. This Angel came with a message that I still read to bring me encouragement during tougher days. I wish everyone a Christmas filled with warmth, peace, and the same kind of unexpected joy this angel has brought to me.
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From ARiK:
The Rocking Horse Baby's First Christmas was from our first child. A special Christmas in many ways.
The bird is from my parents tree and dates back to at least the 1950's. I hope he doesn't poop on my favorite car below it!
Last is the manger scene showing the possibly apocryphal fourth Magi on the far right. Little is known of him except that he arrived late bearing no gifts because his tiny arms were too weak to carry anything. Some sources say he ate one of the sheep but this cannot be confirmed.
Ha! Outstanding! I'm glad to see that your nativity set contains all the historically accurate pieces. Well done. Mystery click for you.
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From Westside Dano:
Neurosurgeon next door devoted himself to woodcarving after retirement. Every Christmas he gifted us a unique piece. You can see he was active in Kiwanis (with my dad). These occupy a place of honor on our shelves each Christmas.
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From tRusty Christmas:
I've had this wreath since my first truck, a 1985 GMC Jimmy - which tRusty #2 now calls his own. But it looks really good here, on my '52 Hornet.
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From Sinead in AK:
My brother made a dozen reindeer ornaments out of wine corks for my tree before he passed away in 2019. They are precious to me. Merry Christmas to all!
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From Skip:
These and dozens more were hand painted by me, some by my wife decades ago. Not sure where we got them every year. Pottery Barn maybe? Found a few not painted first.
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From Stephen Price Blair:
We had a lot of homemade clothes and homemade ornaments when I was growing up. I still have a few of them. We each had a cloth horse head ornament meant to hold a candy cane, which was ours to take on either on Christmas Eve, or on Christmas morning before everyone was awake - we couldn't open our gifts until everyone was at the tree.
I'm somewhat ashamed to say that as I got older I was often the one who slept in longest. However, on Christmas Eve there was one small gift we were allowed to open and on Christmas morning we could open our stockings. The combination kept us happily busy while waiting for the whole family to appear. I don't remember when the horse head candy canes were fair game, but probably in the morning since they constituted a decoration and I doubt we were allowed to raid the tree itself until Christmas arrived.
I posted this photo to our family chat last week and discovered that the colors on this ornament are the school colors one town over, where my dad grew up. Each ornament had different colors, so now I'm wondering if they all had some significance known only to mom! (More likely they had significance that mom thought was obvious and which I was completely oblivious to.)
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From OrangeEnt:
A couple of pix from handmade Christmas decor for next week. The first one is a nativity scene I made in first grade in 1968. It was intact until 2023 when I broke off the tip of the pine tree and lost one of the sheep. Also, Mary lost her head, which I was able to superglue on. It will never be packed away again.
The second one is a die cut wooden scene the youngest painted a couple of years ago.
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From BarelyScaryMary:
This is my beloved Blow Mold Santa. My grandparents had one like him when I was little and I loved him. This one I scored at a thrift store. He's a little beat up but jolly and reminds me of happy times with family.
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From Sabrina Chase:
The one on the left is one of a set passed down in the family for generations. I think it is German. The other is a very energetic (and heavy) enamel dragon. All supported by my *fully home-grown tree*!
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From Mrs. IS Roth:
These are three of my favorite ornaments from recent years. Many years these end up being some of my less-complicated embroidery because by the time I finish making embroidered Christmas cards, I am all Christmas-embroideried out, but I do always make something different, so that each one can remind us of that particular Christmas.
These are icicle ornaments I make from flat wire. The twist is done with a jig my husband, IS ROTH, made for me. The shepherd's crook at the top is freehand, and helps make it more of a Christmas ornament instead of just a winter ornament. The ones I make for other people are uniform, but mine are varied, ostensibly under the theory that being varied makes them more real-looking as a group, but also because I experimented with different twist-rates before settling on one, and IS ROTH would have been more inquisitive about how much the experiments were adding up to if I had not had a use for them.
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By popular demand...
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Where are handmade wooden Christmas ornaments made in Germany?
Have a close look at this picture from our collection:
Now watch this video. This is in German but worth watching even if you don't know German. Special interest for the woodworkers and whittlers. The pictures speak for themselves.
Yes, it exists and everything is as charming as it looks. Sadly, becoming too expensive to survive.
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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did an Christmas Ornament 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, seek professional help. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things.
I wasn't sure if anyone had updated AofS people who had donated to Shep's Place in honor of Jewells (Julie McGuire). I was in contact with Shep's Place, and wanted everyone to know that the donation goal for naming a room for Jewells at their new facility had been met. Shep's Place asked that their thanks be extended to everyone at Ace of Spades who donated in Jewells' name.
Well done all!
Thanks to all in the Horde who donated. We so loved to read Jewells' updates on the special pups at Shep's Place.
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Meet The PetMorons
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These photos are from 2010 when we had two Abyssinian kittens in the house, but they were interested in the Hannukah menorah upstairs and the Christmas "tree" downstairs.
That year we set up the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree and had to practically weld the lone ornament to it or it would have been batted all around the living room; couldn't leave the menorah attended for a second while the candles were burning, either!
Use whichever pictures you feel work best.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours, and thanks for running the wonderful Pet Thread!
-- Tankascribe
Those kitties present a challenge for decorators! Thanks for sending in the photos!
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Please see attached pictures of my Christmas elves!! Camilla is the small girl --a terrier mix--who used to help my contractor as a pup. She loves walks, treats and Christmas sweaters. Alexis is the Australian Sheppard mix that was dumped on the road in rural central Texas. Unbelievable anyone could abandon such a sweet, smart girl who LOVES to herd cattle, chase cats and chew on EVERYTHING!! We want you to know how much we love the Pet Thread (and all of Ace of Spades) all of the time and we want to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!.
NIC: Ozzie
What adorable elves!
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Longtime reader and semi-professional lurker here, but I’ve got some Christmas-themed cat pictures for you.
They feature the youngest amongst our set, who found their way to Nogglestead a couple years back. One kitten showed up in my below-grade office window, and when I went out to find him, I heard meowing from our windbreak about thirty yards away. I thought it was a fast kitten, but it turns out there were two kittens: One in the window, and one clinging like a koala bear about four feet up the trunk of a tree. We eventually adopted them and named them Nico (Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli) and Cisco (Francisco Domingo Carlos Andres Sebastián d'Anconia—I know, I know, in the book the nickname was Frisco, but…) A couple of weeks later, our church’s school posted a picture of another black kitten who wanted to be let in. It was fait accompli—and when the kitten ran across the church parking lot the following Sunday, he came home with us. My beautiful wife named him Paul after St. Paul, but that seemed a little improper to me, so I appended Paul Atreides, the Meow’Dib.
Suddenly, we were heavily kittened. And what clever kittens (now cats) they have proven to be. We had to childproof our house again since they learned how to open cabinets and drawers (we briefly nicknamed Nico “Opa” because he would get into the cabinets and break glasses). They learned how to the open sliding screen doors to let themselves out—and when we put in locks at the top of the screen doors to prevent them from opening them, Meow’Dib taught himself to push out the spline at the bottom of the screens to let himself out.
They’ve proven very curious, and Nico especially likes to involve himself in any work or appliance repair I attempt, climbing ladders, entering the cavities between the joists in the ceiling, sniffing appliance motors, and whatnot.
I have tried to exploit them by creating a line of t-shirts featuring their wisdom (at https://NicoSez.com) and an iPhone app designed to translate your cat’s meows to English (Nico’s Kitty Translator at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nicos-kitty-translator/id6754846011).
However, attached are some of their Christmas-related exploits: Nico looking up the chimney as though looking for Santa Claus; all three of them in an undecorated Christmas tree (labeled for your convenience); and Nico as the star atop a Christmas tree.
Thanks.
Brian J. Noggle
There are some cats who know how to appreciate Christmas!
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Goodtime Christmas Charlie
Boswell
Everyone must love Charlie!
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Thank you for sharing your pets and animal photos and stories with us today.
If you would like to send pet and/or animal stories, links, etc. for the Ace of Spades Pet Thread, the address is:
petmorons at protonmail dot com
Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.
Some of us might like a little brightening up this time of year. People put together more Christmas season things than we remember sometimes. For example, Fresno is usually considered to be part of Northern California and they have a famous "Christmas Tree Lane" which has been decorated by private homeowners for a hundred years. But I recently learned that even further north, there are community activities including a Creche Exhibit in Palo Alto, Christmas in the Park in San Jose and Dickens's Christmas Faire at the Cow Palace, Daly City.
Maybe we could be brave and do a little decorating at home, too.
Photos were only allowed in a small part of the Creche Exhibit, where organizations put up displays.
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Lighted decorations at home can help people negotiate Northern California fog.
From the beginning of the month.
The evening fog looking more northward from outside our front door. We are in the fog during the day as it raises from the valley. Then settles back down there in the evening.
NorCal Sierra Foothills Lurker
And how about some light in that Alaska darkness? It's now the Winter Solstice, after this photo was taken on or before December 13:
Notice the sun. It won't get higher than that until the end of January.
Well, I could go for some lights in the garden there.
Edible Gardening/Putting Things By
Continuing with our special feature on hazelnuts (one of those Christmas nuts) with 58Mikie! and his favorite book on hazelnut cookery. These nuts are versatile!
Roasting hazelnuts:
Something sweet:
And something you probably haven't thought of before:
Adventure
Neal in Israel sent us some gardening and adventuring photos, perfect for the Hanukkah and Christmas season. Saving photos from Poland and Israel for after Christmas. Starting today with Montenegro, which is across the Adriatic from the heel of Italy. Ever wondered about their music? Their Agriculture?
Well, Neal visited:
Katy, shalom,
I've been sitting on a bunch of photos for some time now, hoping there would be something wow! in the garden, but things have just continued on in a fairly routine manner. So I've decided to stop delaying and send on what I have in hand.
First, something historical: Back in July we visited Montenegro. As the name indicates, much of the country is covered by mountains, and we did a lot of driving on crazy, zigzagging roads. The country is also very well watered, and at least part of the forest cover qualifies as rain forest.
We took a jeep ride up a mountain, and reached areas above the tree line where plant life was confined to grass and low scrub. There were some nice, but very small, wildflowers there, which I tried to photograph. The size of the flowers pictured ranges from about a dime to quarter.
More later:
Fascinating.
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Gardens of The Horde
Hi KT,
One of my coworkers gave me this little Christmas cactus last year. Never expected it to bloom again as I was supposed to move it outside when the temperatures changed to under 50 degrees ambient didn't get warmer than 60 degrees.
Here it is, blooming in time for Christmas, looking all pretty.
BifBewalski
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Hope everyone has a nice weekend.
If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:
ktinthegarden at g mail dot com
Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.
As Hanukkah continues, and Christmas approaches, perhaps this is a good time to remember that most political issues are temporary, though they may seem permanent to some people.
Matt Taibbi & Walter Kirn talk about Jeffrey Epstein texting Stacey Plaskett questions to ask Michael Cohen during a February 2019 House hearing with the goal to sink Donald Trump. The wheels are about to completely come off the bus.
I haven't really checked into what has been found in the redacted grand jury files. Anybody seen anything interesting?
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Our Legislature At Work Before the Christmas Break
Okay, John Hinderaker went and did it last week! He has abused his stewardship of TWiP and went full Die Hard Christmas Movie Denialist! As the Dude says in The Big Lebowski, this aggression will not stand, man! To restore proper balance in the universe, I am staging a coup d’tat, and am taking over this week’s TWiP. To mix movie references further, John has done a Denethor-level job as Steward of TWiP; time for the Return of the (TWiP) King! Actually, like the Gaza and (prospective) Ukraine ceasefires, we’re going to share power, and alternate TWiP each week. And so as the great John McClain would say on basic cable Christmas season reruns, “Yippie-ki-yay, melon-farmer!”
P.S. Good to see John back covering beauty pageants as straight news (which fits as Melania Trump’s cause as First Lady should be “Make America Straight Again!”), as it was this old practice that partly inspired TWiP in the first place way back in—eeek—2013.
Our friend Assistant Village Idiot has a number of lovely Christmas carols posted, with interesting commentary. Worth scrolling through both the first and second pages of posts. Example:
The story about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow writing the poem in both despair and hope as he heard the bells.
In 1861, two years before writing this poem, Longfellow's personal peace was shaken when his second wife of 18 years, to whom he was very devoted, was fatally burned in an accidental fire. Then in 1863, during the American Civil War, Longfellow's oldest son, Charles Appleton Longfellow, joined the Union Army without his father's blessing. Longfellow was informed by a letter dated March 14, 1863, after Charles had left. "I have tried hard to resist the temptation of going without your leave but I cannot any longer", he wrote. "I feel it to be my first duty to do what I can for my country and I would willingly lay down my life for it if it would be of any good." Charles was soon appointed as a lieutenant but, in November, he was severely wounded in the Battle of Mine Run. Charles eventually recovered, but his time as a soldier was finished.
Podcast: Will Ukraine be a flashpoint for a Korean conflict, Trump's intemperate Reiner comments, it's the economy stupid! the Monroe/Trump Doctrine, Bondi, Brown, MIT, and more!
Megyn Kelly finally calls out Candace Owens
Whoops, I meant she bravely attacks Sydney Sweeney for "bending the knee." (Sweeney put out a very empty PR statement saying "I'm against hate." Whoop-de-doo.)
Megyn Kelly claims she doesn't want to call people out on the right when asked about Candace Owens but then has no compunctions at all about calling people out on the right.
As long as they're not Candace Owens. Strangely, she seems blind and deaf to anything Candace Owens says. That's why this woman calls her "Megyn Keller."
She's now asking her pay-pigs in Pakistan how they think she should address the Candace Owens situation, and if they think this is really all about Israel and the Jews.
Podcast: Pete Hegseth is everything the left hates...and we love! Illinois is the next flashpoint for federal supremacy with regard to our borders, Trump's communication leaves something to be desired, and more!
I have happily forgotten what Milo Yiannopoulos sounds like, but I still enjoyed this impression from from Ami Kozak.
Well, bamboo is actually a type of grass, and underground, it's all connected in a sprawling network, just like the parts of this story I never wanted to tell. I wish I hadn't been put in this position, that I didn't have to write about any of this, that I didn't have to subject myself or my loved ones to embarrassment and further loss of privacy.
We're back to the fucking bamboo. Guys, I don't think I can pay for bamboo ruminations.
I think he added that because he was embarrassed about all the bamboo imagery from Part 1. He's justifying his twin obsessions: His ex, and bamboo. Which is not a tree but a kind of grass, he'll have you know.
On Tuesday, the book arrived in stores. At lunchtime, in the Midtown Manhattan nexus of media and publishing, interest in Nuzzi's story seemed more muted. The Barnes and Noble on Fifth Avenue had seven copies tucked into a "New & Notable" rack next to the escalator, below Malala Yousafzai's "Finding My Way." Not many had sold so far, a store employee said.
A few blocks uptown, at a branch of the local independent chain McNally Jackson Books, a few volumes lay on a table of new and noteworthy nonfiction near the front of the store. No one was lining up to get them, or even browsing. Bookseller Alex Howe told CNN around 3 p.m. that though the store had procured "several dozen" copies, not a single one had yet sold -- a figure he said was surprising, considering how many people in media and publishing work in the area.
"We ordered a lot and so far, people have not been beating down the door," Howe said. "I'm not sure where we're gonna put them because right now, supply is outpacing demand." (A manager at McNally Jackson noted that Howe was speaking only in a personal capacity, not as a representative of the store.)
She trashes Ryan Lizza for his "Revenge Porn" here. Emily Jashinsky says that when the Bulwark's gay grifter Tim Miller asked why she didn't report on the (alleged) use of ketamine by RFKJr., she broke down in tears and asked to end the interview.
Podcast: Sefton is back with CBD to discuss killing narco-terrorists (we are both for it!), the TN special election, Trump's communication skills, and more!
Incumbent Senator John Cornyn (RINO - TX) betrayed his party and his country by voting in favor Biden's Afghan resettlement bill in 2021. Cornyn voted to bring in the Afghan who shot two National Guard soldiers on US soil. A vote for Cornyn is an endorsement of importing unvetted, radicalized murderers. [Buck]
Christmas In Time: A Collection of Short Stories
(Sarah A. Hoyt's Short Story Collections)
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![20251214-20251214_073516[1].jpg](http://ace.mu.nu/archives/20251214-20251214_073516[1].jpg)
