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
Jim Sunk New Dawn 2025
Jewells45 2025 Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info: maildrop62 at proton dot me
Saturday Evening Movie Thread [moviegique]: Pride & Prejudice (2005)
—Open Blogger
It is a truth universally acknowledged, at least by the (self-proclaimed) most die-hard fans of Austen that the '90s British miniseries interpretation of Pride and Prejudice is the best. This truth is so well fixed in the minds of these fanatics that your humble correspondent felt it necessary to defend the 2005 version, recently released on 4K and picking up another $6M at the box office.
Imagine my delight in discovering that most of you didn't feel that such a defense was necessary. But let's be honest: You're morons.
And, let's be honest further: I like hearing myself speak. Or type as the case may be. So let's look at why this version is the best version of the Austen classic.
Caveat: There aren't as many feature interpretations of P&P as you might think, and only a handful if you eliminate the variants. The first video dramatization of any Austen novel was the 1938 television production of this book, which survives only in transcript form. It was constantly given an hour or two on TV, to say nothing of being a miniseries in '49, '52, '57, '61, etc., until the 1980 "Masterpiece Theater" version (which has a ridiculously lurid playbill). Then nobody touched it for fifteen years, when the BBC did its five-and-a-half hour version, which is the one fiercely defended by some. Since then, it's been butchered and reassembled and given zombies, set in modern day, and made a musical, and so on.
I've seen three versions of P&P. The other two being Bridget Jones' Diary and the 1940 version with Olivier and Greer, featuring the unforgettable exchange:
Elizabeth Bennet: At this moment it's difficult to believe that you're so proud.
Mr. Darcy: At this moment it's difficult to believe that you're so prejudiced.
I've looked at the 1995 version, but all BBC productions are so visually impoverished, I can't generally stand more than a few minutes of them if it's not something inherently cheesy like "Dr. Who" or "Day of the Triffids". I give the 1995 producers credit for using 16mm throughout, but it's still distractingly ugly, even re-mastered.
I do find it amusing that the 1995 fans praise its faithfulness to the book when the most famous scene involves Colin Firth getting dumped in a lake (not in the book). But this, perhaps ironically, is the point of tangency leading to my review of the movie.
Because I find the 2005 P&P to be the most faithful. If that sounds contradictory, read on.
Like, is the feminine leg going in the mannish-looking boot? Or coming out of? Since the leg is naked, are we to assume boots were put on first or taken off last? Does the leg have a shoe fetish?
It is generally best, when watching a movie based on a book, to forget that the book exists. In fact, if one is a fan of the book, an argument can be made that one should probably just ignore the filmed versions altogether. I've never been able to bring myself to watch a filmed version of The Secret Garden. Most attempts at bringing Ray Bradbury to the screen are regrettable. And I rather loathe the Jackson Lord of the Rings movies, as a whole.
But the first of the LOTR movies, Fellowship of the Ring, is relevant here. It captures the feel of the Shire rather well. I thought it was okay in the theater, because I could see where Jackson was amping the story up and I could respect that. It made sense from a cinematic standpoint. I actually liked the extended version of Fellowship. (It was only when the second movie turned into Titanic with Superheroes that I got bored.)
So, the thing about Pride and Prejudice, the novel, is that it's exciting. Austen's wordplay is clever. Her plotting is tight, reliance on coincidence notwithstanding. Her characters, surely among the most privileged people to live (prior to the last 50 years, where we've all been privileged) yet nonetheless sympathetic for their plights.
It's natural for a filmmaker, particularly one who loves the literature, to want to put the book on the screen as-is—and yet to do so is to rob the story of its life!
Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice, as a movie, reminds me of what it feels like to read the book, which is the highest commendation I can give a film based on a (good) book. It takes the experience of reading and manages to create a cinematic equivalent for a modern audience. Well, a "modern audience" back in 2005 which was not yet code for "insane sexually confused weirdos".
Each sister more beautiful than the last, but only if you arrange them that way.
Drama and Theatricality
The 2025 re-release of the 2005 Pride & Prejudice begins with a mercifully short intro from director Joe Wright talking about how he wanted to make his interpretation of the classic Jane Austen novel "gritty", but we can ignore that or, more charitably, reinterpret it as "using a word that artists have been using for the last 40 years to try to convince people that their art is somehow better for aping the worst aspects of reality."
What it means in practice is that the Bennet household is very lively. The staff is ever-present, if not addressed, and there's livestock and girls running amok and so on. The Bennet estate is both ridiculously grand (in modern middle-class terms) and almost shamefully run-down. Since the other characters (who are all higher class) live in the sort of sterile, dignified settings that radiate the kind of stultifying boredom this sort of drama is associated with, the victory here is that the audience appreciates the Bennet's circumstances but can also understand how degrading it is for the other characters (particularly Darcy) to have to associate with them.
The blocking is impeccable, as we are often treated to shots of narrow English hallways and small drawing rooms that still somehow manage to showcase five daughters at once. Joe Wright is so good at this, he manages to block moving shots well.
I have assumed that nobody can block static shots well any more because nobody dares leave the camera still. As such, the blocking in dynamic shots—which is infinitely harder—comes out as a slurry. (See your average Marvel fight scene.) But when Wright is tracking around a ballroom following Elizabeth, we can see the other characters moving in and out of the shot, and their feelings reflected in the brief moment on screen.
Intriguingly, Wright's next film, Atonement, uses all the same tricks to the same degree, and it's one of the worst cinematic experiences I've ever had.
But here, it means, the country ball is exciting. Exciting, but also rustic, in the aristocratic English sense.
When she's a ten but her sisters are all crazy.
"Modern Audiences"
Austen has become like Shakespeare, in the sense of being someone whose work is culturally significant, and also so familiar, that the variants on her work constitute their own kind of sub-niche. Particularly in the '90s and early '00s, you had things like Clueless and Bridget Jones' Diary and the like, you had the recognition that you could dress up universal aspects of the story in modern clothing quite profitably.
Where this novel "cheats" is in its overt emotionality. Keira Knightly's Bennet is too demonstrative and also bemused, like she's in on the joke, whereas she's usually interpreted as drily sarcastic and judgmental—the pride and prejudice that give the book its name. Matthew Macfayden's Darcy is instantly smitten and instantly repulsed by that, and the movie is not skimping on the sexual chemistry. Donald Sutherland's profession of affection for Elizabeth is overt, as is his bittersweet willingness to let her go. Brenda Blethyn's lugubrious Mrs. Bennet is very publicly gauche in ways that perhaps don't reflect historical reality.
Along those same lines, and to reference the camerawork again, this movie uses incredibly dated zooms. And by dated, I mean 1970-dated, not 2005-dated. Like zooming in on Charleton Heston at the end of Planet of the Apes dated. It's perhaps the only camerawork I think was overdone, as if Wright was worried people weren't going to get it. "Reminder: They're hot for each other!" Similarly, the tacked on victory dialogue added to the American version, where Mr. and Mrs. Darcy get to wallow in their victory is overkill (to me).
And to reinforce my hypocrisy, this kind of bombastic cinema is exactly what I hold against LOTR. It works for me big-time here, perhaps because the story itself is so low-key by modern terms whereas Tolkien's work is still high fantasy and doesn't need amping up. (Of course, this is my taste, and when Peter Jackson is done counting his billions, I'm sure he'll get right on toning things down a notch.)
"Let us picnic in yon John Everett Millais painting."
Production Values
Every shot in this movie is a love song to England. To a bygone England. A long bygone England, one suspects, never to return.
The main theme, an uncredited piece called Dawn by Dario Marinelli, evokes Beethoven beautifully. Wright's choice to set the story in 1797 (when the story was written) versus 1812 (when the story was published) allows him to break from the empire-waisted late regency gowns that were common in 1812. Ten years before digital took over completely, so shot on 35mm film.
The casting of Rosamund Pike as the more beautiful, kinder sister of Knightly is also inspired. Wright gets the most mileage out of Knightly's looks, which are peak, but she's just different enough looking that you can really buy that said looks combined with her personality would make her much less desirable as a romantic partner. The other daughters have all gone on to full careers where they've been allowed to be much prettier. Heh.
The whole affair is done with such energy and passion that it rivals the energy and passion of Austen's writing. In fairness, of course, this is a feature film and trying to compare it to a 5 1/2 hour miniseries (or anything of that length) is truly an apple-and-oranges comparison.
But I am skeptical that any feature of this length could capture the excitement of Austen as well as this film which has nothing to be ashamed of.
Mr. Darcy agrees with me.
Other films this past fortnight:
A Man And A Woman (1966): Claude LeLouch's smash hit with the recognizable theme song about a man and a woman who fall in love and...uh...have problems. There are some remarkable parts here and it avoids the ennui of the '60s French cinema but it's a little slow. Lelouch's last(?) movie is probably going to get a release here as there are retrospectives going on now.
Love Hotel (1985): I mean, sure, 50th anniversary of this Japanese "pink" film so why NOT show it at 10:00AM on a Saturday. No reason my art house can think of, so we trundled off to see this. The "pink" genre is uniquely Japanese and a rather disturbing mix of sex and violence which is too complex for a capsule like this. I would describe it as "okay with some standout elements".
The Shrouds: David Cronenberg is back! Again! I like this current era of his movies where he seems to have returned to form. Broody, paranoid techno-driven body horror. In this case, our hero (looking suspiciously like the director himself) is a widow who has come up with the smash-hit, can't-lose concept of putting 3D scanners in burial shrouds so you can watch your love one rot! We liked it, but as with Crimes of the Future, it's hard to recommend.
Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1975): The 50th anniversary 4K restoration is gorgeous (except for one sequence which was over-exposed beyond repair, I guess) and the jokes still hold up pretty well. Probably one you should watch at home unless you want the chant-along experience.
The Surfer: Nic Cage is back! Again! After last year's The Arcadian, The Boy and I were wondering if we were going to end up short-changed but no, The Surfer is 100% pure Cage. He's in every single scene as a business man who's going quickly insane after some Beach Bullies keep him from surfing on the beach he grew up on. But he gets better! Then things get worse! A lot of twists and turns and WTFs keep this interesting. Also: Australia.
Vulcanizadora: The sequel to 2014's Buzzard. Marty's back, and he's a bigger eff-up than ever. Overlong at 85 mintues, The Boy enjoyed ths more than I did, but I definitely showed growth on the director and acting front. (https://moviegique.com/2015/03/buzzard/)
Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it came up with golf!
By quasi-popular demand, golf is the hobbying theme for the week. Somehow we have made it almost a year of Hobby threading without golfing. Roughly one in seven Americans play golf at least once a year. Some of you live in places with golf-friendly weather all year. Others are in locales with more variable weather, so spring means hitting the links and shaking off the winter rust.
TRex has a small brain and short arms, so golfing is not on the roster of dino hobbying. Going to need some help from the Gray Box friends for this one.
Are you a golfer? What courses have been memorable? What courses are on your bucket list to play someday? Are you a regular? Do you play through inclement weather? Do you play with the dawn patrol? Have you played in charity events or work-related events with interesting people? Are you good enough to be a competitive golfer in tournaments?
Do you watch golf? Have you been to high profile events like Pebble Beach or the Masters?
Are you more comfortable with golf of the miniature variety that features wind mills rather than sand traps?
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Did Mark Twain really say that "golf is a good walk spoiled?" While he is often credited, he may not be the culprit.
In August 1948 The Saturday Evening Post published an article about the genesis of golf in Scotland. The first paragraph dubiously assigned the joke to the famous humorist from Hannibal, Missouri....In conclusion, the earliest citation in 1897 indicated an anonymous attribution, and the quotation marks signaled that the quip was already in circulation. The ascriptions to Mark Twain and William Gladstone are currently unsupported.
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I love aerial views and St. Andrews provides a great place for a flyover.
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How was a famous island green constructed?
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Dimples:
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How golf clubs are made:
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Does CBS pipe in artificial bird noises for its Masters coverage? The answer is elusive.
Daly's team told ESPN that last year, he made $780,000 selling $40 hats, $10 autographed golf balls and $250 boxes of cigars, among other wares - and they estimate it could be even more this year.
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Mini golf traces its origins to the St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club in Scotland.
The oldest mini golf course in existence, according to Guinness World Records, can actually be found in Scotland: The St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club was formed in 1867 as a members-only green for women golfers. The club was a result of the conventions of the day that decreed it improper for a lady to "take the club back past their shoulder." Metal Floss
The club's website includes an origin story that references friction with the caddies:
Before 1860 the caddies had laid out a small putting area near where Rusacks Hotel now stands. They would play to pass the time while waiting for a bag. When the course was quiet a few young ladies would play.
There was some tension between the caddies and these adventurous ladies so much so that Mr D. L. Burn decided that a piece of ground be found where the ladies could play outwith the public gaze and away from the caddies. Mrs Boothby suggested that there was a piece of ground to the north of the Swilcan Burn. The ground was rough with whins which were used by local washerwomen to dry clothes, and pitted with rabbit holes. A fifteen hole course, a "miniature links," was laid out by Old Tom Morris requiring a cleek and a putter and so the St Andrews Ladies' Golf Club was formed in 1867. Old Tom gradually smoothed out the surface and cut back the whins so that over time only putters were needed.
The hilly course became known as the Himalayas and is open to the public. No mini golf gimmicks or novelties - just terrain.
Play one round of golf at the Green Zone Golf Course and you get to do it in two countries. The course and the surrounding towns were built on the delta of the River Tornio which also marked the border between Sweden and Finland.
But wait, there's more...
Despite all the friendly relations between the two towns, Sweden and Finland actually lie in two different time zones. This makes for some strange experiences. Residents often celebrate New Year's Eve twice the same night. And on at least one border-straddling hole on the golf course, your ball will land an hour after you hit it.
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Pebble Beach is the most well known public golf course in the United States.
Even if you're not a golfer, 17 mile drive is worth the trip.
I just finished the stitching on my latest Christmas stocking (#14). I haven't put a name on it, as it is for an as-yet-born grandchild (or great-grandchild).I will be getting it finished by a local needlepoint shop which has finished all of my other stockings that I have made over the past 40 years. I am going to see if they can finish it in such a way that some future stitcher can access the name panel to stitch a name on it when a recipient is "found." I am thinking they might be able to rig up the lining so that the area behind the name portion looks like the back of a removable pillow sham.
Very nice! Thank you!
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Horde Hobbying update from polynikes - this painting is called "The Chapel at Twilight"
Good stuff as always. Thank you!
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What are you hobbying these days? Does spring weather open up new options for your hobbying? As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Your participation does not need to limited to the theme. All hobbying is welcome. However, politics, current events and religious debates can live in threads elsewhere. Play nice. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls. Pants, as always, are optional.
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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We talked Canadian travels. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.
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Notable comments from last week:
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Words of wisdom:
"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).
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If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different theme next time. What are you hobbying? We love showing off Horde hobbying. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things.
Good afternoon and welcome to the almost world famous Ace of Spades Pet Thread. Your's truly will be filling in for KT as she is recovering from surgery. She didn't ask me, but if you folks would include KT in your prayers for a full recovery that would be most welcomed.
We don't have many pet and/or animal submissions today. But, that's OK as we are Morons and know how to amuse ourselves without talking politics or current events. Which could land you in the Dog Pound.
You’ve probably heard of spooky black cats, chaotic orange cats, and distinguished-looking tuxedo cats. If you’re really into cats, you might have even lesser-known color variants like seal point and ticked tabby. But there’s officially a new cat color in town— salmiak, or ‘salty liquorice.’ You can see one here.
The pretty black, white, and grey shade—named for a popular snack food in Finland, where this coat color has been making itself known—is thanks to a fur strand that starts off black near the root, but grows whiter and whiter out towards the tip. The coat was first spotted in 2007, and in 2019, it was brought to the attention of a group of cat experts lead by feline geneticist Heidi Anderson. Since then, the group has been trying to figure out exactly what causes this shade to express itself, and recently, they finally figured it out. A paper on the discovery has been published in the journal Animal Genetics.
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So as a young child I always wanted a dog, that dog an Irish Setter. My father told me, "Once you have your own home you can have an Irish Setter."
Well I did take my father's advice and I've owned Irish Setters or Irish Red & White Setters since 1982. (Get off my lawn)
Am I a dog snob? I love the Sporting Breed dogs. And have always loved Setters. Although I have never owned a Gordon Setter or an English Setter I would have no problem having either one in my home.
I admire the Working Group. And I'll be honest, I'm not much of a small dog fan. Although there are a number of Terriers I like, including the Schnauzer. So where are we going with this Mis Hum?
As our oldest dog just turned 11 I have to ask the question. Will we fill in his empty space in our home? Will we get another dog? If we do, do we get a puppy of the breed of dog we know? Or do we adopt an older Setter from a rescue group? Or do we go off the rail completely and adopt an older dog or a puppy from a shelter?
Two of our daughters have 3 rescue dogs. All of 3 of them have some Pit Bull in them. Overall they are good dogs. But, the Mid-Kid's dog has baggage which makes it difficult for them to visit as we have to keep all of the dogs separated. This dog was adopted at an older age.
The Fabulous and I are leaning towards adoption of an older Setter as we know their characteristics and medical issues.
So let us know your thoughts. Be nice, be kind, there are no wrong answers on the selection of a pet. That pet will be with you for a number of years. And you should both be happy and thankful for your decision.
Until next week, same Pet Thread Station, same Pet Thread Time. Have a great week!
Posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian (ONT Cob Emeritus) at 03:00 PMComments
The Gardening Thread
—Misanthropic Humanitarian (ONT Cob Emeritus)
Good afternoon gardeners. If you were expecting the lovely and talented KT, sorry to be your host today. She is recovering from surgery and hopes to be back soon.
Above the fold is a shot of Mulberys. My father had a Mulbery tree he had dug up on his father's farm. I ended up getting a shoot and it grew to be a beautiful tree which produced lots of fruit.
We moved and I've yet to get a Mulbery to grow. So this past week 2 Mulbery trees from Jungs Gardening arrived. They are planted. They are protected from rabbits and deer. Hopefully these 2 will produce fruit. Someday.
Speaking of trees, bushes and what not. Spring has struck the Frozen Tundra. The Lilacs are starting to leaf out. The Red Maples are almost as red now as in September. Beautiful time of year. Except for those pesky black flies.
Here is the latest Casa Misanthrope puttering project. A friend gave me this huge driftwood tree stump. It's about 10' long and about 4' diameter at the base. So a little treated lumber, a few rocks, several OTC pain relievers and some fine river gravel to finish it off tomorrow on Mother's Day.
Speaking of Mother's Day, it's not easy being a parent. Everyday is Mother's Day thank you all who do your darnedest to raise wonderful children and/or grandchildren.
That's all for now. Thank you for your patience while you await KT's return. Until the next time, Happy Gardening and Puttering.
CBD gave me grief because I continued his Mid-Morning Art Thread franchise on a Saturday. To be honest, I've been on a news boycott and there are no pressing issues to hash out as far as I am concerned.
So here is a second art piece. It's by your's truly. It is 24"x30". This is a size outside my comfort zone. Which is normally 11"x14" or 12"x12". The piece is based upon a photo from FreePik. Maybe someone will purchase it when I'm dead and gone and the estate will be able to pay off CBD's outrageous royalties. And a Mystery Click to boot.
Before we enter the Prayer Revival just a few housekeeping matters to go over. (Rulz for those of you in Oconto Falls.)
1) This is an open thread, feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind, be nice. Smack the trolls with kindness.
3) No running with sharp objects. None. Zilch. Nadda. Nope, don't even think about it.
4) Have a great weekend especially you Mothers!
AoSHQ Weekly Prayer List
Please submit any prayer requests to me, “Annie’s Stew” at apaslo atsign hotmail dot com. Prayer requests are generally removed after four weeks unless we receive an update.
Prayer Requests:
3/24 – Update on Jewell45. Her daughter posted an update, with approval to share: "Okay. Need to do a life update for mama. She hasn’t been doing so hot the last couple weeks. Like I said last month, the cancer has been spreading. She’s been declining quite a bit since then. Her energy level is very low and she’s struggling with breathing after the smallest tasks or even if she talks too much. The decision has been made to transition to hospice care. I want to be clear here about a couple things. Number one, she is NOT in her final days although her oncologist estimates with how the cancer has progressed that she is probably down to several months, 6-9 maybe more. Number 2. She is up for visitors but not much. Please contact myself, dad or her first. She won’t last much longer than 15-20 minutes if you do stop by, so keep your expectations low. Other than that, continued prayers and good vibes are always appreciated. Much love to you all. If you have questions, feel free to contact me privately. This is obviously a difficult time as you can imagine but I’ll do my best."
4/15 Update – Jewells passed away. Members of the Horde are donating to her favorite charity; please contact Annie’s Stew for more information.
4/12 – Ace-Endorsed Author A. H. Lloyd requested prayers for Mrs. Lloyd, for her healing and comfort for the family, especially the grandchildren who greatly miss the woman who has been the most constant and consistent presence in their young lives.
4/19 Update – Mrs. Lloyd has spent the last week in the hospital, and it is a very good thing. For too long she had ignored her health, her diet, etc. and now she is faced with irrefutable proof that she must make serious and immediate life changes. This is a great blessing for Holy Week. Had things not happened the way they did, she might have left us quite soon.
4/26 Update – Mrs. Lloyd is home from the hospital and things are settling down again.
4/12 – Intruder Driver requests prayers for friend Ron and his wife Sherry, as Ron’s Parkinson’s is getting worse.
4/12 – Sharon (willow’s apprentice) greatly appreciates prayers as she recovers from cataract surgery.
4/12 – Ben Had sent an update on Jim SND. He had surgery to implant a feeding tube, and he hopes to go home soon.
4/24 Update – Jim SND is home and regaining some strength.
5/6 Update – Jim SND passed away. Please pray for God’s comfort for his wife.
4/14 – Grateful – the range bag lady posted: T-Rex’s mother, MommaRex, was rushed to the hospital over the weekend and was diagnosed with Parkinsons. The family is asking for prayers for God’s strength in dealing with the disease and challenging family situation.
4/19 Update – MommaRex is currently in a rehab facility and they are trying to find an assisted living facility for the next step. She has been blessed with good health, so this has truly thrown her in so many ways.
5/1 Update – Trex and Grateful thank the Horde for their prayers for Mamma Rex. She is doing better and is entering a lovely assisted living apartment this weekend. They thank God for His lovgin ways, and the Horde for all of their prayers.
4/15 – Salty Dog requested prayers for his wife, who underwent triple-bypass open heart surgery on 4/9. Her recovery will be a steep uphill climb to the uplands of better health.
4/20 Update – Mrs. Salty Dog (Linda) passed away on Easter. Salty Dog said our prayers were answered, as she passed quickly, without pain or struggle, under the comfort of good drugs. Her last complaint was that the lights were so bright. (This was after he had closed the blinds and made the room as dark as possible.) Easter is the answer.
4/15 – Matthew Kant Cipher asked for prayers for “Dee”, an 88 year-old who has been caring for her quadriplegic son, who was injured in a car accident when he was 17. Dee had a couple of people helping her take care of him, but they are no longer able to do so. Now she is having to care for him herself, while still working as a receptionist for a local meat processing company. Please pray that the Lord provides for her and her son.
4/16 – TecumsehTea requested prayers for a grandson, age 15. The grandson had been sick with a fever and headache since 4/13, and took a turn for the worse. He was taken to the ER on 4/16.
5/3 Update – Her grandson is feeling much better. It was a particularly bad spell with Lyme disease. Thank you all for the prayers.
4/19 – Eromero posted his praise for God for healing, comforting, and blessing our brothers and sisters here. He is always with us, even if we are too stressed to feel his presence.
4/22 – FenelonSpoke requested prayers for M, who sometimes fills in as the organist. He has to have vein surgery on his feet, and he needs to have his feet work well to play the organ pedals. Also, prayers for J, who is having a stent put in her heart.
4/26 Update – M’s surgery was successful. J is having setbacks and is still in the hospital. She has not been able to have her heart surgery. Thanks for the prayers!
4/23 – Trudy asked for prayers for her husband, Bill, who is having persistent pain that may well be heart-related.
4/26 Update – Trudy and Bill sent their thanks for the prayers. He had suffered a moderate heart attack. He received 3 stents, and came home on 4/26. They are very thankful for their 54 years together, and are delighted that there will be more! They have been truly uplifted by the prayers.
4/25 – MkY sent thanks for the prayers for his wife Judy, and asked for continued prayers. She has stage IV renal cancer. The tumors have shrunk, but not significantly. Every ER visit has been related to pain management, and it has not been going well. Please pray for help with the pain, and for MkY – that he can be strong and steady even though he feels helpless.
5/3 Update – Thanks again for all the prayers. Judy’s tumors are shrinking. The oncologist is “encouraged”, so that bleeds over into Judy’s attitude and is encouraging. The palliative care team believes that most of the pain is not cancer-related, so they have prescribed some alternatives. She now rarely takes the oxycodone.
4/26 – Commissar Hrothgar asked for prayers for his elderly sister-in-law, Elizabeth, and her battle with a persistent foot infection, and for blessings on her church friends that are helping her in so many ways!
4/26 – Bif gave an update on Smash. Her abdominal issues are getting closer to full diagnosis. They are waiting on some specialists. She will probably need some surgery to fix what the MRI radiologists say is a necessary repair. Also, she has cataract surgery coming up.
4/26 – Oddbob requested prayers for his daughter’s MIL, Elaine, who was diagnosed with ALS this week.
4/26 – John the River asked for prayers. His girlfriend and partner of the last 10 years passed away suddenly and without warning on Easter Sunday. He went to her house with dinner and found her on the bedroom floor. Her name was Marsha.
4/26 – L asked for prayers for R, her granddaughter.
4/27 – NemoMeImpuneLacessit would appreciate prayers, for laparoscopy surgery on 4/27.
4/27 – Teresa in Fort Worth sent an update with great news – all of her tumors have shrunk by half! The plan now is to continue on this chemotherapy medication until it stops working; no idea how long that might be. When that does happen, they will look at whether or not surgery can be done. (Right now, it cannot, due to the fact that there are multiple tumors.) The surgeon did say that her response to chemo has been “dramatic”, and he is “cautiously optimistic” that surgery will be an option in the future. Her case and the good response to the medication has been extremely rare – such a blessing.
4/30 – “…” posted that she could use some prayers for her good friend Emm, who is starting five months of chemo, followed hopefully by surgery, then radiation.
5/3 – D asked for prayers for his wife, Susan, who has been having some issues. They went to the hospital on 5/1, and all the signs are pointing to pancreatic cancer. They meet with other doctors on 5/5. Any prayers would be a blessing.
5/8 - Don Draper asked for prayers for his wife. They lost their Kelpie companion on 5/7 due to complications from lymphoma. His wife is devastated.
5/8 – Backwoods Willy requested prayers for a partner church of theirs in Pakistan. One of the initial strikes by India was very close to the church and the pastor’s home. Ongoing shelling is nearby. Please pray for the Lord’s protection for Pastor S, his family, and his church.
For submission guidelines and other relevant info, please contact Annie's Stew, who is managing the prayer list. You can contact her at apaslo at-sign hotmail dot com. If you see a prayer request posted in a thread comment, feel free to copy and paste it and e-mail it to Annie's Stew. She tries to keep up with the requests in the threads, but she's not here all of the time, so she may not see it unless you e-mail it to her. Please note: Prayer requests are generally removed after four weeks or so unless we receive an update.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.
Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation called the bill "dangerous and dumb." Security professionals have long argued that it is impossible to create a secure backdoor that cannot also be maliciously abused, and encryption backdoors put user data at risk of data breaches.
State legislatures tend to be dangerous and dumb. Sometimes their worst instincts are restrained. Sometimes you get California.
Two NJ members of Congress, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Bob Menendez, Jr., as well as the mayor Newark broke into an ICE facility in order to disrupt their operations and obstruct justice.
They're now crying that they were forcibly removed.
Here's how Regime media is reporting the insurrection: See, they forced their way into a law enforcement facility they had no right to be present in to "exercise oversight authority."
Today, following an inspection of the Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey with Reps. LaMonica McIver and Robert Menendez, Jr., Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman released the following statement:
"At around 1pm today, my colleagues Rep. Lamonica McIver and Rep. Rob Menendez, Jr. and I arrived at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark to exercise our oversight authority as Members of Congress.
"Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not "storm" the detention center. The author of that press release was so unfamiliar with the facts on the ground that they didn't even correctly count the number of Representatives present. We were exercising our legal oversight function as we have done at the Elizabeth Detention Center without incident.
"Reopening Delaney Hall won't make us safer and it won't create an immigration system that is fair and secure for all families.
"Private Prison companies like GEO Group create a perverse incentive to increase incarceration to increase corporate profits. It's no accident that GEO Group was the first corporation to max out donations to Trump's Super PAC, to the tune of $500,000 dollars. And they're being rewarded with huge contracts to imprison immigrants like we're seeing here at Delaney.
"New Jerseyans don't want more private prisons just to increase shareholder income at the expense of taxpayers. They want a fair and secure immigration system that reflects our values and respects our Constitution."
That is, of course, not how this works.
Either we prosecute them, or we just give up. We either maintain that the law applies to the left, and they do not get to violate it or start riots every fucking time their fucked-up mentally-ill brains get into a tizzy, or we just give up to them now.
Either we stand firm on the point that the law binds them, or we bend to their assertion that they are so morally pure they are free from following the law.
In which case, they have have won the revolution and the civil war without firing a shot. Or, at least, not many shots.
Benny Johnson
@bennyjohnson
See the woman in the red jacket in that video?
That's Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver.
She broke into a New Jersey ICE facility and assaulted multiple law enforcement officers--violating federal law under 18 U.S. Code sec. 111.
TikTok content creators are hawking powders from Just Move and Ryse. Netflix is teasing its documentary Untold: The Liver King, which tracks the rise and fall of the raw-meat enthusiast, out later this month. Influential podcast bros, from the physician Peter Attia to the very well-paid Joe Rogan, swap protein-heavy diet anecdotes and share their "current state of protein supplementation." One of this year's most talked about shows, season three of The White Lotus, derived a whole thread of narrative tension from what can only be described as Chekhov's protein shake.
For decades, an American protein mania has been building. This year, it may be hitting its peak. News and takes have abounded, from Vogue's "4 Signs You're Not Getting Enough Protein" and Grub Street's deep dive on added-protein foods to The New Yorker's profile of a protein bar company and The New York Times' fact-check of "big protein claims."
Big Protein. Perfect.
"I don't have a good sense on what's driving that right now, other than if it's just the usual manosphere--or manomania, here in the United States," says Pieter Cohen, an internist at Cambridge Health Alliance and associate professor at Harvard Medical School who leads the center's Supplement Research Program. "Everyone's letting their testosterone out these days." One thing he's noticed: More men than women arrive at his office "interested in protein."
Oh no, men are interested in having high testosterone, not the low testosterone that liberal women prefer.
It's not only men who care about protein, but a mosey through recent history suggests a strong correlation between the rise of the likes of the men's rights movement and our national lust for protein--which is how we got to the quagmire of contradiction wherein a "manosphere" helmed by Donald Trump (he of the diet dubbed by his own health secretary, the admittedly often incorrect Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to be "really, like, bad") has such a vocal contingent of intense protein-maxing "health" obsessives.
The intertwinement of masculinity and red meat (and its attendant health properties, namely protein) is strong and deep-seated. A 2023 study found that men were "more likely to eat foods to the extent that those foods were perceived as higher in masculinity and lower in femininity," which correlated with foods that were seen as higher in protein. Another, from this year, found that men who have what they describe as a strong "meat-eating identity" also "tend to perceive themselves as more masculine." An obsession with protein affords a masculine-coded cover on the feminine-coded world of body image and dieting--and a subject over which men can bond as bros.
...
Cohen also points me to the work of his Harvard colleague S. Bryn Austin, in the Social and Behavioral Sciences department at the School of Public Health, who is the founding director of a research and training program dedicated to eating disorder prevention. In 2022, she coauthored a paper examining young men's use of protein supplements. Its findings warn clinicians to "be aware of their male patients' use of protein powders and muscle-building supplements," which pose "acute and long-term physical and psychological consequences." Last year, one of her coauthored studies found that muscle-building supplements formed a pipeline to anabolic steroids in young men.
Oh no, another "pipleine" to right-wing radicalism.
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.36 grams per pound of bodyweight, but some popular online health experts, like Attia, who advises David Protein and has invested in the protein-forward deer meat company Maui Nui Venison, recommends far greater levels. He says that his practice aims for one gram per pound of bodyweight. (Andrew Huberman has called this a good starting point--though one of his own supplements of choice, and a financial incentive, is AG1, which contains a measly two grams of protein per serving.)
AG1 is the new name for Athletic Greens, a supplement for getting all of your nutrition from vegetables that you might not get if you're on a mostly-meat diet. So of course it doesn't contain much protein. It's all greens.
This is "journalism" today.
Big Protein may have come for all of us. Mary Claire Haver and Gabrielle Lyon are prominent pro-protein online personalities who target their content toward women, and an informal poll floated to an active group chat found that the respondent protein-supplement enthusiasts had women slightly outnumbering the men (sample size: five).
Thank you so much for spotlighting this important study.
TikTok is rife with people of all genders ranking (and selling) Ryse protein and eating (and selling) David Protein bars. But on TikTok, at least, the videos tend to conform to aesthetic gender norms. The men often show up in tank tops that reveal bulging biceps, hefting tubs of the powder, while the women cook through "what I eat in a day" videos in sports bras and tight pants showcasing abs and what one user describes as "a flat stomach and fat butt."
How are you doing GAINZZZ-wise? I'm getting back on track after a bad couple of months. In the beginning of the year I was losing a lot of weight while barely doing anything so I kept that strict regime of barely doing anything up. But then, get this, my Program of barely doing anything stopped resulting in lower weight, and actually began putting weight on me.
Biden's Pick to Lead His Rehabilitation Tour...? A Hack PR Spinner Whose Speciality Is Covering Up Democrat Health Problems, Including Hiding Lloyd Austin's Absense from Office and Hospitalization
To Rebut Reports of His Senility, Biden Hires Press Flack Who Helped Hide Lloyd Austin's Hospital Stay
Chris Meagher, one of four Pentagon spokesmen who covered up the former defense secretary's hospitalization, has already begun attacking journalists for reporting on Biden's cognitive decline
Joe Biden, 82, hired a publicist who previously helped cover up former defense secretary Lloyd Austin's secret hospitalization to defend him against allegations of senility.
The former president's team tapped Biden administration spokesman Chris Meagher to "help [Biden] transition past the first 100 days of the Trump administration," Politico reported on Thursday.
The hire comes amid a flurry of high-profile books detailing Biden's age-related cognitive decline and his family's, the White House's, and the media's attempts to keep his mental state quiet during his reelection run. Biden allies also fear that soon-to-be-released audio of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur, who said the former president came across as an "elderly man with a poor memory," could "further damage his legacy," according to Politico.
Meagher's history of covering up damaging health-related stories about Democrats makes him a natural choice to represent Biden. He was part of a small group of Department of Defense aides who helped conceal Austin's 2024 hospitalization following prostate cancer surgery.
Meagher, a Pentagon spokesman at the time, was one of four aides who knew the defense secretary was indisposed at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center from complications after his emergency surgery but hid the news from the White House for two days.
Austin's two-week hospital stint drew criticism from the public and national security experts who questioned whether he had properly delegated his authority--and whether anyone was running the Pentagon after an ambulance rushed him to Walter Reed.
Meagher has jumped into his new job as Biden's spin doctor. According to Politico, the former Pentagon spokesman "played an instrumental role" in booking Biden's first live post-presidential interview on Thursday, a softball appearance on The View alongside his wife and handler, Jill.
Meagher had already begun using social media to swat down stories about his boss's senility even before his new role came to light. When Axios's Alex Thompson won the White House Correspondents' Association's highest award for his reporting on Biden's exit from the 2024 presidential race, he used his speech to discuss the Biden administration's "deception" and admitted that the media "missed a lot of this story."
Meagher took to X to accuse Thompson of lying.
Alex Thompson is about to release a book about the cover-up of Biden's dementia, along with CNN propagandist and Deep State agent Jake Tapper.
Scott Jennings claims that this book will be a "nuclear bomb" of revelations about the Biden White House. (But not the media -- Tapper's game is to blame everything on Biden's staffers so that no blame can fall on his own narrow, womanly shoulders.)
I will just say watching him over the last few days reminded me that a whole bunch of people were telling us with a straight face that this man was capable of serving another four years as president. And that these appearances [are] coupled with what I understand is going to be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb dropped on the Democratic Party when Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson's book comes out next week.
I don't know that the Democrats have fully internalized what's about to happen to them between what he looks like today and what they're about to report.
You know, of course, that Mark Halperin is reporting that the Biden family is broke and is looking for some way to get the Graft Machine running again. Halperin believes this Rehabilitation Tour is all in service of that.
Note that it was previously reported that no one is willing to pay him his ridiculous $300,000 speaking fee. He's got to find some way to make the public want to hear from him again, or else all of his scumbag drug-addict children and grandchildren will be forced into actual productive employment.
The horror of that!
At the end of this clip, they try to wargame ways that Biden can start grifting again. None of Biden's options are good.
American manufacturers are seeing a surge in demand as President Donald Trump's tariffs force companies to reconsider doing business in China.
Trump's tariffs, including a 145% levy on Chinese goods, are causing American-made products to be more competitive in the market. As a result, many small and medium manufacturers are experiencing a surge in demand and are preparing to ramp up production and hire new workers.
Jergens Inc., a midwestern toolmaker with less than 500 employees, says it's "going like gangbusters" trying to keep up with demand, The Wall Street Journal reported. They are seeing an influx of orders from customers trying to avoid import tariffs, along with steady defense-related demand.
"We are running 24 hours a day, seven days a week" said Jergens president Jack Schron, according to the Journal. "We are swamped."
Grand River Rubber & Plastics, a plastics and rubber manufacturer in Ohio, says customers that once offshored to China are reversing course, the Journal noted. Two buyers who left years ago returned within days of each other and two new oil filter manufacturers have already placed orders. The company's new business could amount to $5 million annually, roughly 10% of Grand River's revenue.
The spike in new business reported by many American manufacturers coincides with a sharp decrease in Chinese manufacturing. When Trump announced the tariffs last month, he predicted American businesses and consumers would both benefit.
"Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country, and you see it happening already. We will supercharge our domestic industrial base," Trump has said. "We will pry open foreign markets and break down foreign trade barriers. And ultimately, more production at home will mean stronger competition and lower prices for consumers."
Even as the president insists prices will fall, economists and politicians warn his tariffs could sharply raise costs for American consumers, CNBC reported. However, executives at SafeSource Direct, a Louisiana-based medical products manufacturer, say prices are likely to decline as domestic production ramps up, according to the Journal.
SafeSource recently increased the number of production lines from two to eight, each making over 20,000 rubber gloves an hour. As new operations become more efficient, they expect costs to decrease significantly.
"We think we can get extremely close to Asian prices," said Steve Mott, a partner with the company, as reported by the Journal.
USTR Press Release -- [...] "At President Trump's direction, I am negotiating with countries to rebalance our trade relations to achieve reciprocity, open new markets, and protect America's economic and national security," said Ambassador Greer. "I look forward to having productive meetings with some of my counterparts as well as visiting with my team in Geneva who all work diligently to advance U.S. interests on a range of multilateral issues."
While in Switzerland, Ambassador Greer will also meet with his counterpart from the People's Republic of China to discuss trade matters." (
Treasury Secretary Press Release -- "During Secretary Bessent's visit to Switzerland, he will meet with President Karin Keller-Sutter of Switzerland, during which the Secretary will follow up on their recent meeting on the sidelines of the recent World Bank Group (WBG) -- International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings.
While in Switzerland, Secretary Bessent will also meet with the lead representative on economic matters from the People's Republic of China (PRC).
A newly released intelligence assessment has found that some Venezuelan government officials "facilitated" the illegal migration of members of the brutal Venezuelan criminal gang Tren De Aragua into the United States "to advance what they see as the Maduro regime's goal of destabilizing governments and undermining public safety."
However, while Venezuela's "permissive environment enables TDA to operate... the Maduro regime probably is not systematically directing Venezuelan outflows, such as to sow chaos in receiving countries," says the April memo from the National Intelligence Council, released Monday by the ODNI.
The memo waters down an earlier FBI assessment that the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is specifically directing TdA activities in the U.S.
But an ODNI source says that the bureau's intelligence is the most "robust and accurate given their focus on domestic security and crimes, versus limited intelligence assessments from other intelligence elements who by law focus solely on foreign intelligence collection, and who until President Trump took office, had very limited resources focused on TdA."
The Department of Homeland Security has identified more than 600 Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. with likely ties to TdA who crossed the border illegally during Joe Biden's presidency.
"From 2021 to 2024 there was a spike in Venezuelan encounters at the US-Mexico border, in which some TDA members could have been present as they have generally moved with Venezuelan migrant communities and profit from human trafficking and migrant smuggling," says the IC assessment.
The Venezuelan government gives sanctuary to TdA, "aiding and abetting their crimes and terrorist activities against the United States by enabling them to thrive."
...
The IC assessment cites US law enforcement reports that members of the Maduro regime, including Diosdado Cabello, Minister of the Interior, and former Venezuelan Minister of Penitentiaries Iris Varela, "have cooperated with TDA by providing financial or materiel support, but we cannot verify the sources' access."
...
"Maduro regime leadership probably sometimes tolerates TDA's presence in Venezuela, and some government officials may cooperate with TDA for financial gain.
The report notes that Maduro's hold on his country is tenuous, so the Marxist regime routinely makes deals with criminal gangs.
...
Links between TdA and the Maduro regime were central to the Trump administration's decision to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport suspected TdA gang members.
"Whether TdA exclusively murders, smuggles drugs, and traffics illegal immigrants over our borders on the orders of Venezuelan leaders, or freelances for self-enrichment is beside the point," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week. "It has killed on behalf of a hostile foreign government, that government has fostered its growth, and that government has encouraged it to invade the United States to advance its interests."
A rowdy mob of Tren de Aragua-linked gangbangers turned on a pair of NYPD cops in Times Square in a shocking caught-on-video assault -- the second migrant attack on New York's Finest in the tourist hot spot in less than two years.
The cowardly attack came after the Friday night boxing match between Ryan Garcia and Rolly Romero in the Crossroads of the World, with the two cops jumped while trying to stop the thugs from robbing a pair of youngsters, law enforcement sources said.
At least three of the brutes were rounded up by Sunday afternoon -- including a 12-year-old reputed ring leader -- with police saying the mob is linked to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua through its baby-faced offshoot crew known as Diablos de la 42, or Devils of 42nd Street, the sources said.
Did Jill Biden Signal Her Puppet Husk Husband to Stop Talking on The View?
—Ace
Almost certainly. She illegally puppeted an invalid four for years of his "presidency."
Jill Biden appeared to give her former president husband Joe a secret signal on The View after co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin asked a very risky question.
Biden, 82, was asked about Democrat insiders saying he'd suffered a sharp cognitive decline during his final year in office and began answering the question.
But after a few moments of relatively fluid speech the former president suddenly stopped and said: 'I've spoken enough.'
Jill, who was sat beside her husband, picked up the answer without a beat, sparking theories she may have nudged him or kicked him under the table to shut him up.
The former first lady has long been accused of hiding her ailing husband away during his doomed 2024 presidential campaign and telling him not to stand down despite growing outrage over his clear mental decline.
But she angrily denied 'sequestering' him during Thursday's live appearance on the ABC show.
Meanwhile, Biden was also seen sporting a mysterious band aid on his left hand.
The president was previously seen with a bruise on the same hand, sparking theories about whether he had undergone some kind of infusion for the benefit of his health.
When he was asked the question on his mental health, Biden awkwardly cut himself off mid-answer as he gave a halting and mumbling performance on the show.
Jill's sudden interjection appeared rehearsed, as she added in her retort that she was infuriated by books about her husband's struggles in office because 'nobody saw how hard Joe worked.'
His left-wing rulings sparked the right to adopt the motto "No More Souters!"
Particularly after the "Borking" of Robert Bork in 1987 (led by Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden) brought ideological critiques of the nominees out into the open, Republican presidents adopted a strategy of looking for "stealth nominees" who had little paper trail of judicial decisions and academic writings to pick apart. Souter, nominated in 1990 to replace Brennan, was the ultimate stealth nominee, a soft-spoken, reclusive, colorless bachelor with no major red flags (from a liberal point of view) in his twelve-year judicial record, most of it on the New Hampshire state courts. George H. W. Bush didn't set out to put a liberal on the Court, but he was willing to take the risk, and that left him vulnerable to staffers such as White House Chief of Staff John Sununu (Souter's fellow New Hampshirite) who had a pretty good idea of what Bush was getting. Democratic interest groups gave Souter the generic Republican treatment, with the National Organization for Women printing "Stop Souter or Women will Die" buttons with an image of a coat hanger, but it didn't fly, and he was confirmed 90-9. Even Biden voted for him; Ted Kennedy and John Kerry didn't.
Souter's subsequent liberal record on the Court -- including voting to sustain Roe in 1992 in Planned Parenthood v. Casey -- made his name a conservative rallying cry of "no more Souters." The stealth nominee strategy came to an abrupt end in 2005 after conservative opposition forced George W. Bush to abandon Harriet Miers, his White House counsel with a scant paper trail, and instead send the Republican-controlled Senate the nomination of Samuel Alito, who already had a long judicial track record that included ruling on the Third Circuit in favor of the pro-life law struck down in Casey. It seems unlikely that either party will attempt anything like the stealth-nominee strategy again.
Except we still are nominating people who turn out to be stealth Souters. I blame the Federalist Society. I don't think they're recommending conservative judges. I think they're recommending judges who follow the upper-middle class white liberal consensus who have some slight moorings to reality. In other words, they're not recommending the hard-left culture warriors the Democrats pack the courts with, but they're still recommending people who are part of the former Liberal Consensus.
The Federalist Society is more concerned about judges who are "clubbable" than conservative.
Souter retired from the Court in 2009 when the presidency was held by Barack Obama. He chose to deliver Obama the chance to appoint another liberal.
President Trump announced Thursday that Fox News host Jeanine Pirro will serve as the top prosecutor in Washington, D.C., for the time being.
Pirro replaces interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin, whose nomination was pulled earlier Thursday by Mr. Trump after losing support in the Senate.
"I am pleased to announce that Judge Jeanine Pirro will be appointed interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia," Trump wrote. "Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York. She is in a class by herself."
Pirro, a former judge and district attorney for Westchester County in New York, takes the helm of one of the largest federal prosecutor's offices in the country. It's been two decades she has held a position in law enforcement.
She ran for the Republican nomination for a Senate seat in New York in 2006, but ended her bid to run for attorney general in the state instead, which she ended up losing to Democrat Andrew Cuomo.
...
Pirro's friendship with Mr. Trump stretches back decades, and she has been a staunch defender of the president amid the numerous investigations that have plagued his political career.
...
Mr. Trump said later Thursday that Martin would take on a new role at the Justice Department, focusing on the alleged "weaponization" of the government during the Biden administration and pardons.
I like that too. Seems like a job he could do a lot of damage in.
THE MORNING RANT: As Tesla Sales Decline, Ford’s EV Sales…Fall Off a Cliff
—Buck Throckmorton
With the EV-loving media having recently refocused its venom on Elon Musk because of his alliance with President Trump, Tesla has become a target for the left. The media has gleefully been reporting any bad news about Musk’s electric car company, celebrating not only falling sales and financial repercussions, but also legitimizing vandalism against Tesla vehicles because of Musk’s politics.
The media has also been desperate to report that competitors are benefiting from Tesla’s woes. If you have the stomach for it, this nasty piece of journalistic bias from the AP dated 4/02/2025 hit all those marks, including the blaming of Musk himself for vandalism against Teslas: ”Tesla sales tumble 13% as Musk backlash, competition and aging lineup turn off buyers”
But something funny is happening. As Tesla sales decline, competing electric vehicle brands are not capturing the lost sales. It’s just the opposite, in fact. Legacy automakers who tried to make a big splash in the EV market are seeing their already nominal EV sales decline precipitously as the electric vehicle fad wanes. Ford had anticipated that by 2025 its electric lineup would be a major component of its product lineup, but now its EV sales are barely an asterisk, with sales plummeting from any already low peak.
Despite higher sales of internal combustion (ICE) and hybrid vehicles, Ford sold significantly fewer electric vehicles last month. Ford sold 4,859 fully electric vehicles in April, which is nearly 40% less than the 8,019 sold in April 2024.
“Despite?” Is that the correct word to use here? It reminds me of the infamous Fox Butterfield stories from the NY Times, which had comically obtuse headlines along the lines of, “Despite record incarceration, crime rates are down.”
Anyhow, “despite” people buying more gasoline powered (“ICE”) vehicles in April, Ford’s electric vehicle sales fell off a metaphorical cliff.
All three of Ford’s electric vehicles —the F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E, and E-Transit —had double-digit sales declines last month. Ford sold 2,927 Mach-Es (-40%), 1,740 F-150 Lightnings (-17%), and just 192 E-Transit vans in April (-81%).
Ford’s 4,859 EV sales amounted to just 2.3% of the company’s total sales in April. Yet CEO Jim Farley and nepot destructor Bill Ford remain committed to perpetuating the failed Model E-dsel efforts, despite multi-billion dollar EV losses continuing, with no end in sight.
Aside from its existing – and underutilized - EV manufacturing plants, Ford built a massive new plant (“Blue Oval City”) near Memphis to assemble 500,000 electric pickup trucks per year. The plant was supposed to be open by now, but it has been mothballed until at least 2027. There is little prospect for it ever opening, as Ford’s April electric pickup sales annualize to less than 21,000 units per year, and the sales trajectory is downward from here.
Production halts and an unprofitable EV business nearly wiped out Ford Motor’s net profit in the first quarter, the company said Monday. Ford reported net income of $471 million, down from $1.3 billion a year earlier. Revenue fell to $40.7 billion, down from $42.8 billion in the first quarter of 2024.
Ford would have made $1.3 billion in Q1 2025 had its disastrous EV division not racked up another $849 million loss, pulling quarterly profit down to $471 million. Ford has been losing about $5 billion per year on its EV operations, and there is no realistic possibility for this division to become profitable, especially with the Trump administration working to eliminate the EV tax rebates that have been part of Ford’s EV business plan.
This is the same Jim Farley who flushed away $9.8 billion from EV losses in 2023 and 2024 alone, and who is about to take another $5.5 billion hit (likely more) on EVs in 2025. I have never heard Farley criticize any of the globalist, eco-communists he and Bill Ford decided to obey when they set Ford off down the road of electric destruction, yet he’s whimpering about Trump. If/when Ford decides to staunch the EV bleeding and throw in the towel on its Model E-dsel, then I’ll be willing to listen to concerns about the (much smaller) impact of tariffs.
Even Tesla’s sales woes aren’t steering any EV customers to Ford. Something that cannot go on forever will eventually stop. The longer it takes Ford to finally terminate its EV misadventure, the more likely it is that electric vehicles will bankrupt the company. Its Board of Directors has got to take action to stop the bleeding since Jim Farley and Bill Ford clearly won’t. If Ford’s Directors will not stop the EV bleeding, shareholders will have a legitimate reason to consider bringing a shareholder derivative lawsuit against Ford’s directors and executives for their fiduciary negligence. On whosever behalf Jim Farley and Bill Ford are working for, it is not Ford’s shareholders, employees, customers, or dealers.
Good morning kids. Of course the big story this morning is the election of a successor to Pope Fiction, and the first American to be elected pontiff. While I was hoping for one of the cardinals from Africa or perhaps the Philippines to have been elected, considering those nations and their Christian citizenry have been enduring horrendous Islamic persecution and butchery for years. That the papacy has at best been silent and/or indifferent to Islamic genocide against it and at worst appeasers of and apologists for Islam especially during the tenure of the last Pope, was a travesty. Islam was, is and always will be a malign, totalitarian evil that seeks the subjugation of humanity or death of those who resist. To publicly state that, despite being a truth written in an ocean of blood over the course of 15 centuries, would be impermissible given the attitude of much of the western world – a world that would never have come into being were it not for Judaism and Christianity, that are today on the knife edge of being snuffed out by both the twin evils of Islam and godless atheistic secularism.
Christians in Nigeria are murdered almost daily through indiscriminate attacks led by Muslims. Nigerian Christian women are abducted, raped, gang-raped and sexually abused on a widespread scale. Violence is only one of the many forms of persecution that Christians in Nigeria face. They are also subjected to systematic, Sharia-based discrimination, a situation which is particularly routine in the majority-Muslim northern states.
One of the methods used to silence Christian voices utilizes the deadly blasphemy laws. In many cases, Muslim mobs take the law into their own hands and execute Christians who they accuse of blasphemy.
In 2022, for instance, Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a second-year Christian college student, was stoned and burnt to death by a mob of Muslim students in Sokoto, Nigeria, after being accused of blasphemy against Islam. . .
. . . Nigerian social media has been awash with many hate speech posts against the Church, and many Muslim clerics have made it a point of duty to constantly preach hate against Christians. The immediate past governor of Kaduna was seen on video preaching hate against Christians. Almost all the time the perpetrators of these kinds of smear campaigns are not brought to justice. Smear campaigns are a very common thing against Christians… Also, Christians in the North experience daily abuse and are called all kinds of derogatory names such as “infidels.”
Christian families and children appear to be a specific target of Muslims in Nigeria:
Christian spouses and/or children of Christians have been subject to separation for prolonged periods of time by circumstances relating to persecution. Children of Christians have been harassed or discriminated against because of their parents’ faith. Most of this happens in the North, although increasingly also in the South.
Babies and children of Christians have automatically been registered under the state or majority religion.
With that, we have as I stated the first American Pope, who at first glance will seemingly follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, although there are some mixed signals as you can see from the many links in the Pope section that I will pull:
Many Catholics (and non-Catholics, for that matter) were praying for a more traditional, conservative choice after twelve years of the globalist progressive, Pope Francis. During his pontificate, Francis made landmark declarations that encouraged the Left, including allowing the blessing of people in same-sex unions and calling for more mass migration into already overwhelmed Western nations. One conservative Catholic author even persuasively argued several reasons “Why We Need a Pope From Africa” such as Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, a defender of the embattled, traditional Latin mass (but who, at 80, was a long-shot pick).
Just prior to today’s revelation that a pope had been chosen, Sheryl Collmer at Crisis Magazine online, a publication on Catholic issues, wrote that Francis’ tenure was “tragic” and nearly “destroyed” the church. She asked, “Will we have the heart and courage to rebuild the Church after the devastation of the recent past?
Perhaps not, because Prevost’s career was apparently closely observed, if not steered, by Francis himself. According to GB News, “Francis clearly had an eye on him for years.” To summarize from The College of Cardinals Report profile of Cardinal Prevost: in 2014, Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, then Bishop of Chiclayo in 2015. Francis appointed him to one of the most influential Vatican posts in January 2023, running the office that selects and manages bishops globally. He held that post until Pope Francis died late last month. On September 30, 2023, Francis elevated Prevost to the rank of Cardinal.
Why pick the first American Pope now? Robert Prevost was made Pope Leo XIV as a counterweight to President Trump.
There’s been little ambiguity about the new pope’s politics and less about the overall agenda.
Pope Francis had all but rigged the process to assure another radical successor.
President Trump’s return represents an ongoing institutional crisis. The ideological battleground is going to be the border and Prevost has been chosen to lead the response in the largest sense possible.
Choosing an American Pope is supposed to raise the stakes and elevate a leader with the stature to rally opposition to Trump and more specifically to his immigration policies by invoking the familiar tropes about the need for welcoming in every single migrant.
That’s what this is about. This is less about the long-term future and more about the next four years.
The former cardinal, who is from Chicago, is of Spanish, French and Italian descent, which explains his Mediterranean look. He came out in red papal robes, all ornate and embroidered, same as previous popes before Pope Francis, meaning, he's more traditional than Pope Francis, whose desire to appear humble verged on ostentatious, although it wasn't malevolent.
That was him, this is Leo. It suggests he won't be the same as his predecessor.
And the name he picked was reason to be hopeful, too: Leo. The last pope named Leo, Leo XIII (1878-1903) was famous for denouncing socialism. That tells me all I need to hear, but for many, it will be well worth looking at for the nuances -- Leo XIII was also a champion of labor and unions, which, given the realities of the times, seemed like a good idea. As for the socialism, his condemnation of its failures is eternal, and he's the only pope who ever singled out socialism for its evils very specifically by name. . .
. . . His background might give some pause -- I don't know the full story about his citizenship and whether he chose to dump his U.S. citizenship or kept it, or really needed Peruvian citizenship to get around, or simply wanted to be like the Peruvians he ministered to. It isn't that important to a cleric, who is Heaven-focused, so I don't judge. I don't feel optimistic that he was from Chicago, home of Cardinal Cupich who hid his pectoral cross as he gave his blessing to the DNC with its abortion truck outside, and to FARC's sympathizers in the states, but his Mediterranean background suggests he didn't come from the elites. . .
. . .It's early, of course, and everything I am surmising about him could be wrong. We will know more as he makes his address next week. But for now, we can be hopeful that there may be many good and great things about him and he will be an able and confident leader, like Leo XIII.
The ascendancy of populism not only here but abroad is certainly reflected in the reaction of leftists and in what the late Pope Francis had promoted during his tenure vis a vis open borders, the global warming scam, attacks on the free market etc. etc. etc. So is the election of Leo as Daniel Greenfield posits the undergirding of the assault on traditional Catholicism or as Monica Showalter posits/hopes will he abandon some of Francis' more radical positions to be more in line with the mainstream (or what was and hopefully still is the mainstream) of the faith. Considering that far too many of my fellow Jews have completely rejected traditional Judaism, the teachings of the Torah and the 10 commandments, I'm not going to speculate about Catholics. Of course with the likes of Pelosi and Biden and others of their bent, there are parallels.
We'll have to wait and see. Regardless, it is of course up to all of us as individuals to live an upright, moral and righteous life regardless of who our religious and secular leaders may be. I certainly hope and pray that Leo will lead the Catholic faithful in paths of righteousness and in keeping with Biblical teaching and tradition.
And lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.
Have a great weekend.
ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
The world would be a better place without the corrupt and malignant institution. Defund The United Nations
What’s become increasingly clear is that absent Trump and a few Republicans, the GOP lacks the willingness and ability to govern. What Is The Point Of Having A GOP Congress?
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts says he has no immediate plans to step down from the bench, citing good health as the primary reason. The 70-year-old Justice shared this during a public event in Buffalo, New York, marking the 125th anniversary of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. Chief Justice Roberts, 70, Dismisses Retirement Speculation.
“This is bold, this is gonna be challenging, but we absolutely can do it,” Duffy declared of his plan, which calls for at least six new air traffic control centers replacing 1960s-era facilities; swapping out old-fashioned copper wiring for fiber-optic, wireless and satellite technology at 4,600 locations; and replacing 25,000 radios and more than 600 radar installations. Transportation boss Sean Duffy plots multi-billion-dollar overhaul of US air traffic control by 2028
The economic good news comes despite globalist criticism of President Donald J. Trump’s America First tariffs, particularly the significant increase on Chinese imports to 145 percent. Anti-tariff economists have been persistently warning that negative sentiments observed in surveys—likely driven by the media clamoring over a hypothetical tariff-driven downturn—could be set to translate into negative employment data. Still, the above-expectations fall in new unemployment claims suggest market jitters are yet to translate into meaningful job losses. Trump Economy Gains Strength as Unemployment Claims Fall Even More Than Expected.
Unions are resisting tech advances that would make East Coast ports more efficient—and dramatizing a tension within the Trump coalition. On the Twenty-First-Century Waterfront
A pollution tariff would hold China accountable for environmental abuses, block tariff evasion, protect U.S. interests, and position America as a global trade leader. A Pollution Tariff Would Close China’s Trade Loopholes
CIVIL WAR 2.0: J-6 FBI FALSE FLAG "RIOT" & AFTERMATH, LEFTIST PERSECUTIONS, DEMOCRAT PUTSCH, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION
Andrii Dmyterko, 45, has been charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter following the horrific crash, which was caught clearly on a nearby dash cam. In the video, the truck doesn't appear to slow down or swerve in the least as it mowed down a line of stopped vehicles, decimating them all within seconds. Migrant on a Work Visa Plows Into Multiple Cars at a Stoplight in Texas, Killing Two
On Wednesday, nearly 80 protesters were arrested after storming Columbia University’s Butler Library in New York City. The demonstrators, many of whom were masked and wearing kaffiyehs, disrupted students preparing for exams, defaced property, and declared the library a “liberated zone” in support of 'Palestinian' activism. Marco Rubio Vows Visa Crackdown After Columbia Library Takeover: ‘Pro-Hamas Thugs No Longer Welcome’ in U.S.
Qatar has been a threat to our national security since at least 1986, and though their inroads into the U.S. have been subtle, it doesn’t make them any less dangerous. Qatar: Our Enemy Hiding in Plain Sight
OFFICIAL DEMOCRAT PARTY/LEFTIST-ENDORSED ANTI-SEMITISM, ANTI-CHRISTIANITY
The same leftwing voices objecting to using government funds to teach American children how to read and write in Catholic schools howl in complaint that DOGE cut USAID funding to Catholic charities that supported illegal immigrants. Catholic Funding by Government in the Political Crosshairs
FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH
It seems that media persecution comes with the presidential territory, unless you die in your first month in office. The Presidency and the Media
RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, DEMOCRAT-LEFT WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS,
“After interviewing multiple anonymous Stanford faculty, students, and China experts, the Review can confirm that the CCP is orchestrating a widespread intelligence-gathering campaign at Stanford,” the student newspaper revealed in a Wednesday X post. Investigation Alleges ‘Widespread’ Chinese Spying at Stanford U.
DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST AND RINO SCANDALS, MESHUGAS, CHUTZPOCRISY
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI), in a letter to the DOJ, said that ActBlue’s “concerning activities” could have a “direct effect on U.S. political campaigns and elections.” House Committee Chairs Brief Trump DOJ on Fundraiser ActBlue’s ‘Concerning Activities’
Epstein, who pled guilty to sex charges in 2008, committed suicide while awaiting trial after he was arrested in 2019 on new charges. Kennedy asked Patel if he would see the release about what happened to Epstein in his lifetime during a hearing held by the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. John Kennedy Asks Kash Patel Point-Blank If Jeffrey Epstein Killed Himself
Famed Democrat strategist James Carville unleashed a blistering attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) after her controversial comments about white men resurfaced on social media. The outspoken former Clinton advisor didn't mince words at Wednesday's Truth Tellers Summit, where he systematically demolished Omar's inflammatory rhetoric. James Carville Tells abro-FO Omar to Get Out of the Democrat Party
Prevost’s election as a dual U.S.-Peruvian citizen shatters a long-standing bias against an American pope, potentially reshaping the Catholic Church’s global influence amid its 1.4 billion followers. The Pope Is American.
Cardinal Robert F. Prevost was elected the 267th supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday by the College of Cardinals during a two-day conclave in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. He will go by Pope Leo XIV.. . . The new pope inherits a spiritual flock of 1.39 billion Catholics and will likely need to address an increasingly secularized world, clerical sex abuses of minors and the fallout, as well as global conflicts, both armed and rhetorical. Cardinal Robert F. Prevost Elected 267th Supreme Pontiff Of Roman Catholic Church
As Preston Manning, one of Canada’s most influential public figures and a force for good, wrote, “Voters, particularly in central and Atlantic Canada, need to recognize that a vote for the Carney Liberals is a vote for Western secession—a vote for the breakup of Canada as we know it.” Unfortunately, it’s rather too late now. The people have misspoken. Western Canada Puts the Rest of Canada on Notice
“Simion represents a new and increasingly common type of political actor. . .The success of this strategy reveals the right’s conceptual limitations.” How the Establishment Is Domesticating Populism
An anti-mullah Persian-American is furious about President Trump's move to rename the 'Persian Gulf' the 'Arabian Gulf' to please the region's sheiks and spite the Iranian mullahs. About that renaming of the 'Persian Gulf' ...
DEFENSE, MILITARY, SECURITY AFFAIRS
Fred Fleitz: Trump has ousted NSA Michael Waltz and tapped Marco Rubio as interim, signaling a businesslike, high-stakes push for loyalty, competence, and bold execution in national security. What President Trump Needs in His Next National Security Adviser
FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY
Speaking in defense of HB 25-1312, which in part threatens to strip the custody rights of parents who refuse to “affirm” their child’s “gender identity,” bill sponsor Sen. Chris Kolker compared concerned parents to the Ku Klux Klan before saying he will be “accountable to almighty God” for “standing up for equality” - especially if he has to defend himself to “trans Jesus” one day. Colorado Democrat Says He'll Be Accountable to 'Trans Jesus' On Judgement Day
“So, we’re having a baby? I mean, we, and also, I guess, Jesse,” Bella Ramsey’s character, Ellie, asks Isabela Merced’s character, Dina, in Episode 4 of the post-apocalyptic series’ Season 2, before adding, “So we’re all having a baby. Holy shit. I’m gonna be a dad.” HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ Shows Lesbian Character Declaring, ‘I’m Gonna Be A Dad’
Baier: Why did you spend $221K on private jets to your 'fighting oligarchy' rallies?
Bernie: "You think I can sit on a waiting line at United while 30,000 people are waiting? That's the only way you can get around. No apologies for that."
Podcast: Sefton and CBD jabber about India vs. Pakistan as a placeholder for the larger battle between Islam and the West, Israel finally decides to complete the job in Gaza, Tom Tillis is a toad, and more!
Forgotten 80s Mystery Click, Dutch Masters Edition Mumbled spoken intro:
Somewhere in a lonely hotel room, there's a guy starting to realize
That eternal fate has turned its back on him, it's 2 a.m. Focus on the "it's 2 a.m." If that didn't rumble it, try this: I'm falling down a spiral, destination unknown
Double-crossed messenger all alone
Can't get no connection, can't get through, where are you?
Well, the night weighs heavy on his guilty mind
This far from the borderline
When the hitman comes, he knows damn well he has been cheated This song rocks. Unjustly forgotten!
Podcast: CBD and Sefton are joined by Vox Clamantis, a career federal prosecutor. We discuss what Due Process actually is, and how it applies to deportation, what the Trump administration can do to combat judicial overreach, and more!
Stephen Miller: The courts are attempting to unconstitutionally enshrine open borders into law by imposing an "infinite process" on deportations. They're too cowardly to admit what they're doing and just say, "We don't like the way they people voted and who they voted for, so we're deposing the president through a judicial coup." Instead, they're just making it so that we can have a nominal law that allows the deportations of foreign criminals and gang members, but we're also going to impose "due process" requirements that will guarantee all illegals a lifetime residency in the US.
George Clooney now looks like Bela Lugosi from Ed Wood In this "interview," Jake Tapper claims that Clooney writing an op-ed at the instigation of Barack Obama was "brave," and Clooney returns the favor by telling Jake Tapper that "journalists" are brave and irreplaceable. It's the world's least enticing gay porn.
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