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
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
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 2026 NoVaMoMe Announcement Edition? Seems like only last week was the Happy Easter Edition!
With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?
Fundamentals 'O Safety, that is. The art of not killing yourself or those around you.
Are you being safe at the range (and elsewhere)? What's the closest disaster with regard to firearms handling you have seen?
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Dumb Idea?
Would you go into a gunfight with something like this?
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Knife Stuff
Recently the comments turned to knife sharpening and I mentioned the OUTDOORS55 YouTube channel. Watching and listening to this guy is how I finally learned to properly put an edge on cutting tools. In addition to being a useful skill to have, it also opens an entirely new rabbit hole of obsession and compulsiveness.
His channel has a lot of content and he gives very good and easy to understand advice. Weasel recommended.
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Daisy BB Guns
Interesting story.
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NoVaMoMe 2026
What - you thought there wasn't going to be a NoVaMoMe in 2026?
Note: One of the great joys of NoVAMoMe season, at least for me, is being able to cut and paste the entire block of text below and haranguing you to attend the event. Are you attending? Are you focusing on the fundamentals of attending?
Alright, guys and gals, the long awaited and highly anticipated details of the 2026 NoVAMoMe are here! That's right, I finally got my act together and updated the information page for 2026, and need to go over a few details. First, the date is June 20th, 2026 from 11am to 3pm. Nextly, my bestest blog buddy bluebell and I have decided 2026 will continue the longstanding tradition of NoVAMoMe simplification, and want to pass along the changes from prior years.
First, no registration and no advance charge for food. If you would like to attend, send an email to WeaselBell Productions, and let us know. You will be directed to a sekrit webpage with all of the details. We do ask once you have decided to attend to let us know so we can coordinate an expected count with venue management. Once there if you are hungry or thirsty simply order from the onsite menu and pay separately. Cash and credit cards accepted. Next, although fun, we have decided to again take a break from the raffles and mug sales this year. Depending on how it goes, that may be something we bring back in future years. While your generosity is always appreciated, with no prize table, please leave donations and contributions at home, but bring your appetite for a great afternoon spent with your imaginary online friends.
Next, a NoVAMoMe PSA from our pal bluebell
Hi folks - just a quick PSA. If you write for info about the MoMe, please give us a few words in the body of the email just so I know you are a Moron and not a spammer (moron). I do receive spam on this email account because it's sitting right here in my nic, so that's why I'm asking. I don't want to give our details to a spammer. Also, remember to check your spam folder if you don't receive a reply email.
Thanks.
bluebell
Seriously, just send an email then go to the website with the password provided. If you forget, a link to the email is on the main page, left sidebar. If you do not sign up, bluebell will be disappointed. Weasel will be disappointed, too, but it's bluebell you need to worry about.
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?
I was given that bottle by a well-meaning relative, because...I have no idea, other than that she drinks a lot of gin cocktails when she comes to our house.
The company is co-owned by Ryan Reynolds, who is a comedic actor who is from Canada, so he doesn't matter at all. But I shy away from celebrity endorsed products, and definitely from celebrity-owned companies. So I have never bought a bottle of the stuff.
But I am also a cheap bastard and will absolutely drink celebrity gin if it is free!
SO I made a martini (stirred, not shaken!), and while it was fine, the gin absolutely does not deserve the hype, or the premium price. Commenter and amateur bartender (I won't insult him by calling him a mixologist) naturalfake, who has a better palate than mine, thinks it is too sarsaparilla forward, but will work well in an ... AVIATION! I don't know about that, but it's not worth the money if you are making martinis.
Now, I prefer the classic London Dry Gin flavor profile, so take my review with a few grains of salt.
That is homemade pastrami, courtesy of commenter "gunslinger," who is enjoying his new pellet grill, and the amazing temperature control it affords cooks. He says it's a game-changer, and judging by that photo, he might be right!
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Sliders are great, and very easy to make, especially if you don't mind the mess. Yeah, they splatter and spit, but it's worth the few minutes of cleanup. And if you have an outdoor grill...even better! Here is Alton Brown's recipe, but it's really just a technique. Beef Sliders with Griddled Onions punches way above its weight. There is a great joint in Hackensack called White Manna, that has been around for years, that makes maybe the best ones I have ever had, including from my own kitchen. There is always a line, which makes it less appealing, but still, they are mighty tasty!
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These are some of the flavors that a well-known UK chocolate company sells. They teeter on the edge of weirdness, but the chocolate itself is excellent, so they are forgiven. Actually, TArragon & Mustard is firmly on the weird side.
But these? What the hell? Apricot & Wasabi? Mulled Wine?
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I don't know if adding horseradish to your deviled eggs will make them the best ever, but I do know that you are going to be irritated by this recipe, because it is one of those horrid ones with the interminable filler before you get to the actual recipe. So cut to the chase and just add some horseradish to your standard recipe, and you won't have to be pissed off while reading The Best Deviled Eggs.
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I'm just not a big fan of donuts. Sure...the 3:00AM fresh and hot apple fritter from Kingpin Donuts on Durant Avenue is a glory, as were the fresh donuts at the apple orchard outside of Ann Arbor that my parents took us to, but in general, donuts are meh. Does that make me a communist?
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Well, the garlic is out in the sunshine, probably soon to be eaten by those vile rodents with bushy tails and a penchant for damaging my home. But if they survive the squirrel apocalypse, and actually grow into something edible, I will be in garlic heaven! In case it doesn't, send all of your excellent home-grown garlic to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.
Rumor has it that the Bourbon Bubble is bursting. I have seen no evidence of decreasing prices, but maybe the bursting started somewhere else! I think the sweet spot is $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.
The problem...or the solution...is to buy lots of bourbon, take tasting notes, and eventually arrive at your favorites! It should take forty or fifty years, but it is worth it!
This is the most ridiculous packaging I have encountered in a very long time. These batteries are encased in plastic that has no seam to make it easy to peel apart. Then they are wrapped in another layer of plastic before they are wrapped in thin but stupidly tough cardboard.
Oh...they are also flavored. I shit you not! They have a "non-toxic bitter coating" so that you don't accidentally confuse them for mints and pop one into your mouth, and then chew them up. I guess.
I get that the company is trying keep kids from eating batteries, or maybe keep adults from eating batteries! But how about a little bit of personal responsibility? Like putting them on a high shelf. Yeah...that's a complex operation, but I managed to do it!
At the center of the XM30's capabilities is an unmanned turret equipped with a 50 mm XM913 Bushmaster autocannon. This weapon offers greater range and firepower than the 25 mm cannon on the Bradley, improving effectiveness against modern armored threats.
The unmanned turret allows the vehicle to operate with a two-person crew. Both crew members remain inside the hull, enhancing protection by removing the need for a traditional manned turret position.
Here's the video! Yes, it's an advertisement, but it looks like just the thing for commuting into our blue cities.
I saw a video of one of our Bradleys we gave to Ukraine absolutely knocking the snot out of a Russian tank. And the Bradley carries a 25mm gun.
Good morning, ‘rons and ‘ronettes. It’s time once again for the monthly MP4-hosted Sunday Book Thread. Dress is country club casual, but ladies are encouraged to wear some spring fashion, such as this:
So ask the barman for a Cape Codder, covfefe or tea and let’s get started!
'Searching'
(and no, not the song by the Coasters)
When I was a child, there were two books that I absolutely loved. One was from 1900, The World’s Discoverers: The Story of Bold Voyages by Brave Navigators. It told the usual – Columbus, Magellan, Vasco da Gama, but a good half of the book is taken up by the search for the Northwest Passage and the attempts of both the Dutch and Russians to establish Arctic trading posts.
The other was by Philip Van Doren Stern, whose story, “The Greatest Gift,” was the inspiration for It’s A Wonderful Life. But the book I adored was his 1939 novel The Man Who Killed Lincoln: The Story of John Wilkes Booth, which is exactly what you imagine.
As I said, I loved both books. But somehow, over the years, I lost them. And it became a small obsession to find them again. Every time I would walk into a used book store, my eye would quickly scan the shelves, hoping against hope I would find one of the two.
Reader, I did. And, like Mr Burns with his teddy bear, I don’t plan to ever lose them again.
So what was it about those two books that made me love them? With Discoverers, it was not just the stories of heroic, yet all too flawed, men; it was the prose – old-fashioned, yet utterly engaging.
Here’s a sample, from the summary of Chapter 10:
Arrival in India and varied experiences there. Gama arrives in India. Ludicrous mistake of the Portuguese when they see images of Hindoo deities. Gama makes a big bluff in talking to the Indian king and is treated with great contempt.”
Now, doesn’t that make you want to find out just what Gama said and what happened to him? And as for Van Doren, he was a master storyteller; his view of Lincoln’s assassination and escape, told through Booth’s eyes, was just the sort of thing to appeal to a young child fascinated by history.
But there was another thing, too. ‘There is no frigate like a book,’ Emily Dickinson wrote. That’s the power of a great book: it can lift you out of your own world and immerse you in another, whether it be the Shire, Wonderland or even a 1920s summer house in England. I keep returning to Discoverers and Lincoln because they transform me. I’m not the sour, unhappy man looking at the world through the bottom of a glass; I’m at Columbus’ side when he hears the glad cry of ‘Land!’ I’m shivering as I watch Booth climb to the Presidential box, derringer in hand. I am, for a moment, that child curled up in a chair eagerly turning pages.
What about you? Did you have any books you loved, lost and found? Or ones that you’ve lost and never found again? What is it about some books (and tell me your faves) that makes them timeless?
On the other hand, reader Rick C checked online prices at Micro Center and they are 60% lower than the sticker prices shown in yesterday's article. Or rather, the sticker prices were inflated by 150%.
Micro Center doesn't deliver online orders; you have to pay for and pick up the item in person. Still I'd expect a bigger fuss if prices in store were that much inflated over the prices they advertise online.
As the article notes, not all of them. 8 were deleted by Mozilla while the download was running and 42 couldn't be found, but still around 84,000 extensions.
And... It worked. Kind of.
It did use 37GB of RAM just to load the start page.
While the Big Three memory manufacturers are making bank, the two former also-rans - China's CXMT and Taiwan's Nanya - are grabbing everything they can.
SSDs - at least, good ones - need DRAM cache. Sandisk and Kioxia don't make DRAM. Nanya does, and not only that, but 90% of its production is still DDR4 which is not what current computers use but is what SSD controllers use.
Little boy tells his nursery teacher he found a dead cat.
"How did you know it was dead?" asks the teacher.
"Because I pissed in its ear and it didn't move," says the boy.
"You did what!?" shrieks the teacher.
"You know," explains the boy, "I leaned over and went Psssst and it didn't move!"
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"Booty" and "butt" mean the same.
"Call" and "dial" mean the same.
But a "booty call" and a "butt dial"? Yeah...not the same thing at all.
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John O'Reilly hoisted his beer and said, "Here's to spending the rest of me life, between the legs of me wife!"
That won him the top prize at the pub for the best toast of the night! He went home and told his wife, Mary, "I won the prize for the best toast of the night." She said, "Aye, did ye now? And what was your toast?"
John said, "Here's to spending the rest of me life, sitting in church beside me wife."
"Oh, that is very nice indeed, John!" Mary said.
The next day, Mary ran into one of John's drinking buddies on the street corner.
The man chuckled and said, "John won the prize the other night at the pub with a toast about you, Mary."
She said, "Aye, he told me, and I was a bit surprised myself. You know, he's only been in there twice in the last four years. Once I had to pull him by the ears to make him come, and the other time he fell asleep."
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Drink of the Night
We featured this last year on Masters weekend. It's back!
In 2019, Pizza Hut brought back its 1974 logo, banking on its nostalgic appeal. I figured that would be the end of it, just a simple marketing tactic soon forgotten. There were no plans announced to bring back the logo in stores, much less redesign the restaurants to look like old Pizza Huts from the chain's heyday.
But with no fanfare whatsoever, that's exactly what’s been happening. Pizza Hut has been taking legacy stores and converting them into "Classics." The formula includes:
1) The old logo is used in pole signage as well as at the top of the (usually but not always) red-roofed restaurant. The pole sign features the addition of the word "Classic."
2) The interior features cozy red booths and old-school Pizza Hut lamps.
3) Stickers featuring the long-discarded character Pizza Hut Pete are found on the door.
4) Posters feature classic photos from Pizza Huts of yore.
5) A plaque displays a quote from Pizza Hut co-founder Dan Carney, explaining the concept as a celebration of the brand's heritage.
There are reportedly 144 locations, but the whole thing remains below the radar. No formal listing on the Pizza Hut website. Do you have a Classic Pizza Hut in your neighborhood?
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Club ONT Department of Technology
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Club ONT Department of Words
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Club ONT Department of Fun Ideas??
Wonder if our resident fashion maven would approve of this idea?
You and your friends threw an “I have nowhere to wear this” party… and nobody held back 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Kz31ZcsiNd
— Wholesome Side of 𝕏 (@itsme_urstruly) April 7, 2026
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The Club ONT Jukebox
Something else we brought back from last year - an hour of Master's Theme Music on repeat with a visual tour of scenes from around the course:
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Enough golf -- Let's rock!
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Top Technicolor Comments of the Week
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Top Comments of the Week
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Top Spam Flattery Comments of the Week
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Club ONT is brought to you tonight by expectations vs reality
I kid the third entry in the Halloween series. Because it's awful. But as it's one of Darcy The Mail Girl's favorite movies, and she got to program Friday night for The Drive-In Jamboree, we all watched it together with director Tommy Lee Wallace and stars Tom Atkins and Stacey Nelkin on stage. Allowing for a little too dim a projection—the Jamboree had a lot of technical difficulties—it was basically the best possible circumstance to watch Halloween 3: Season of the Witch.
Rather amusingly, Drive-In Producer Austin Jennings had prepared a supercut of all the times Joe Bob had trashed this movie, which was fun with everyone there and a pro-H3 audience. Did I say "all"? Apparently, it was a mere fraction of the times he had done it.
Because, again, it's just not a very good movie. If we're being honest, the crowd was still just barely over 50/50 thumbs-up/thumbs-down, and that's with a strongly pro-Tommy Lee, pro-Tom Atkins, pro-Stacy Nelkin, pro-Darcy audience.
"Hello, England? You remember that lintel from Stonehenge you were looking for? Yeah, it's here in California. I don't know how they got it here in three days! You'll never believe what they're doing with it!"
But let's go over the whole thing to see if we can't appreciate the whole thing, what works and what doesn't. There is a whole lot of good here, admittedly, and it's worth watching just for the good and fun parts. I don't think it makes up for the bad because the bad is pretty fundamental. For example, this is not, for the most part, a scary movie, not a spooky movie, not a very Halloween feeling movie. And that's hard to overcome when you're calling yourself Halloween 3.
First, the best thing about Halloween 3 is the meta-premise: Rather than making the same movie over and over again, let's use the franchise to tell a new story every time. ("American Horror Story" uses this premise for its show and it sucks, but the premise of theming each season differently is something good about it. Heck, you could argue that Chris Guest's mockumentaries are along similar lines: Same kind of humor, same repertory company, different theme each time, and that works really well.)
Second, the premise itself is...I don't know if it's good, but it's certainly bold. The idea that the world's children are imperiled? You're playing with fire; people don't want to see kids get hurt in their dumb Halloween movie. (Horror movies where children are injured or killed tend to be more "serious" and not very fun.) That said, Wallace does a really good job here. The harm to the children is obscured, implicitly horrifying without showing a lot of suffering.
Third, it's all very competently executed. Dan O'Herlilhy is a standout as the big bad, but Atkins and Nelkin are charming and have good chemistry (which is ironic given how their first scene together was the sex scene, and they had not met prior). The camerawork, although reminiscent of a TV cop show, has some very nice moments. The effects are effective!
Director: "Stacey, Tom. Tom, Stacey. Get nekkid."
The movies from this era seem shockingly energetic and lively compared to most of what we get today.
The bad stuff. Joe Bob delights in pointing out the many bizarre plot holes in this movie, but I maintain that, as egregious as they are, he (and all of us) would gloss over them if the rest of the movie worked. (And indeed, it works for Darcy, so she doesn't care about the plot holes.)
But they are egregious. Days before Halloween a giant stone from Stonehenge is stolen. Somehow this turns up at a California mask factory to make their magic computer chips that go into the masks...except of course days before Halloween, no masks from a factory are going to ever make it to stores on time. Tom Atkins manages to stop this (well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad) by making a phone call.
"Put me through to television!"
I said "Television! Not cable! Who watches cable in 1981?"
When Tommy Lee Wallace defended the movie to Joe Bob, he says something to the effect of "you gotta get into that Halloween spirit! It's magic!" Obviously, for its fans, that's not hard to do. But the movie doesn't help you much. It's actually pretty hyper-real, or perhaps more precisely, it hews pretty tightly to a detective drama, like a Dirty Harry or a Mike Hammer. Down to every single woman in the movie throwing herself at Tom Atkins.
One of whom is his wife-at-the-time, which is kind of cute.
The mixture of magic with contemporary technology—especially computer technology—is a difficult one. Where you mostly see it is in things like "there's a ghost in your cell phone! oooo!" and it's spotty. Halloween 3 wants to combine magic with computers and mass production, and you have to take the "wizard did it" explanation to some far extremes, like all the TV stations in the country showing the same commercial at the exact same time with everyone watching at the same time.
Interestingly, I think Halloween works in part because it hews closely to reality, and when it starts to break that, it builds the atmosphere and unreality up so that we go from a traditional "maniac slasher" story to a "demonic force" story.
It would be interesting to read the original Nigel Kneale screenplay, though it may not have worked either, even if Wallace hadn't changed it. Or it might've worked the way The Wicker Man works, which would be as good as a failure in the US market.
Joe Bob caved and gave it three stars, though he backtracked quickly the next night.
I have to say, I enjoyed watching it—I mean, I had just arrived in Nashville for the Jamboree, so of course I would. And if they showed it on "The Last Drive-In", I certainly would watch it again. I might watch it again just to try to study what about it does and doesn't work. This was certainly the most fun I'd had viewing the movie, including later in 2025, when we would watch it again for the all-night "Spooktacular" in Dallas.
For me, it doesn't really come together the way it should.
You know how they say television rots your brain?
(This review was largely written in July of 2022. I'm a bit behind.)
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. It is that time of the year, a spin of the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) came up with paper folding as a theme for this Hobby Thread.
As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. All (legal) hobbying is welcome. I understand that some people pay attention to military hardware, tactics and strategy as a hobby. Discussion of current military events permitted but must be made in the form of hobby commentary. Pants are optional. As always, puns are welcome and encouraged.
Play nice and do not be rude. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.
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Is paper folding a hobby? Sure. It takes precision, skill, patience and vision.
Going to need help from the gray boxes on this one. Dinos are not well known for manual folding dexterity. We have small brains and short arms.
In the 7th century, Japan mastered the technique of paper-making and developed the recipe for washi paper, a thin but durable material that became one of the staples of Japanese art. It was used for calligraphy, woodblock printing, clothes making (proper washi is hard to tear and resistant to moisture), and even restoration and conservation. Thin pieces of washi paper are used to restore old books, artworks on paper, and paintings. During World War II, the Japanese forces used washi paper as the base material for balloon bombs. However, one of the most famous applications of washi paper is origami.
Initially, origami existed in a much simpler form and was associated with specific ways of wrapping gifts or temple offerings in paper. It was used for religious ceremonies and decorations and was extremely expensive. At that time, washi paper production was slow and expensive thus, the material was scarce and treasured. Origami butterflies were often presented to newlywed couples as symbols of bride and groom. The rules of folding were less strict, and the final result supposedly looked a lot different from the origami we know now.
Yoshizawa was a self-taught origami master. His skill was first noticed when he began implementing origami to teach geometry and draughtsmanship to factory employees. He used folded paper forms to explain the nuances of the draught-making process. In his book, he categorized and recorded the most common folds and actions used in origami and invented a symbol for each of them, thus making it easy to record and follow even the most complex multi-step processes. Yoshizawa is credited for reviving the origami practice and introducing it to new generations.
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Paper airplane adjacent: anyone remember these balsa airplanes? They are still manufactured and sold (albeit a little more expensive than you likely remember).
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This has nothing do with paper or origami, but I could not resist including an F-117 made from an empty Mountain Dew can.
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This is way, way down the 3D printing rabbit hole, but thought some of you might appreciate. Apparently, we're 3D printing in metal now?
If this isn't your world, keep scrolling. If it is, you're welcome.
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Wow. Sir, we salute you.
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If you're intrigued by painting or illustrations or old-school hand drawn animation, this video is for you:
Hat tip: NorCal Sierra Foothills Lurker
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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did an Easter theme. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.
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Notable comments from last week:
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Words of wisdom:
"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).
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If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, contribute your own. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things.
I am almost petrified. The young grasshopper below (from New Mexico, I think) had better watch out.
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Lazy Sunday afternoon for my Easter BunBun.
Miley
A wonderful Easter photo showing some kitty personality. Thanks.
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Is there a 'Pets in the Garden' thread?
Most of Sammy's fur is growing back now - the top of his head was a bloody mess.
Here he is hanging out by the clematis, one of his favorite places.
Miley
Remind me how Sammy's head got bloody.
Well, I joked that it looked like he was diving into badger holes. A nasty cat fight, I assume. Ears, above the eyes and top of his head. The end of his glorious 13" tail is still a bit ratty looking. He's been coming around often, appearing out of the darkness to jump onto the table here on the back porch. Sometimes sleeps in one of the porch chairs at night. BunBun has sort of accepted him. Mostly.
Cats are not always predictable, are they? Sammy looks beautiful now. The clematis looks like it is going to be lovely, too.
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PetMoron Adjacent Animals
Encountered by Members of The Horde
These are visiting orcas in Elliot Bay enjoying the rain on Wednesday afternoon.
It is such a privilege to see them.
nurse ratched
A thrilling sight!
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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.
Tulips from the dump at Holland, MI after their Tulip Festival, courtesy of my nieces - these are my favorites because of the "flame" effect. They tend to get redder as they go.
Spectacular! And such a bargain!
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Edible Gardening/Putting Things By
I planted 10 tomato plants in this raised bed last year - Terra Cotta, Black Strawberry and San Marzano. Here you see the volunteers - there are a lot of them. I think I'll just use these instead of planting seeds. Who knows - maybe I'll get some interesting hybrids!
Miley
Well, I think all those varieties are open-pollinated (not sure), so you may not get hybrid, since tomatoes generally self-pollinate. Let us know ! Don't try this with melons.
Your volunteers will have a jump-start on seeds planted now.
New buds on existing plants: orange cannas, red and yellow flowering yucca and the water irises have popped out. Put in a red and a purple verbena, and a blue delphinium.
Gotta get after the weeds and the sprouts from the bird feeders!
Respectfully, Dave K
Some great things growing there! Anyone jealous?
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Hope everyone has a nice weekend. Sorry I deleted part of the post this week. It was like magic! Or Microsoft.
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.
It was a relief to see the astronauts make it safely through re-entry and successfully splash down in the Pacific last night. I read that Congress would not allocate funds for much new development for this mission, so much of the technology was 50 years old. But when lunar landings start again, with rovers and a planned permanent moon base, new technology will be contracted out to private firms.
The artist's rendition of a future moon base here reminds me of some of the torn-up landscape we passed this week from the probably-doomed high-speed rail project in California. Except that there was a lovely ranch house a few hundred feet away, over a small ridge.
Is California government, with Gavin Newsom and Eric Swalwell, a dying civilization?
If you gave away $126 billion to subsidize free flights between LA and San Francisco at current demand levels, you could fund roughly 150 to 200 years of travel before the money runs out. https://t.co/8ro72lJIfc
One wonderful thing that has happened in California recently is that Victor Davis Hanson is looking and sounding much better after his cancer surgery (with a complication). He is a tough guy. Some commentary from him below.
"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will," Trump wrote on his social media platform.
At the same time, continuing a series of mixed messages, Trump said "maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen" now that the U.S. is dealing with "different, smarter, and less radicalized" leaders in Iran.
Communist Dingbats Yesterday Until 7pm: Trump Is a Madman! He Will Nuke the World!
Communist Dingbats at 7:01pm: TACO! Trump Is a Huge Pussy Too Afraid to Do What Is Needed and LET THE NUCLEAR BIRDS FLY!!!!
An amazing collection of commentary on Trump's usual "chaos" step in his negotiation tactics. (Don't comment on old threads)
I noticed that the government of Iran (or whoever is sort of running things) did not believe that Trump was going to kill everyone in the country. They sent women and children out to become human shields for dual use facilities which Trump said he was going to bomb. In other words, THEY were willing to kill everyone to win.
The Left and some on the Right went crazy over a recent Trump tweet.
He warned that if the Iranian regime did not cease blocking the international Strait of Hormuz, he would hit its dual military-civilian infrastructure. He promised that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
His wording may have been sloppy, but Trump obviously meant that the murderous civilization/culture of radical Iranian theocratic Islam would cease to exist and wouldn’t come back once power plants and transportation systems crucial to the regime’s survival were cut off.
Why do we know that?
Because, unlike in most prior American wars, Trump has never targeted dual-use infrastructure—not in bombing ISIS, not in removing the Venezuelan thug Nicolás Maduro, not in the 2025 bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, and not in the present war—with the exception of a key bridge central to the regime’s efforts to reposition missile assets to avoid air strikes.
Ever since Trump announced that “help is on the way” to the Iranian people, the entire aim of the five-week war has been to selectively target the regime’s command and control and military assets.
The goal was to diminish its threats abroad, while weakening and humiliating the mullahcracy at home—so that soon the Iranian people might at last be able to overthrow the odious theocracy.
Trump’s critics knew all that.
But they see political advantage in tagging Trump as a Strangelovian madman, no different from the Nazi criminals in the docket at Nuremberg.
A few less unhinged people argue that his rhetoric nevertheless comes across as unpresidential.
Perhaps.
But it may be no accident that his Gen. Curtis LeMay-like bluster might have pressured the Iranians to reopen negotiations.
On Monday, the Democrat Borg was declaring Trump a savage maniac.
By Tuesday, it was blasting him as a TACO (“Trump Always Chickens Out”) for not carrying out what the day before they had dubbed a war crime.
The common denominator was an overarching, deranged hatred of the president, as his critics can never decide whether he is Adolf Hitler or Neville Chamberlain.
But since the Left has called for investigations of war crimes, by all means let them begin.
Obviously, Trump’s critics conveniently no longer buy the argument of “dual-use.” It posits that the juice powering an evil enemy is its roads, bridges, fuel, and electricity. To disable them supposedly shortens the war and the killing . .
Continue with this video. VDH looks better, doesn't he?
Among the many genius effects of Trump is that his crazy-man approach to dealing with our enemies only makes our enemies more insane and intransigent than before. I refer, of course, to the Democratic Party (and the mainstream media, but I repeat myself). It is a remarkable thing that Iran appears (at this writing—this could change before these pixels are dry) to be more reasonable than Democrats when it comes to Trump. I hope he keeps his laser-pointer fully-charged and holstered.
* * * * *
Music
Debussy plays Claire de Lune on piano roll. Heavy on the foot pedal, like my piano teacher told me he played it.
Listening to Claire de Lune in a deeper way (video short) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Kfq-Vx6p2YA
Inspired by Paul Verlaine's poem by the same name, below. Translated by William Faulkner:
Clair de Lune, by Paul Verlaine
Your soul is a lovely garden, and go
There masque and bergamasque charmingly,
Playing the lute and dancing and also
Sad beneath their disguising fanchise.
All are singing in a minor key
Of conqueror love and life opportune,
Yet seem to doubt their joyous revelry
As their song melts in the light of the moon.
In the calm moonlight, so lovely fair
That makes the birds dream in the slender trees,
While fountains dream among the statues there;
Slim fountains sob in silver ecstasies.
* * * * *
Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.
The story behind the New York Times’ 1903 claim that human flight was between one and ten million years away is even worse than it looks. Once you understand the backstory, you realize that the New York Times story is not really about flight at all but about how elites and credentialed “experts” mistake their own failures for the boundaries of possibility. The New York Times did not dismiss the possibility of powered flight at random. There was a very specific reason behind it. At the time, America’s most prominent scientific authority, Smithsonian Secretary Samuel Langley, had been showered with large amounts of taxpayer funding to build an aircraft, the Langley Aerodrome. Despite all the money, institutional backing, and elite prestige, Langley and his team could not get it to fly, culminating in a series of very public failures, the last on December 8, 1903. So when the New York Times declared that flight was millions of years away, what it was really saying was that if the most credentialed and well-funded “experts” cannot do it, then it cannot be done. A mere nine days later, the elites’ proclamation of impossibility lay in ruins. Two totally unknown bicycle mechanics from Ohio achieved the first powered flight using improvised parts, a few hundred dollars of their own money, and sheer persistence.
All has not been sweetness and light at NASA. There have been whistleblowers claiming that the organization has been cavalier about risks to human life.
Comments are closed on last week's thread, so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment. But don't try it anyway.
The Classical Saturday Coffee Break & Prayer Revival
—Misanthropic Humanitarian
[That's not a reasonable likeness of me]
*****
Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. Before we enter the Prayer Revival just a few housekeeping matters to go over. (Rulz for those of you in Wild Rose)
1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind. Be nice. The ban-hammer is omnipresent .
3) Running with sharp objects is not looked upon with approval. You have been notified.
4) Have a great weekend!
Please submit any prayer requests to me, “Annie’s Stew” at apaslo at-sign hotmail dot com. Prayer requests are generally removed after four weeks unless we receive an update.
Prayer Requests:
2/14 – L gave an update on her brother Ron. He has been in declining health for the last 6+ months, and has been transferred to a nice facility for hospice. They had been discussing this possibility for months. He would make improvements, then relapse, each time ending up more disabled. The best part is that he is at peace with the decision. He is aware enough to assist with the final plans and is enjoying parceling out his remaining possessions to family and friends. L’s daughter’s cardiac recovery continues. L says she cannot thank all sufficiently for the many prayers.
3/21 Update – Ron’s struggle is over. He died on 3/9. His 65th birthday would have been 3/22. His funeral was well attended and many people described him as their “best friend”. Despite never being married of having children, he leaves a legacy to be proud of. L’s daughter has finally recovered enough to start cardiac rehab. They expect great progress. L and her husband are rebuilding their relationship after putting it on the back burner for far too long, and working to get healthier. Thanks to everyone who prayed. It has meant a lot.
3/5 – IrishEi has learned that she needs major surgery on 3/16, and she would really appreciate prayers.
4/4 Update – Irish Ei posted her health update. She quit smoking 8-10 years ago, after reading Alan Carr’s “Easy Way to Quit Smoking”, on Ace’s recommendation. Since then, she has gone for the annual low-dose CT scan of her lungs that is offered to smokers/former smokers. They were always negative, until this year. She had one very small spot, which was confirmed as Stage I CA. The spot was removed, and no chemo or radiation is needed. She has been home for a week and is feeling better and stronger every day. She did want to encourage everyone to take whatever screenings are offered. She had no symptoms at all, and her doctor had suggested that she could stop with the annual CT scans. But early detection is crucial.
3/10 – Update on Susan, who we have been praying for as she battles cancer. She is hospitalized again with an infection in her colon that quickly turned bad. The doctor says the signs are sepsis but they are running tests to make sure. The good news is that the pancreatic cancer was and is responding to the chemo and her cancer numbers are going down. God bless and thank you!
3/23 Update – Susan finally was able to come home. She is doing better than expected. Thanks to everyone for your prayers.
3/14 – Retired Buckeye Cop asks for prayers for Mrs. Cop’s cousin, “A.B”. He has been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. He is a retired police officer who was hit by a car years ago. He attempted to deal with the pain by self-medicating with too much Tylenol, which ended up poisoning his liver. His only alternative is a liver transplant, but he is uncertain if he wants to have surgery.
3/21 Update – A.B.’s situation isn’t quite as dire as originally thought. It’s still bad, but his readings are better than originally thought.
3/18 – TecumsehTea requests prayers, as her husband was fired from a job he enjoyed very much on 3/17. Prayers are needed for peace, direction, and clarity. They trust God will provide the right job at the right time, and that He would give them peace in the waiting. TecumsehTea is still dealing with the effects of her heart attack last July. Prayers for healing, as her BP continues to be unstable. Chronic Lyme disease and autoimmune disease complicates everything. She trusts that God is faithful and good and He will take care of their needs.
4/8 Update – TecumsehTea reports that God heard lots of prayers on their behalf, and has blessed MrTea with a new job. He starts 4/20. It has a shorter commute and a pay raise. Praise God for His provision. She is also seeing some improvement in her blood pressure. It seems to be leveling out, which she is very thankful for. Many thanks to all who prayed for them.
3/21 – FenelonSpoke asked for prayers for her son, who is still looking for work. He has a horticulture major, and would ideally like something related to research, but he is certainly willing to labor outdoors.
3/21 – Count de Monet gave prayers of thanks for a son who has been accepted into the IBEW Apprenticeship program. He will earn while he learns for 4 years on his way to becoming a Journeyman Electrician.
3/21 – pookysgirl asked for prayers as they start IVF again.
3/22 – Retired Buckeye Cop has a happy prayer request. His 16 year old grandson said he is feeling a call to the priesthood within the Catholic Church. He is a devout young man who has particular compassion for the poor. (He thinks he might want to be a Franciscan friar.) Please pray for L. H. as he pursues the vocation of religious life.
3/24 – GMAC posted that he has received his death sentence. His prostate cancer has metastasized into his bones. Medication will slow it down, but there is no stopping it. He doesn’t know how much time he has, but plans to do some travelling while he can. He sends his compliments to “the wittiest group of morons” he has ever had the pleasure of reading. He will still be lurking.
3/28 – Cosda posted the happy news that a new grandson should be arriving on 3/28.
3/28 – Defenestratus asked for prayers for grief at the loss of a dear friend and boss of 20 years, who passed away unexpectedly on St. Patrick’s Day.
3/28 – San Franpsycho posted that Pnina bat Surel is not improving, sadly. She has had a third hospitalization, and this has taken a toll on her. She is not bouncing back like she has before.
3/28 – From about The Time posted that prayers would be appreciated after the last chemo treatment for Lymphoma. It went reasonably well - thanks for the prayers.
3/28 – Hrothgar asked for prayers for a dear and long time close friend and former neighbor, Daniel, who is scheduled for open heart surgery in mid-April. Prayers for his wife would be appreciated as well, as she will be carrying a heavy load for the next few months.
3/28 – NR Pax posted an update on his father, who we had prayed for in January after his stroke. Dad is going through PT and OT every day at home. Mom got some cooperative people at the VA and a note was put in his record that he was not to have any appointments more than fifteen miles from his house. Things are still rough as Mom is handling things like taxes, investment accounts, and the banking. And Dad’s condition is stable, but it will change sooner or later. But they are living in a great retirement community and he’ll be taken care of.
3/28 – Jordan61 posted that Mr. Jordan61 is back in the hospital. His sepsis has returned and gotten into where his compression fracture is, and he has vertebral osteomyelitis. The doctor is supposed to come in today and let them know the plan.
4/3 – Teresa in Fort Worth posted an update. Her chemo seems to be holding things steady for now. Unfortunately, as she is receiving a steroid, she has gained about 25 pounds. Her blood sugar has also jumped up about 40 points (which only happens when she is on steroids).
4/4 – Reforger posted that his wife’s father passed away on 4/3. After a 50 year battle with Hep C, he fell and broke his neck. He lasted about a month, in and out of induced comas, and now the pain is over. Reforger lost his father on Holy Saturday (years ago) and now his wife lost her father on Good Friday.
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.
And not in a good way. Elsewhere it would cost you an eye-burning $1600 to buy 128GB of RAM right now.
At Micro Center it's over $4000.
Western Digital and Samsung SSDs meanwhile have tripled in price in just the last three months, and there's little relief there with even cheaper brands using YMTC flash increasing by 50% or more.
The software itself was fine, but the website was hacked to randomly deliver malware instead of the software you tried to download. If you downloaded either package in the last couple of days - the poisoned versions were online between April 9 and 10 - you might have a problem.
Tail Slayer is a neat bit of software that avoids having critical memory accesses delayed by DRAM refresh cycles.
But it does this by replicating your data across multiple channels of memory so you are never forced to access the memory module that is being refreshed at this precise instant.
Which works, yes, but is a very expensive solution.
Musical Interlude
Disclaimer: We have every type of memory here at Crazy Micro Center!
A former staffer claims that Swalwell raped her when she was too drunk to consent. Twice.
From the SF Chronicle, quoted by Red State:
A woman who worked for nearly two years for Rep. Eric Swalwell, a leading candidate for California governor, said she had sexual encounters with him while he was her boss and alleged he twice sexually assaulted her when she was too intoxicated to consent.
[...]
The woman said Swalwell began pursuing her within weeks after she was hired at age 21 to work in the Democrat's district office in Castro Valley in 2019. Swalwell messaged her on Snapchat, she said, sending images of his genitals and seeking nude pictures of her in return.
She said Swalwell, who is married and 17 years her senior, tried to kiss her in her car when she drove him home from a donor meeting one night. Driving him to another event weeks later, she said Swalwell pulled out his penis in the car and asked her to perform oral sex on him. She said she did so in a parking lot.
He took it out.
In September 2019, the woman said, Swalwell invited her out for drinks and she became so severely intoxicated that she does not remember the rest of the night. She said she woke up naked in Swalwell's hotel bed and could feel the effect of vaginal intercourse. She said Swalwell distanced himself from her afterward and the relationship faded.
The woman also alleged that Swalwell sexually assaulted her five years later, when she was no longer a staffer, where, after a charity gala, she was "so inebriated that she only remembers snippets of the night, including pushing Swalwell away and telling him, 'No,' while he allegedly forced himself on her."
Apparently she told two people about the second sexual assault, at about the time it happened.
Three other women who spoke with CNN also alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by the Democratic congressman -- including Swalwell sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos.
One woman who connected online with Swalwell over her interest in Democratic politics says she ended up extremely drunk inside his hotel room after a night out with the congressman, with little memory of what occurred. Earlier in the night at a bar, he kissed her and touched her leg without her consent, she said.
Another woman, who described receiving unsolicited nude messages from Swalwell, was social media creator Ally Sammarco. She said she initially reached out to the congressman on Twitter to discuss politics. "I truly never thought he would respond -- I had like 1,000 followers at the time," she said. "And he actually responded."
CNN also adds: She told family members and friends about the sexual assault a day or two after it happened.
So the Democrats are terrified that two Republicans will win the jungle primary and they will be locked out of the governor's mansion. To reduce those risks, they have to drive some of the other Democrats out of the race and consolidate around a couple candidates -- or better yet, one single candidate.
Gee, I wonder who benefits from this and I wonder who is screaming the news out on Twitter but totally wasn't behind this coordinated political-"journalistic" hit:
The allegations against Congressman Swalwell are horrifying. I’m thinking of the courageous women who have come forward to share their stories. We believe you and we stand with you.
As others have pointed out: This must all have been known -- but the media covered it up for years, even as Swalwell sanctimoniously accused Trump of all manner of sec crimes. He was useful to the Democrat Party, so the media protected him.
But now the media needs to winnow the field down to one or two candidates, so they join forces yet again to take him out.
The Trampoline Event, baby goat division. And this is from 12 years ago so it's not AI! (There are so many fake "cute animals on trampolines" videos I don't even click on them.)
The "Jetman Flying Suit" -- it's an engine and short stubby wings you wear on your back.
Obligatory Armored MMA fight: two-handed axes. One fighter enters the ring playing his two-handed ax like a guitar. The opponent puts his axe on his shoulder and fires it like a bazooka. I don't know why AMMA isn't on network TV every Sunday.
British News Anchor: Europe Has No Energy, Little Food Production, Little Industry, and Virtually No Military. It Is Heading for a "Dark Ages" Not Seen For 1000 Years.
—Disinformation Expert Ace
They've deliberately destroyed their own civilization.
GB News' Alex Armstrong laid out the geopolitical map that American media refuses to draw: this war isn't about toppling Iran. It's about 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 -- and America is winning on every front.
Start with oil. The Strait of Hormuz carries 𝟒𝟓% 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚'𝐬 𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲. Trump effectively captured Venezuela's oil supply in January. As Armstrong put it: "𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘰'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯. 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴." China is in the middle of a tariff negotiation with Trump -- and suddenly its entire energy supply depends on American goodwill.
Then Europe. With Russian energy off the table and domestic energy hollowed out by the "𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘻𝘦𝘳𝘰," Europe is becoming 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐬. Armstrong: "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 ��𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰."
Armstrong connected the dots to what the Pentagon calls 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 -- Greenland through the Panama Canal, the entire Western Hemisphere secured as a self-sufficient American economic and security zone. "𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦-𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢."
The most striking part was his warning for Britain: "𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 60% 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥." He described Britain heading toward 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 as America withdraws from its traditional role.
When a foreign ally's own news anchors are publicly acknowledging that Trump's strategy is working -- even as it leaves them behind -- that tells you everything about who has the leverage.
Some are attempting to warn Europe that their insane drive for de-industrialization is pointless anyway:
Camus
@newstart_2024
"We're not saving the planet -- we're just exporting our emissions to China and India."
Konstantin Kisin cut straight through the net zero illusion on Steven Bartlett's Diary of a CEO.
Britain proudly cuts its share of global CO₂ from 2% to 1.9%, while actually increasing total emissions by offshoring production to countries with dirtier energy, then shipping the goods back on heavy fuel tankers.
At the same time, many people are poorer today than 20 years ago, even if they haven't fully felt it in their wallets yet.
Kisin predicts the big public shift away from net zero won't come from better science or arguments -- it will come when ordinary people can no longer afford their current lives.
That's when reality finally breaks through.
It's a sobering reminder that economic pain often forces the honest conversation we've been avoiding.
When do you think people will finally start connecting these dots?
“We’re not saving the planet — we’re just exporting our emissions to China and India.”
Konstantin Kisin cut straight through the net zero illusion on Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO.
Britain proudly cuts its share of global CO₂ from 2% to 1.9%, while actually increasing total… pic.twitter.com/EoTiCOjFS9
On the Flat Earth side of things, they're claiming that the rocket we watched take off was actually a big inflatable balloon. This Nobel Laureate doesn't explain how this balloon carried enough fuel to produce a rocket-sized spout of rocket-fast flame for twenty minutes, nor how this inflatable object managed to keep its shape while being propelled at speeds of 1000 mph+ in the atmosphere.
But he's very, very smug about it! He's the Smart One! You guys are the dum-dums!
And I think we can learn a lot about modern politics from this example.
Sad! Another storybook Hollywood marriage ends! Diff'rent Strokes actor Todd Bridges, who I imagine was on some terrible celebrity reality shows in the late nineties but hasn't worked since, is getting divorced from his photographer/designer wife of three and a half years
She's a very handsome woman.
Bridges filed a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage (Divorce) Without Minor Children on Tuesday, according to Maricopa County Superior Court records in Arizona.
First: Gorsuch's woke betrayal, insisting that a transgender who wanted to LARP as a woman at a funeral home during funeral services for the dead could not be fired or demanded to dress as a man. The mourners, Gorsuch decided, would just have to stop being transphobes.
In Bostock v. Clayton County, the Supreme Court found that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation. Such an interpretation would have surprised anyone alive in the 1960s, when the federal government routinely fired employees even suspected of being gay. But this aspect of the ruling wasn't that controversial in 2020. Most Americans supported same-sex marriage and, outside of certain religious employers, few businesses had any reason to fire workers because of their sexual orientation.
But Bostock included a companion case that led to a far more sweeping ruling. A Michigan funeral home employed a biological male who later experienced gender dysphoria and decided to "live and work full-time as a woman," including by wearing female attire. Concerned about how grieving families might react to a man dressed as a woman, the funeral home fired the employee. The Court's majority, in an opinion by Neil Gorsuch, held that federal civil rights law prohibits terminations based on gender identity. Mourners, in effect, would have to get with the times.
But since then, the Court has turned.
The gender-identity aspect of Bostock immediately raised pressing legal questions. Did Title IX require schools to allow biological males to compete on female teams? Did the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause bar bans on "gender-affirming" surgeries for minors? Did the law require religious hospitals to remove healthy reproductive organs to facilitate gender transitions?
In the wake of Bostock, the answer to these questions, and others, seemed to be yes. Society was expected to "affirm" gender identity, support adolescents seeking puberty blockers, and accommodate social transition. Parents faced pressure to accept their child's transition; public schools were said to have duties to adopt gender-identity curricula, manage student transitions, and permit biological males to compete in female sports. Those who resisted risked being labeled bigots.
But then the "arc of the moral universe" began bending rightward. After Bostock, state legislatures across the country prohibited medical gender procedures for minors, even with parental consent. Sports fans objected to biologically male athletes like Lia Thomas winning against female athletes. Even some who accepted Bostock's sexual-orientation holding grew uneasy with its implications for gender identity.
Perhaps the most effective political ad of the 2024 presidential election spoke to this issue: "Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you." On Inauguration Day, President Trump signed an executive order declaring, "It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female." Critics may have thought the order was mere symbolism, but Trump's policy reflected the position around which public opinion had coalesced--that asserting biological truth does not constitute bigotry.
The Supreme Court soon adapted to this shift. Consider six rulings over the past year that all point in the same direction.
United States v. Shilling allowed the Department of Defense to discharge transgender service members.
United States v. Skrmetti held that states could prohibit medical gender treatments for minors.
Mahmoud v. Taylor ruled that parents have a religious-liberty right to opt their children out of learning about "LGBTQ-inclusive books."
Trump v. Orr allowed the State Department to print passports that list only a person's biological sex.
Mirabelli v. Bonta found that schools cannot secretly transition students to another gender without telling their parents.
Chiles v. Salazar held that Colorado could not prohibit therapists from counseling people to be comfortable with their biological sex.
Finally, in a seventh, still-pending case, West Virginia v. B.P.J., the Court will likely rule that colleges can exclude biological males from female sports.
One year after having been #cancelled by the lunatic left for "denigrating the seriousness of domestic violence," Dax Sheppard and Kirsten Bell are still apologizing.
Let's look at the horrible offense they committed:
Dax Shepard is speaking out about that Kristen Bell anniversary post backlash.
On the April 6 episode of his "Armchair Expert" podcast, the "Parenthood" star, 51, addressed the controversy surrounding Bell's Oct. 17 Instagram post celebrating their wedding anniversary. The "Good Place" actress, 45, wrote, "Happy 12th wedding anniversary to the man who, after [an] episode of 'Dateline,' once said to me: 'I would never kill you. A lot of men have killed their wives at a certain point. Even though I'm heavily incentivized to kill you, I never would.'"
The post sparked outrage as some fans argued Bell was making light of domestic violence and that it was tone-deaf during Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Speaking with his guest Nikki Glaser on "Armchair Expert," Shepard alluded to the situation when he dismissed "all these people that are convinced I'm beating Kristen," arguing those who were "outraged" about the post were people who have "never been in a relationship."
Who doesn't have Domestic Violence Awareness Month marked on their calendars?
Do you object to you children being raped by gangs of barbaric foreign invaders?
Well, an Islamic professor has simple advice for you, Racist: "Get over it."
This is their country now. You'll play by their rules.
[The College Fix:]
The Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization at Georgetown University recently told social media users to "get over it" in response to concerns about a link between "rape gangs" and Islam.
Professor Jonathan Brown dismissed concerns about the crisis in the United Kingdom in two now-deleted X posts, the Daily Caller reported.
Rupert Lowe, an Independent Member of Parliament, wrote in a post on X, "There is a link between the rape gangs and one particular religion -- we have seen it again and again and again at our inquiry."
"That religion is Islam. As a country, we must have the courage to face up to that fact," he wrote.
Brown replied, "get over it."
He then wrote the same phrase in response to another user who called his remark "absurdly evil."
Manufacturing white criminals: Depictions of criminality and violence on Law & Order
"Results suggest whites are disproportionately portrayed as criminals five to eight times more often on police dramas compared to actual crime statistics for the city of New York, and exposure… pic.twitter.com/4eborfl0DP
Stalinist neurotics fled Twitter for Bluesky to escape the toxic people, and discovered that they were the toxic people all along.
And now the site is dying because the toxic neurotics can't stop endlessly purging everyone on the site. Even other leftwingers -- identifying as "queer" -- are pointing this out:
More femcels marrying themselves:
This NYT article reports on wealthy, single women celebrating 40th birthdays as if they were destination weddings
This a good eg of how women can collectively glorify new ideals, reversing single-stigma.
This poster points out that the media is -- brace yourselves -- lying to you. There is no "trend" of women marrying themselves. This is a one-off event and the media is repackaging it as a Hot New Trend:
Sarah Haider 👾
@SarahTheHaider
Actually I'd say this article is a great example of how coverage distorts discourse--we endlessly ruminate over the significance of things that aren’t really happening.
The piece is mostly about one woman, whose planned 40th began to look like a wedding, so she incorporated more elements to that effect.
Mickey Kaus used to say that there was a "hoary old rule" in journalism that you can write a "trend" piece if you had three examples of a thing happening. But in the internet age, clickbaity editors dropped that to two. And now we're down to One Single Incidence Makes a Trend.
But I dunno. We have heard of women "marrying themselves" a dozen times in the past.
Yes, it's real. The community note points out that it's pushing this message for real -- and only after backlash did they resort to the coward's claim, "I was just being satirical."
The ad is not satire. It was falsely called satire after backlash. Yes the ad uses humor (person awkwardly interrupting couple) for Willerslev to express his views but they are stated as fact without critique. Satire critiques its subject, which the ad doesn't do:
Steve Inman's Wide World of Justified Violence Open Thread
—Disinformation Expert Ace
These are violent posts. I'll warn you for the really bad ones. In all cases it looks like the party who deserved the violence, got the violence. Or at least got it worse.
"And what are you gonna do?" -- the last words of a stupid belligerent drunk. The idiot was sailing his chin out there like a flag on Washington's Birthday.
Compilation of various FAFOs. The first clip shows thieves attempting to rob a gun store, with results that you are probably expecting. Skip that if you don't like seeing people get shot. But let me recommend going to 0:39 to see an all-girl street fight, with all of the ho's wearing cocktail dresses. So much hair pulling and kicking a downed ho. And one girl hangs a Full Boob out of her dress after being knocked on her ass. It's niiiice. Also there's a classic clip at 1:34.
Mexican drunk plays Street Matador with people's cars and then they get out of their cars and it's not so funny now is it?
Antifa sitting in the street gets a nice little head-check from a car.
Thug tries to intimidate an unimposing looking guy but most thugs are actually pussies.
A Goth antifa looking Karen advances on a young man (who is also wearing all black) and discovers why the Olympics Committee forbids men competing with women in physical sports.
A Cultural Enricher stops a train by holding open the door while the passengers keep telling her to close the door so that they can be on their way. She refuses. She actually has plenty of room and time to get on the train, but she's either holding the door for someone else who isn't even on the platform, or just holding up the train to run her mouth and prove that She the Queen Here. At some point, a helpful young gentlemen intervenes and gently escorts her ass to the concrete.
An Australian yob advances on police women armed only with tasers, while armed with a knife. This one has a surprise ending that I wouldn't want to spoil. Kinda violent but worth it!
An idiot advances on a man who tells him to go away. The man then explains why the idiot should leave: "I'm trying to save you." This is a cool-ass line I could imagine Rambo saying and you might wonder, But does he have the skills to back this line up? You be the judge.
This is rough: Street bandits attempt to stop a truck by standing in front of it. Two problems with that plan: one, the truck's driver does not owe you care and kind treatment, and two, he's driving a fucking truck. DO THE MATH, SUB-CRETINS.
This is a compilation of five clips. The first two show well-earned Beefhammer Ballets. The fourth I have to warn you about: A Cultural Enrichment Outreach Coordinator refuses to exit the car at a police stop and then opens fire on the cops. The cops then demonstrate what hours at range practice can do for you. If it's not clear, this results in a killing or at least a very deep Red Nap.
This Cultural Enricher is in a stand-off with police as he holds a knife to the neck of a woman, as Cultural Enrichers frequently do. For some reason he decides to give up his hostage and advance on the gun-armed cops with his knife. I don't know what what he was thinking, but the cops were thinking they should shoot him dead, and they do.
This is the worst one. But also the best one, if you can deal with graphic content. Two men have a verbal argument when one, out of nowhere, just straight up stabs the other in the belly with a long knife. The stabbed man staggers away, and the knife-wielding attacker follows him. And then he learns he should have just walked away because the stabbed man, backed into a life-or-death situation, fights back.
Politico is reporting that multiple people have abruptly resigned from Eric Swalwell's gubernatorial campaign: "Members of senior leadership have departed the campaign, including Courtni Pugh, a strategic adviser who served as Swalwell's top liaison to organized labor groups."
So the campaign is collapsing due to the truth of the sexual harassment allegations.
That hissing sound you hear is the air going out of the Swalwell campaign. UPDATE: No it wasn't, it was just Swalwell one-cheek-sneaking out a fart on camera
Eric Swalwell more like Eric Farewell amirite
thanks to weft-cut loop.
This is the dumbest AI bullslop I've seen in a while: the CIA can use "quantum magnetometry" to track an individual man's heartbeat from twelve miles away I wouldn't click on it, it's not interesting, it's just stupid clickslop. I just want to share my annoyance with you.
Classic Rock Mystery Click This is super-obscure and I only barely remember it. Given that, I'll give you the hint that it's by the Red Rocker. And I guess you think you've got it made
Oh, but then, you never were afraid
Of anything that you've left behind
Oh, but it's alright with me now
'Cause I'll get back up somehow
And with a little luck, yes, I'm bound to win Now twenty people will tell me it's not obscure, it was huge in their hometown and played at their prom. That's how it usually goes. When I linked Donnie Iris's "Love is Like a Rock," everyone said they knew that one and that his other song (which I didn't know at all) Ah Leah! was huge in their area.
Podcast: CBD and Sefton talk birthright citizenship, the 14th Amendment and SCOTUS, no boots in Iran, Artemis II and refocusing NASA, the NBA's hatred of everything non-woke, and more!
In more marketing for Project Hail Mary, scientists say they've found the biosigns indicating life growing on an alien planet. It's not proof, just signatures of chemicals that are produced by biological metabolism, and it could be nothing, but scientists think it's a strong sign that this planet is inhabited by something.
In a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, a team of scientists announced the detection of dimethyl sulfide (along with a similar detection of dimethyl disulfide) in the atmosphere of an exoplanet called K2-18b. This is actually the second detection of dimethyl sulfide made on this planet, following a tentative detection in 2023.
Tons of chemicals are detected in the atmospheres of celestial objects every day. But dimethyl sulfide is different, because on Earth, it's only produced by living organisms.
"It is a shock to the system," Nikku Madhusudhan, first author on the paper, told the New York Times. "We spent an enormous amount of time just trying to get rid of the signal."
He means they tried to prove the signal was caused by things other than dimethyl sulfide but they could not.
What? Skeleton of the most famous Musketeer, D'Artagnan, possibly discovered in Dutch church closet. Dumas picked four names of real musketeers out of a history book, D'Artagnan, Athos, Aramis, and Porthos. So there was an actual D'Artagnan, though he made most of the story up. (Or, you know, all of it.)*
Charles de Batz de Castelmore, known as d'Artagnan, the famous musketeer of Kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV, spent his life in the service of the French crown.
The Gascon nobleman inspired Alexandre Dumas's hero in "The Three Musketeers" in the 19th century, a character now known worldwide thanks to the novel and numerous film adaptations.
D'Artagnan was killed during the siege of Maastricht in 1673, and there is a statue honoring the musketeer in the city. His final resting place has remained a mystery ever since.
A lot of Dumas's stories are based on bits of real history. The plot of the >Three Musketeers, about trying to recover lost diamonds from the queen's necklace, was cribbed from the then-almost-contemporaneous Affair of the Queen's Necklace. And the Man in the Iron Mask is based on real accounts of a prisoner forced to wear a mask (though I think it was a velvet mask).
* Oh, I should mention, Dumas says all this, about finding the names in an old book, in the prologue to his novel. But authors lie a lot. They frequently present fictions as based on historic fact. The twist is, he was actually telling the truth here. At least about these four musketeers having actually existed and served under Louis XIV. Fun fact: You know the beginning of A Fistful of Dollars where the local gunslingers make fun of Clint Eastwood's donkey and Eastwood demands they apologize to the donkey? That's lifted from The Three Musketeers. Rochefort mocks D'Artagnan's old, brokedown farm horse and D'Artagnan is incensed.
A commenter asked which should be read first, The Hobbit of LOTR? Easy, no question -- read The Hobbit first. It's actually the start of the story and comes first chronologically. It sets up some major characters and major pieces in play in LOTR. Also, the Hobbit is Beginner-Friendly, which LOTR isn't. The Hobbit really is a delightful book, and a fast read. It's chatty, it's casual, it's exciting, and it's funny. In that dry cheeky British humor way. I love that the narrator is constantly making little asides and commentary, like he's just sitting next to you telling you this story as it occurs to him.
LOTR is a very long story. Fifteen hundred pages or so. The Hobbit is relatively short and very punchy and easy to read. If you don't like The Hobbit, you can skip out on LOTR. If you do like it, you'll be primed to read LOTR.
Oh, I should say: The Hobbit is written as if it's for children, but one of those smart children's stories that are also for adults. Don't worry, there's also real fighting and violence and horror in it, too. LOTR is written for adults. (It's said that Tolkien wrote both for his children, but LOTR was written 17 years later, when his children were adults.) Some might not like The Hobbit due to its sometimes frivolous tone. Me, I love it. I find it constantly amusing. Both are really good but there is a starkly different tone to both. LOTR is epic, grand, and serious, about a world war, The Hobbit is light and breezy, and about a heist. Though a heist that culminates in a war for the spoils.
"Hello, England? You remember that lintel from Stonehenge you were looking for? Yeah, it's here in California. I don't know how they got it here in three days! You'll never believe what they're doing with it!"
