Ace: aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info: maildrop62 at proton dot me
Whether Greenland is a vitally important strategic island that absolutely requires American possession is a question for the ages, but it is a militarily-important bulwark in the North Atlantic. It is an excellent point from which to defend the Atlantic from the Arctic Ocean and the Barents Sea. Does it have enough rare earth elements and other resources to make it even more important? Yeah...probably not. We have plenty of that sort of stuff in America, it's just that we have an insane regulatory state that makes using our own resources a massive undertaking.
Because it is a territory of Denmark, the few people who live there are treated as vassals, when they are treated at all. That is entirely unsurprising, because the track record of European colonialism is mixed at best.
This shouldn't be taken as a sign that Greenland natives are anxious to come over to the United States. Denmark is trying to make amends to the natives who were thusly mistreated, to the tune of roughly $46,000 each in reparations. That's just; unlike the calls for reparations in the United States, these payments are being made to the living people who suffered under an unjust policy, which is quite a different kettle of fish.
Many Greenland natives would rather the island be an independent nation. But that's not a tenable solution, especially in today's tense geopolitical atmosphere, where the Arctic is increasingly a vital strategic area, with all the major nations - the United States, Russia, and China in particular - looking to that region's resources. Greenland has to be under someone's defensive envelope, and even as a Danish possession, they fall under the protection of NATO, as it would as a possession of the United States.
President's Trump's saber rattling with respect to "taking Greenland" is entirely unnecessary, and could have been neatly avoided by playing up the miserable living conditions of the people of Greenland, and the equally miserable way they have been treated by the Danes. America could have been their knight in shining armor, bringing equality and prosperity to their shores. Making some offer to purchase or in some other way take possession of Greenland as a reasonable transaction between allies would have disarmed the reflexive nationalism that is bubbling up in Denmark and Greenland. Is the President's threat of military action a serious one? I doubt it. It is more of his unpredictability, which serves him quite well in many ways. But with Greenland I think it is bolstering the enemies of America.
On the other side of the equation, the idea that the EU will rush in with military force to protect Greenland is clownish in the extreme. Force projection is a joke in the EU. They can barely keep their few planes flying, much less maintain any sort of heavy lift capability. In fact, in a recent military exercise, Germany sent 13 soldiers to Greenland, and they had to use a Polish airline to get them there. And less than two days later they were ordered out, presumably because of President Trump's comments.
And the ridiculousness doesn't end there. Threats to throw America out of Europe if we take Greenland? Sure...that would mean an almost instant Russian victory in Ukraine, the loss of many billions of dollars of American spending in Europe, and the very real threat of an expansionist Russia, because there is simply no real military on the continent.
So...everyone calm down. Greeenlanders? Take nice big checks written by America, and maybe some good high-paying jobs in our expanding military infrastructure and mining efforts. Denmark? Smile, cash the check, and relax now that you don't have to deal with Greenland. And the EU? Just sit down and shut up. Nobody cares what you think.
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 1-18-2026 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
—Open Blogger
(HT: OrangeEnt)
Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...
So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?
OrangeEnt sent me the picture above. I think I've featured a different picture of a book vending machine here. This one offers books for the low, low price of 8.00 (doesn't indicate currency, but let's assume it's US dollars). I wonder how popular these vending machines actually are. Who's responsible for curating the books that go into the machine? What happens if a book gets stuck and doesn't drop into the receptable at the bottom? What happens if the customer can't fish it out? So many questions...
FEATURED MORON REVIEW: God, the Science, and the Evidence
We have a special treat for you today. Moron Retired Buckeye Cop sent me the review below:
My schedule doesn't permit me to comment on the Book Thread in real-time very much. I recently read a book on the scientific evidence for the existence of God. I found the book to be interesting and a good review of the subject matter.
The book is God, the Science, the Evidence by Michel-Yves Bollore' and Olivier Bonnassies. Publish in 2025, this is the English translation of the book originally published in France in 2021. The French edition has apparently sold over 400,000 copies.
This is a pretty large book (almost 600 pages), but it is essentially two books. The first section covers the scientific discoveries of the 20th and 21st Centuries that point towards a Creator, while the second section (about 40% of the book) covers brief reviews of the Bible, Jesus Christ, the Jewish people, and philosophical proofs for the existence of God.
What the scientific discoveries show: the Universe cannot be infinitely old, it is not in steady-state (it's still expanding), background radiation is virtually homogeneous throughout the Universe, and the thermodynamic principle of entropy requires the eventual heat-death of the Universe. Also, the various mathematical constants governing the natural laws are so finely tuned that small variances would have prevented the Universe from forming and life existing as we know it. Furthermore, the jump from simple amino acids to the smallest bacteria is a more daunting challenge than theorized in the 1950s and 1970s.
All of this evidence points to the Universe being a closed system of finite age. The scientific evidence of God is so convincing that intellectually-honest atheists have changed their opinions and admit to the existence of some sort of creator God.
While I was familiar with some these scientific discoveries, I had not been aware that the Communists in the Soviet Union and the Nazi Germans were cognizant that those discoveries known at the time (namely the expanding Universe and the Big Bang) pointed towards a creator God and undermined their political order. This led to the execution of astronomers, physicists and mathematicians, exile for some, and others fleeing to Britain and the U.S.
The second section has a nice discussion of the Bible and how various ideas were counter-intuitive: such a time, space and matter coming into existence simultaneously, and the sequence of events in Genesis are substantially correct. There is a good summary of contemporary non-Christian documentation of the existence of Jesus Christ and Christians. The discussion of evidence for Jews being the Chosen People of God is interesting. The discussion of philosophical proofs is a good review for those unfamiliar with them.
I do have some critiques of the book: there are some typographical errors and strange hyphenation (such as "wit-hout") that could have been caught with better editing. Furthermore, the book probably could have been a bit shorter because some of the information in the scientific section seemed repetitive. Finally, as a mechanical engineer myself, I found the authors' explanation of entropy to be a bit confusing for the general reader.
Entropy is a measure of a system's ability to do mechanical work. A good way to think about entropy is that it indicates the disorder in the system. I was a bit surprised that they had no discussion of exergy (a measure of the useful thermal energy available within a system). Since entropy always increases and exergy always decreases in a closed system, both of those thermodynamic principles point towards a beginning and end of the Universe. Thus, science gives evidence of Aristotle's "Unmoved Prime Mover."
This book approaches the existence of God from a Christian, and more specifically, a Catholic perspective, rather than making a deist argument. In the second section of the book, there is a discussion of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima: the authors quote contemporary anti-Catholic newspapers to demonstrate that something occurred at Fatima and was witnessed by tens of thousands of people. The authors incorrectly explain the Arian Heresy, but that does not detract from their arguments in favor of God as an active supernatural being, and materialism as an irrational belief system.
The book is a bit daunting in size but reads pretty quickly since the font is fairly large and the text is almost double-spaced. Overall, this is a good book worth the effort. If a member of the Horde would like to get a book that demonstrates that belief in the existence of God (and Jesus Christ) is not contrary to reason, this would be a useful addition to their library. Rating = 4.25 / 5.0.
I really don't have much to add. I know I've felt the touch of God moving in my own life within the past few years. It's unmistakable once you've felt it. I also look out at the vastness and splendor of the cosmos and *know* that there's a primal cause that created it all.
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BOOKS BY MORONS
We have another special treat courtesy of J.J. Sefton. A Moron sent him the following email and J.J. asked me if I might do something with it for the Sunday Morning Book Thread. Furthermore, this marks a special personal milestone--it's the 100th Book By Morons I've collected since I've been hosting the Sunday Morning Book Thread.
Dear Mr. Sefton,
I hope your 2026 has gotten off to a strong start and that you and yours are healthy and thriving. I wanted to share some news that you may wish to link to in Cut Jib Newsletter and Ace of Spades HQ. My novel Ghostlands has been selected to receive the inaugural Ark Press Prize. Ark Press is a new publisher, started at the beginning of 2025, that intends to serve predominantly male audiences for fiction that have mostly been abandoned by the Big Five publishers. Their output will include science fiction, fantasy, suspense, mystery, and literary novels.
Ghostlands is an excellent fit for them because the novel uses the tools of science fiction to illustrate the persistence of the past, the tenacity of historical memory, even when under assault by official authorities, and the tremendous importance of fatherhood, with all the sacrifices it entails. The Ark Prize includes publication with a $10K advance. Ghostlands will be published this September.
Thank you for whatever you can do to help get the word out.
Best wishes,
Andrew Fox
Any of you aspiring Moron Authors out there may want to look into submitting to Ark Press. As a new start up publisher company, they may be willing to take more risks in publishing than a more established publisher. Imagine the Moron Horde taking over its own publishing house just like we could take over Greenland! Worth a shot!
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MORON RECOMMENDATIONS
Whoo! I'd never heard of Ian McAllister*, but Skylark Mission makes me want to read more of his work. I haven't read such a gripping tale in some time.
The plot is akin to The Guns of Navarone, except that it involves Japanese PT boats in the Vitiaz Straits, between New Guinea and New Britain. We have a small team, including civilians, who set out to destroy a hidden jungle base from which PT boats are sinking ships loaded with refugees who are fleeing the Japanese advance. We have combat, maps (two!), shady pasts, and a dusting of romance. We even have sabotage.
The worst thing about the book is that it broke along the spine. I taped it together, but the damage means that it will go to the Little Free Library. I hope that somebody will ignore the condition, read the book, and enjoy it.
*ADDENDUM: Who the hell was Ian MacAlister? Turns out that was one of several pen names for Marvin H. Albert, a prolific author. No relation to the sportscaster.
Posted by: Weak Geek at January 11, 2026 09:16 AM (p/isN)
Comment: Sounds exciting! It's unfortunate that the spine was damaged. I've found moderate success in using a combination of Elmer's glue and packing tape to repair the spines of books, at least to the point where I can read them without worrying about pages falling out. Skylark Mission is available on Amazon, but it's a bit pricey right now ($10-$28 for the paperback). May want to hunt it down through a used bookseller somewhere else if you are interested. Watch out for phantom booksellers!
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I'm reading Dr. Edward Feser's The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism (St. Augustine's Press, 2008), which is an excellent explanation of Ancient Greek philosophy as further developed by St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. I'm finally understanding what all the philosophical hubbub is about, and I really enjoyed his thorough dismantling of the nonsense spewed in recent years by Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. I'll probably end up binge-reading all of Dr. Feser's books over the next year.
Posted by: Sharkman at January 11, 2026 10:41 AM (/RHNq)
Comment: I enjoy watching YouTube videos where a Christian apologist like Dr. Lennox debates atheists like Christopher Hitchens. Ultimately, the question about the existence of God seems to boil down to why we exisst. Atheists state that it simply happened by accident, but the mathematical models can't support this idea because the probability required is staggeringly improbable. "Why do we exist?" stumps atheists. They have no answer to that question.
The Dresden Files Book 3 - Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
In my mind, this is where The Dresden Files begins to take off and get really good. Grave Peril intoduces us to the spiritual side of Harry Dresden's world as a mysterious entity is causing ghosts and other spritual begins to become even more tormented than they already are. We are also introduced to the Red Court of vampires, who become major villains for Harry in subsequent books right up until the end of Changes, but I won't spoil it. It's pretty awesome.
Butcher is quite good about his world-building, introducing elements over time as he continues the evolving adventures of Harry Dresden. Many books involve gambit pileups as multiple factions begin to clash with each other. Grave Peril gives us the Red Court vampires and the Faerie courts, which will play a much more important role in the next book and later books in the series.
We are also introduced to Michael Carpenter, Knight of the Cross and the Fist of God. He wields the divine sword Amoracchius, more commonly known as Excalibur (yes, you read that right). He's a great character, serving as Harry's moral compass. Eventually, we'll see how Harry becomes an adopted member of Michael's large family, which gives Harry the courage to continue doing good for the people of Chicago.
The Dresden Files Book 4 - Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
Summer Knight revolves around the conflict between the Seelie and Unseelie courts of the Faerie Realms. These courts become major antagonists in this series, starting with this book. Faeries are dangerous, treacherous creatures, but they are not strictly villainous. They're more complex than that. Sure, they often toy around with mortals for their own amusement, but usually it's because the mortals are asking for it. It's possible to deal with the Faeries, but you better know what you are doing or they will turn against you in a heartbeat, as long as they don't break any of their own rules.
As we'll find out in later books, the Summer and Winter courts have enormous influence on the mortal realm, working behind the scenes within the Nevernever to maintain a delicate balance. When that balance is corrupted or disrupted, as we see in Summer Knight, the mortal realms stands in danger of being swept away by the primal forces commanded by Faerie. It's up to Harry and his companions to find a solution that saves the world from the wrath of Faerie.
The Dresden Files Book 5 - Death Masks by Jim Butcher
Death Masks is one of my favorite Dresden Files stories. Butcher gives us both great villains and exceptional heroes. It turns out Michael Carpenter is not the only Knight of the Cross. He has two companions who show up from time to time to aid Michael in his task. The Knights of the Cross have been charged by God to reclaim the thirty pieces of silver that were used to pay Judas for betraying Jesus Christ. Each piece of silver is tainted by one of the Fallen, lieutenants of Lucifer when he was cast out of Heaven. The Order of Denarius are those who carry the coins, becoming corrupted versions of themselves due to the influence of the Fallen.
The leader of the Denarians is Nicodemus Archleone, and he's one of my favorite villains in all of literature because you just love to hate him. He's the ultimate smug snake, chessmaster, and just a stone cold evil bastard. He becomes a recurring villain in the series, often lurking behind the scenes, stirring up trouble for Harry and his companions. In Death Masks Nicodemus is scheming to acquire the Shroud of Turin so that he can turn its mystical healing properties into a deadly plague that will spread across the world. I really, really hate this guy. Evil with a capital "E."
The Dresden Files Book 6 - Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
Blood Rites takes us into the political intrigue that exists between the three main vampire courts: Black, Red, and White. The Black Court is your traditional depiction of vampires, such as Dracula. Dangerous and powerful, they hide in the shadows. The Red Court are also monstrous, but they can more easily pass for human. They have effectively taken over large swaths of South America, feeding on entire villages and small towns. Now they are in Chicago, stirring up trouble. The White Court are the most human, preferring to feed on the psychic energy of their victims rather than blood. They are also quite dangerous in their own way, as they can influence large cities through political maneuverings.
Harry gets caught up in the middle of their conflict when a member of the White Court, the vampire Thomas, brings Harry in on a case to protect a client from an entropy curse. It turns out Thomas is hiding a devastating secret tied to Harry's own past.
The figure comes from expert witness C. Paul Wazzan, a financial economist whose bio says he has been deposed nearly 100 times and testified at trial more than a dozen times in complex commercial litigation cases.
I have acted as an expert witness once. You couldn't pay me enough to do it again... Though $134 billion would be tempting.
Wazzan, who specializes in valuation and damages calculations in high-stakes disputes, determined that Musk is entitled to a hefty portion of OpenAI's current $500 billion valuation based on his $38 million seed donation when he co-founded the startup in 2015.
Much of the article is devoted to ad-hominem attacks by the partisan lunatics at Tech Crunch, who think fraud is okay against people for whom they feel irrational hatred.
If you're wondering why the beancounters at the big memory manufacturers are being wary of rapid expansion in the face of unprecedented demand, well, it's because they are able to read a spreadsheet and they do not like what they see.
They originally planned to start construction in 2024, but were delayed by bats.
The megafab - which would displace 500 acres of woods and wetlands, as well as two endangered species of bats - is scheduled to begin producing DRAM chips by 2030.
Micron said it will create 1,216 acres of off-site bat habitat including maternity roosts to mitigate the potential damage its fab will cause to the Indiana and northern long-eared bat populations, as well as 628 acres of land to offset impacts to the sedge wren, short-eared owl, and northern harrier bird populations.
Part of the land the factory will be built on is swamp, so Micron has been obligated to build a new swamp to replace the old one.
Hardware Unboxed reported that there were no Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti review cards to be had for a planned model roundup, that Asus told them the 5070 Ti was "end of life", and that Australian retailers reported that there was zero stock of any model at suppliers.
Nvidia insisted this was all lies and slander and slanderous lies and every model of the RTX 5000 lineup was still in production.
For the real story, let's check Newegg, since their site can easily be filtered to exclude second-hand and out-of-stock items and cards from strange marketplace sellers in Uzbekistan.
Total 5090 models available at any price: Zero.
5080 - one, at 80% over MSRP.
5070 Ti - one, at 40% over MSRP.
5070 - 8 models starting at close to MSRP.
5060 Ti 16GB - I initially found none at all, but a second search dug out one card.
5060 Ti 8GB - the model all the reviews told you not to buy is readily available starting at MSRP.
5060 - 20+ models in stock starting at MSRP.
5050 - 4 models in stock starting at MSRP.
So if you're looking for a low-end card or for the mid-range 12GB 5070, you're in luck - they're in stock and selling for their listed prices. But the cards with 16GB or more VRAM are gone.
On the AMD side things are a little better. The three 16GB cards - the 9060 XT, 9070, and 9070 XT - all show multiple models available, but all starting at 5% to 20% above MSRP, a problem that has persisted since they launched except for a few short weeks late last year.
No Intel consumer CPU has ever had 12 P cores; the largest number ever was with the 10-core 10900 introduced in 2020, and subsequent to that the maximum has been 8.
But, you point out, these are embedded CPUs, not consumer models.
True. But Socket FC-LGA16A is better known as Socket 1700, the same one used by Intel's 12th, 13th, and 14th generation desktop CPUs, and for which inexpensive motherboards supporting both DDR4 and DDR5 are readily available.
I mentioned this before but this is a nice roundup with pictures of expansion cards using the B650 to provide four additional M.2 slots and four SATA ports in a half-height form factor.
It's an open source project but it would be interesting to see someone pick it up and run with it.
A project born of the Wuflu lockdown and weaponised autism. It's legitimately impressive.
Speaking of which, I played some more Hytale. Despite being in early access and its developers apologising for its unpolished state, it's a fun game - and it only costs $20.
The best way to think of it is that it's not a pure Minecraft clone but a combination of the best features of Minecraft and older action RPGs like Torchlight. The world can be taken apart and rebuilt block-by-block - mostly - but it's faster-paced and more action-oriented than Minecraft, and has story elements that Minecraft is mostly lacking.
What The Times largely avoids mentioning is that the teenagers affected immediately created new accounts and worked around the ban. Traffic from the sites to Australia has not been reduced at all since the ban went into effect.
Musical Interlude
Disclaimer: The ice isn't melting. WHY ISN'T THE ICE MELTING?
Saturday Night Club ONT - January 17, 2026 [Double Play]
—Open Blogger
Welcome to Club ONT - A Double Play collaboration of The Disco and The Dino.
Looking for more fun than you can bear? Well, come on in and see what's bruin! Please leave the cubs outside, things can get a little bit grizzly in here. Stock up on restroom tokens, avoid using the woods outside for - well, you know what bears do in the woods!
A police officer pulls over a car and notices the backseat is absolutely packed with penguins.
"Officer," the driver says, "I know what you're going to say, and I have a perfectly good reason!"
The officer stares at the unusual passengers and replies, "Sir, I'm not going to say anything. I just think you should take these penguins to the zoo immediately."
The driver agrees and promises to do so. The officer lets him off with a warning.
The very next day, the same officer pulls over the same car. He looks in the window and, to his astonishment, the backseat is still full of penguins - but this time, they are all wearing sunglasses and party hats.
The officer sighs, "Hey! I thought I told you to take these penguins to the zoo!"
"I did!" the driver replies with a big smile. "And today we're going to the beach!"
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A husband comes home drunk, vomits, and falls down on the floor. Then his wife gets him up and cleans everything up...
The very next day he expects his wife to scold him and fight about last night. Instead, she kisses him on his forehead and makes him his favorite breakfast…
When she leaves the room, he asks his son about last night...
The son tells him, "When Mom got you upstairs and was trying to remove your boots and shirt, you yelled, Hey lady! Leave me alone! I'm married!"
*****
Drink of the Night
Tonight we drew the 4 of hearts in the deck of playing card cocktails
Dafuq is orgeat syrup? Let's ask Grok!
Orgeat syrup (pronounced "or-zha" or "or-zhat") is a sweet, nutty syrup primarily made from almonds, sugar, and a touch of floral elements like orange blossom water (and sometimes rose water). It has a rich, marzipan-like flavor with creamy, toasted almond notes and a subtle floral aroma.
Historically, it originated from a barley-almond blend (the name comes from the French word for barley, "orge"), but modern versions focus on almonds. It's milky and emulsified, giving drinks a smooth texture.
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Meanwhile at Club Bulwark
Good Friday morning! One more shift, then time to cut loose. I'd advise sticking to traditional beverages; I hear the new Bud Light replacement is terrible. Have a great day and stay positive! pic.twitter.com/vIlS8IB0lq
A flock of about 50 sheep escaped from their owner while being herded and took a shopping trip to a nearby supermarket in Germany.
A video taken at the Penny supermarket in Burgsinn, Lower Franconia, shows dozens of sheep flooding into the store through the front doors, causing chaos inside the store and leaving a trail of destruction and poop in their wake.
Shepherd Dieter Michler said the sheep had broken away from a larger flock he had been herding through the area en route to the Sinn River.
Michler said the sheep had apparently been distracted by acorns on the ground in the store's parking lot, and then went inside in search of more snacks.
He said the sheep were safely reunited with the rest of the flock.
*****
Club ONT Department of Geography
This is the South American version of "did you know Reno is further west than Los Angeles?"
The entire continent of South America is further east than Jacksonville, Florida.
Latitude games:
*****
The childhood equivalent of "hold my beer and watch this!"
*****
Club ONT Music
Music history:
This band got its name by accident: while rehearsing in a Spartanburg, SC warehouse, they spotted a keychain belonging to a blind piano tuner who had used the space before them. And just like that, one of rock’s most iconic names was born. Name the band. pic.twitter.com/VfexuYKWgy
The piano tuner was blind, then they write a song called "Can't You See?" That's COLD!
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Tonight's tuneage
How's that for an eclectic mix?!?
*****
Top 10ish Comments of the Week
*****
Club ONT Brought to you by...
Diversified business endeavors
*****
Club ONT management has no idea why a Somali daycare listed this address on their official documentation. We do not emphasize quality, and there is no learing allowed here. We will, however, gladly accept briefcases of cash. Thank you for your continued support of Club ONT.
The Saturday Evening Movie Post [with moviegique]: Dr. Zhivago
—Open Blogger
We enter the bleakest time of the year for dedicated moviegoers, what Red Letter Media used to call "F--- You, It's January." I think later they rebranded it as something like "F--- You, It's Forever" when looking at the dismal line up of...2019? I don't precisely recall, but it is hard to look at the slate of major releases with a sense of optimism.
We saw a good quasi-documentary about Storks called "The Tale of Silyan," which tells a true-ish story while featuring gorgeous images of storks and landscape, from National Geographic.
Then there's "The Plague," an odd '90s coming-of-age story with strong horror elements. But, you know, junior high is already a horror story. It was solid. Joel Edgerton stars as the world's most clueless gym coach.
We ventured out to a classic L.A. theater tp see the delightful 1958 Jacques Tati film, "Mon Oncle". I can't recommend it strongly enough. It's partly translated from French but partly not because the dialogue isn't that important. It's almost a silent cartoon comedy, very gentle, and at this point, painfully poignant, as this is a France which, even mocked, shall nevermore be.
Speaking of painfully poignant, however, I went on the the 30th or 31st to see Dr. Zhivago. I nearly wept for the artistry, and realizing this is another thing that will not be created in the future. The beauty, the scope, the blocking, the set design--I mean, turning 1960s Spain in the summer into 1915 Russia in the winter. And the story itself is delicate. Nobody saves the cat.
It's the 60th anniversary, so I thought I'd re-up the 50th anniversary review I wrote. I'm pretty much in accord with myself on this latest viewing (not always the case), but I liked it even more this time.
I still find the elision of Lara and her abusive customer's relationship jarring. It's there but we have to do some heavy inferring.
Sharif had to tape his eyes back to look less Egyptian. Can you imagine?
It didn't do my heart good to watch tiny, dimwitted tyrants telling people what they should and shouldn't be allowed to have, and I despaired that those people are still running around, still thinking they should run things.
Nonetheless, I will be surprised to see a better movie this year, unless I go see "Lawrence of Arabia".
Ask me if I want to go see a three hour movie. (Go on, Peter Jackson, ask me.) The answer is likely to be “maaaaaaaaaybe”. Now, tell me it’s by David Lean, the great director of Lawrence of Arabia. I’ll have my popcorn in hand before you finish rolling your “r"s, which you should do, if you’re saying "David Lean, the great director of Lawrence of Arabia”.
Dr. Zhivago is, in fact, 3 hours and 20 minutes, and longer if you factor in the intermission and the overture, but much like Lawrence, it leaves you wanting more. But before we get into that, let’s just recap the plot: The eponymous Zhivago is orphaned at a young age and taken in by some family friends who have a daughter his age. Zhivago and the daughter fall in love and get married, and live happily ever after, in the manner of all protagonists of Russian novels.
The happy couple!
Nyet! But seriously, things are going all right, at least for their little family, and then there’s a bit of trouble in the form of World War I and the October Revolution. In the tumult, Zhivago ends up manning a hospital full of injured with the help of Lara, a nurse he has crossed path with several times previously, and who is now married to a fanatical revolutionary.
Zhivago and Lara fall in love, though they never consummate, and Zhivago goes back home to find his family property divided “fairly” amongst the survivors of his family and a bunch of poor people who see a good opportunity for revenge. To make matters worse, Zhivago is a poet, and his poetry is on the outs with The Party, so he has to flee into the country—where his path crosses again with Lara.
One of the reasons I’d never seen this film before is because it just sounds boring to me. Much like Lawrence, really. Even now! But there’s something magical about Lean, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. The cinematography and blocking is flawless, of course—this is a great movie to look at, with its snow palaces and shadowy street scenes. The characters are interesting, sure, even for three or more hours. The story hangs together better than most modern ones, maybe: Instead of a series of things that just happen, every cause and effect here seems thoughtful, even when essentially random from the characters’ perspectives.
There isn’t a ton of suspense in the thriller style. This sort of movie can make Hitchcockian suspense seem practically gimmicky. But you care about the characters' fates, and that creates a different kind of suspense. Zhivago is a good man, even a pure man, which is an odd thing to say to one in a love triangle. Perhaps because he is not a womanizer, just a man blindsided by love. He doesn’t seem entirely earthly.
"Did somebody call for an emergency poet?"
Sometimes you see a movie that everyone loves and agree with them about all the great aspects of it but still personally just don’t like it. Sometimes there’s a movie like this, where you agree with everyone about all the great aspects, love it—but still don’t understand why.
The acting was different back then, I note. I don’t want to say it’s stagey, but it’s bigger than modern acting. There’s a scene where the Moscow police/army storm through a Commie protest and mow everyone down. Lean doesn’t show the violence, he shows Zhivago’s reaction to it, and it’s bigger than you’d see today. Not, like, Shatner big, but still: big.
Overall, it’s an amazing film, perhaps not quite up to Lawrence but still a classic. Of course, it got very mixed reviews at the time, and there’s no need to speculate why. Lean and Pasternak do what Zhivago is accused of in the movie: They tell a story about human beings in a time of great revolution. And there’s nothing Romantic about the Revolution.
The movie is bookended by Zhivago’s half-brother, a party apparatchik, trying to locate Zhivago’s daughter. He tells the story partly to a younger comrade (who notes pointedly that, if the younger generation doesn’t appreciate Zhivago’s poetry, it’s because they weren’t allowed to by the State). The possible niece works in a mine or factory or something that falls short of a worker’s paradise, and is scared of her would-be uncle who, as a Party Leader, is extremely powerful and dangerous. As he says, “nothing ordered by the Party is beneath the dignity of any man.”
He fights in World War I with the purpose of making Russia fail. And succeeds. And counts it as his greatest work.
Lara’s husband, insane as he is, articulates the the Revolutionary ideal: “The private life is dead for a man with any manhood.” Then in the same breath, when it’s pointed out to him that he burned the wrong village, he says “A village betrayed us, a village is burned. The point is made.”
They still look like this, but they pretend to smile now because it fools people. (Tom Courtenay won Best Supporting Actor and looks like the prototype for Indy's antagonist in "Raiders".)
Then, after serving in the war, when Zhivago comes home, his home has been #occupied. All of Moscow is, really, and of course, everyone is sick and starving and feeding off resentment of the rich. Zhivago, as a man who writes love poems, is a threat. When they escape to the country, they find their old house unused and boarded up, but with a sign threatening terrible things to them should they dare to use it. And already the Party has spies everywhere.
We don’t actually witness Lara’s fate, but we hear she may have ended up in the gulags.
So, yeah, I don’t wonder that critics judged it harshly, in an era when the New York Times was decades away from admitting Duranty lied. It’s a deeply Romantic film at every level and breathes with an understanding that the joyless worker state of Communism is death to Romance.
It was fun to see all these people in their prime that I knew as a child primarily in middle age and late life. Omar Sharif is quite handsome and earnest in a way that keeps things from getting sleazy. I’d always thought of Geraldine Chaplin as okay-looking, but she is heart-breakingly sweet here. Until 2006’s Away From Her, I’d always thought of Julie Christie as unremarkable looking, but it’s hard not to fall in love with her here.
I don't think frame captures do her justice but here's a classic shot.
Rod Steiger does a great job as the epitome of the old world corruption. I imagined Alec Guinness standing there, delivering his lines with the perfect combination of menace and party-toadying, thinking “I’m going to be remembered for swinging around a flashlight-sword.”
The music, by Maurice Jarré, is near perfect. About the only thing that I wasn’t sold on was the creepy music he used for Lara’s (Christie) affair with Komarovsky (Steiger). But I wasn’t clear on that whole thing. It was creepy, and I’m not saying Jarré was wrong, or anything, but maybe the relationship needed a little less elision in the movie itself.
Still, here’s the key thing: The Boy and I? We would sit down and watch it again in a heartbeat.
If you have a chance to see it in a theater—it’s making the rounds for its 50th anniversary restoration—by all means, do so.
Fun fact: This is entirely fake. Filmed in Spain in 100 degree weather, with the cast wearing fur coats and being trapped inside enclosed rooms to preserve the illusion/continuity. The actors nearly passed out at times.
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 it landed on sea glass.
As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. All (legal) hobbying is welcome. Discussion of current events, religion and politics can elsewhere. Pants are optional. As always, puns are welcome and encouraged.
Play nice. Don't be a troll and do not feed the trolls.
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What is sea glass? Sea glass is naturally tumbled and frosted glass that is found on beaches along oceans (and sometimes large lakes). It is old broken glass from bottles, jars, tableware, shipwrecks, etc. that the sea has transformed over decades into smooth, gem-like treasures. The constant churning of waves, salt water, sand, and rocks rounds off the sharp edges, etches the surface, and gives it that signature frosted, matte appearance. Some call sea glass "mermaid's tears."
Do you enjoy hunting sea glass? Do you collect and take it home or just enjoy?
Where are your favorite places to find sea glass?
If you take it home, what do you do with it? Display, turn it into jewelry, etc.
Have you found other glass goodies on the beach, like fishing floats?
We'll save shells for a thread of their own at some point, so save this post for glass.
Glass Beach on the island of Kauai has been a favorite spot of mine for the last ten years. When my youngest son was two months old, we flew to Hawaii to spend the last month of my maternity leave on the island, and I took him to this beach with me. The first time we went to Glass Beach, the sand was covered in tiny, worn down glass pieces; all I collected at the time was a small jar of sand.
Sidney, British Columbia, Canada
A few years ago, my son had a hockey tournament in British Columbia. Per hockey coach rules, he had to be at the rink an hour before the first game of the day for warmups. I looked at a map of the nearby area and saw that there was a little beach and boardwalk in downtown Sidney, so I grabbed a cup of coffee and decided that I'd start my morning with a walk near the ocean at sunrise. The sunrise was breathtaking and once the sun was up, I was able to see glass on this little patch of sand to the right of the pier, which I later learned was called Glass Beach by locals.
Prince William Sound, Alaska
While exploring the Prince William Sound in Southcentral Alaska, we've found pristine black sand beaches that rival anything Hawaii has to offer, beaches filled with dried starfish and shells, and a secret Glass Beach.
My friend and I stumbled upon Glass Beach one day when we decided to explore an island we'd seen many times from the boat.
Our starting point had thousands and thousands of shells littering the beach, and as we rounded the bend, we saw that the beach was stacked with sand dollars in all stages of their life cycle. Rounding the far corner or the island, we came to two rocky beaches that we felt were ripe for glass...and our intuition didn't fail us! This beach has given us glass in all shades of green, teal and blue, some large egg shapes, and a green glass "gumdrop."
Others at the link, but where have you sought and found sea glass?
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What do you do with found sea glass? Make jewelry!
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I did not know that tumbling glass to replicate the look of sea glass is a thing. Apparently, all you need is a small rock tumbler and broken glass. Anyone done this with glass or rocks or ?
Make your own glass allows you to make things like a sea glass Christmas tree.
Optimal hobbies are not only inexpensive and low risk but can also be enjoyed into advanced age with friends, improving physical and mental health along the way. And if they provide other ancillary benefits such as networking, career advancement, or generational wealth, so much the better. Here are seven characteristics of healthy hobbies.
1- Low Cost
2 - Not High Risk
3 - Longevity
4 - Camaraderie
5 - Physical Health
6 - Intellectual Stimulation
7 - Relaxation
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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did an home building 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.
He saw an orange cat steal his pillow and decided to follow it. He discovered that it lived on the street and was a mother. Then he rescued and adopted the whole family. ❤️❤️
I am a long time lurker on your site, Patriot in Charlston, S.C. Never get tired of reading your snarky clips. Here is a kitty. We are fostering who is named after Schrodinger‘s cat Irvin! I never thought I could like a black cat but this little guy is so affectionate and fun. It’s going to be hard to give him up.
A charmer! Such a great kitty to foster!
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Lily Beagle 2015-2026
She was a good dog with lots of quirks. She always wore a basket muzzle outside since she ate whatever came near her mouth. New Year's Day 2025 was a trip to the emergence vet since she ate a wad of thin wire. Not much of a cuddler until her last few days when she became very sick. Not much of a barker or howler even thought she was a blue tick beagle and our last beagle buddy Daisy howled at the drop of a hat. She will be sorely missed and the house is too damned quiet. I'm attaching her puppy picture and one from two weeks ago before her health got really bad.
neverenoughcaffeine
A wonderful tribute to Lily. Thanks for sharing her with us. What a darling pup!
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Hi there! Mostly a lurker! Sometimes I leave a comment on threads as tb24601. Anywho!
Here’s a Petmoron if there ever was one, my cat, Freddie. I’ve caught him drinking from the water feeder like this a few times. He’s a pistol!
Freddie is an acrobat! Thanks for sending in this great photo!
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Reprise:
Just to give you a quick chuckle. She was on her favorite hot rock with her head out. When my wife turned on the he sunlamps, she immediately backpedaled until she was fully covered. She’ll be asleep for the next week or two, since it’s still winter
Coelacanth
Nayro sleeps!
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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.
Outside it’s cold and dreary. Inside the purple-red miniature Cattleya is blooming again.
Don
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Edible Gardening/Putting Things By
Started a batch of naturally fermented kosher dill pickles, and a batch of fresh sauerkraut. Testing these to see if they will be good enough for the LA County Fair culinary competition. Pickles will be ready in about four days; sauerkraut maybe two weeks.
I go by the name By-tor
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They look great! For fair time, you might try growing some dill heads to harvest after they start to turn brown, but before they are dry. Makes a big difference in flavor.
For lower-salt refrigerator pickles (using vinegar rather than natural fermentation), raw vinegar adds a nice flavor. There's a recipe in a past post here. I'll try to find it.
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For those who would like to try growing cabbage, Pinetree has a good selection of types, big and small, red and green, round and long. Danish Ballhead is one which is recommended for sauerkraut.
They also sell dill seed (for seed and weed).
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ART
Courtesy Shane Daniel
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Adventure
Neal in Israel:
From Israel, I'm sending a few shots of a wildflower, the common squill, taken at an archaeological site on the Golan Heights. The appearance of the squill signals the arrival of fall.
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Golan Heights!
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Gardens of The Horde
Anything going on in your garden?
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Hope everyone has a nice weekend.
If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:
ktinthegarden at g mail dot com
Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.
People who keep us thinking past artificial intelligence
—K.T.
R.I.P. Scott Adams
Scott Adams never lost the ability to surprise me with his ideas and observations. He could comment on the same event or situation everyone else was looking at and reveal a new angle or a whole new world. My brain grew every time I heard his voice. What a loss. What a figure.
Walter Kirn
You will see lots of fake news today describing how and why Scott Adams was canceled three years ago. If you want an accurate version of events you should read his obituary at @nypost. The context was crucial and was often misrepresented or omitted, deliberately, by his opponents https://t.co/srzSQD154B
THOMAS SOWELL:My Experience With Artificial Intelligence.
Another target of this particular AI fraud is military historian Victor Davis Hanson. In addition to his profound scholarly writings on military history, Prof. Hanson has also spoken out strongly on many current and controversial issues.
Apparently those who do not agree with him cannot argue effectively against what he said. So they use AI to make him seem to be saying something different.
It's easy enough for the legacy media to change the meaning of what people say WITHOUT AI. We're in for some new experiences.
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VDH discusses what happen with his image and voice, prior to his recent surgery.
Victor Davis Hanson: AI Is Hijacking My Image
Artificial intelligence is being used to steal voices, faces, and reputations. Victor Davis Hanson knows this firsthand.@VDHanson explains the growing problem of AI-generated deepfake videos that falsely use his image, voice, and… pic.twitter.com/2gRrE1fVsr
And here is an update on his successful surgery for a rare lung cancer. He did have a bleeding complication after the surgery, but seems to be on the road to recovery. Prayers may still be in order. Jack Fowler is keeping VDH's business going.
This week we said hello to a new heroine in Iran, and goodbye to a hero at home. But “The Crazy” marches on, both on the streets and in Supreme Court case arguments, where liberal justices continue to not disappoint, providing endless comic entertainment. Here’s a suggestion for the Wall Street swap market types: let’s swap Minnesota for Greenland and Alberta, and swap the Iranian cigarette girl for every AWFL in America.
The Classical Saturday Coffee Break & Prayer Revival
—Misanthropic Humanitarian
[Poetry H/T: Doof]
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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 Minnehoeplis.)
1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind, be nice. And yes those are real banhammers.
3) Running with sharp objects will result in severe sanctions. Run accordingly.
4) And finally. Have a nice 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:
11/15 – Sponge posted an update on the “First lady”. She is doing OK from the surgery pain-wise, however it appears her compromised immune system from chemo is susceptible to viruses. She has been spiking a fever all weekend.
12/13 Update – The First lady is doing well. She is still on restrictions but things are progressing nicely. The last mammogram showed clean. They are grateful to all who have been praying for her.
1/7 Update – They send thanks for the thoughts and prayers over the past year. The latest visit with her urologist revealed blood in her urine. The Doc didn’t seem concerned, but there will be more scans of her bladder and kidneys to see if they find anything more serious.
1/14 Update – Sponge sent an update on the First Lady’s father – he passed away on 1/11. They have been busy making arrangements for the arrangements, writing the obituary, eulogy, notifying people, etc. Thank you all for the thoughts an prayers that you have been providing for a long time.
12/13 – Schnorflepuppy asked for prayers for his wife. She was diagnosed a few weeks back with inflammatory breast cancer and started chemo on 12/2. On 12/3 she spiked a 104 fever and had to be brought to the hospital, where they discovered pneumonia. She has been in ICU for most of the week, to get her enough oxygen and work on the pneumonia. She is improving, but slowly.
12/22 Update – Unfortunately, the improvement trend has reversed. She has spent the last 8 days on oxygen support. The doctors would like to wean her off the vent eventually, but they need to see more improvement in her condition and thus far, they haven’t.
12/26 Update – Schnorflepuppy’s wife got progressively worse on Christmas Day and started a rapid decline, despite the best efforts of the doctors and staff. She transitioned to palliative care on 12/26 and passed away in the afternoon.
12/20 – Morgan, longtime lurker, takes tango lessons from Sebastian, whose son, Matias, is recovering from brain surgery. The MRI was read on 12/19, and the surgeons did not remove the entire tumor. Even though the biopsy indicated the tumor was benign, the boy is probably facing several rounds of chemo. Please pray for the boy’s continued recovery in El Salvador.
1/10 Update – Matias will have surgery in 2 weeks to try and remove the rest of the tumor, and then he will receive radiation therapy.
12/27 – buzzion asked for prayers for a friend named Christina. Christina has struggled with a lot, including addiction and relapse. Buzzion has not heard from Christina in a while and hopes she is okay. Please pray that Christina finds her way and knows that people love and care for her and believe in her.
1/3 Update – Christina was arrested on 1/3. Please pray for this to be a final wake-up call for her.
12/27 – JB asked for prayers that he would gain peace about what God has planned for his job in 2026. Also, please pray for JB’s estranged son, that he and his household will be saved.
12/27 – San Franpsycho posted a praise report from a former colleague, who has defeated metastasized uterine cancer.
12/27 – BlackOrchid requested prayers for a Navy Veteran uncle who has been struggling with his health the last few weeks. The root cause is undetermined, but recurrent infection/sepsis keeps sending him back to the hospital. It seems to be worsening his dementia, which makes it harder for BlackOrchid’s aunt to handle him.
1/3 Update – BlackOrchid’s uncle (her “stand-in dad”) is still not doing well. He will probably need to be put in a LTC facility although they are doing everything possible to avoid this. He is 86, and at the stage where his immune system can’t fight back well.
12/27 – pookysgirl posted that their unborn baby girl, Violet Marie, had passed away.
12/27 – free tibet posted about his diagnosis with Giant Cell Arteritis and subsequent vision loss in the right eye. This is a recurrence of the same from 5 years ago in the left eye. The treatment is not painful but regaining vision is “very iffy”. Thank you all for the prayers.
1/1 – L asked for prayers for her brother Ron, who is hospitalized. Ron has been in and out of the hospital for 6 months. He has a nasty infection in his knee, that will not clear, despite 5 rounds of antibiotics. L and her sister have been run ragged trying to help Ron.
1/3 – Legally Sufficient asked for prayers for the repose of the soul of a boss, who passed away suddenly early Sunday morning. Prayers are appreciated for strength, faith, and understanding for the boss’ wife and all who loved him.
1/6 – Diogenes requested prayers for his best friend since college, who was diagnosed with cancer. Within hours or hearing this, the friend’s son, a man that Diogenes has known since he was a baby, collapsed from what appears to be a brain tumor. The prognosis isn’t hopeful. Please pray for both of these fine men.
1/6 – Commissar of plenty and festive little hats sent prayers of thanks that it was not cancer, and asked for prayers for courage to even set a date to reverse the colostomy surgery. It was a lot to get over the first time!
1/7 - D sent an update on his wife Susan, and her battle with pancreatic cancer, as well as her recent infection. He sent his thanks to everyone for the prayers. They are helping and much appreciated. Susan’s infection finally has been healed, so she was able to resume chemo. It’s been really rough.
1/8 - Doof asked for prayers for his mother. She was hit hard by the flu. She couldn’t get out of bed the morning of 11/8 and was sent by ambulance to the hospital. She is alert and communicating but prayers are appreciated for her recovery. Prayers are also appreciated for Doof, as he absolutely despises hospitals.
1/10 – LA Sue asked for prayers for her brother, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September. They just learned it moved from stage 2 to stage 4. The chemo treatments and side infections from surgery have so debilitated him that he is considering stopping. Please pray for strength and that he opens his heart to God.
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.
That amount includes $250 billion of direct investment and $250 billion of credit guarantees by Taiwan's government, but it also includes $100 billion of already-planned investment by TSMC.
If you're throwing literally hundreds of billions of dollars around for Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers setting up in the US, maybe earmark a few billion for Nanya to expand consumer DRAM production.
Samsung is expecting a 5% increase in DRAM production in 2026 - and that's in the face of unprecedented shortages and a projected additional 30% increase in demand over the course of this year.
The Big Three are just begging for Taiwan or West Taiwan to eat their lunch.
Dubbed the 9950X3D2, it keeps leaking in benchmark results. It is exactly two 9850X3D CPU complexes in a single package - 16 cores and 192MB of cache running at up to 5.6GHz.
It has a fairly standard 85-key layout - a little cramped but it does include the Four Essential Keys - plus an optional 6-key macropad, plus an optional 24-key numeric keypad, plus an optional 24-key macropad with either blank keys or a assortment of 84 interchangeable icon keys to choose from, plus an optional trackball with four buttons and four macro keys, plus an optional trackpad with four macro keys, plus an optional haptic dial (that is, it gives programmable physical feedback) with an integrated trackpad and four macro keys, plus an optional 3D mouse with six degrees of freedom... With four macro keys.
With five choices of keyswitch, keycaps in either black or white, and the metal frame in either plain aluminium or black anodised aluminium.
The basic keyboard costs $119 (with your choice of colours and keyswitches), while the full setup costs... A lot. Well over $1000. They have an early-bird "All-in" bundle that isn't complete and that's already $917.
A 429 response means you're asking too many questions, go away. The new spec tries to tell you how long you should go away for, but at the moment it assumes that everyone involved is equally stupid. This is an attempt to fix that.
Played some more Hytale today. It runs at 30fps on low settings on my laptop, which means it should run faster on just about anything else, since my laptop has a 2880x1620 screen and five year old integrated Vega 8 graphics and I habitually run it in silent mode (with the fan speed turned all the way down). It's a great system for doing work, lousy for playing games.
Also, in Hytale low graphics settings look basically the same as "epic" graphics. The main change there is the render distance, just as with Minecraft, so unless you spend all your time looking to the horizon it make little difference.
Musical Interlude
Disclaimer: There is a reason. Not a good one, true.
Trump Proposes Rule to Make Big Pharma Sell Its Drugs to Americans at Same Price They Sell It To Europeans, Reducing Drug Costs by Up to 90% Plus: More Quick Hits
President Trump on Thursday rolled out what he's calling the Great Healthcare Plan, a sweeping proposal aimed at doing what Washington has failed to accomplish for decades: driving down healthcare costs by breaking the grip of insurers, drug companies, and middlemen while putting patients back in control.
"I am thrilled to announce my plan to lower healthcare prices for all Americans and truly make healthcare affordable again," Trump said from the White House. "We're doing things that nobody's ever been able to do."
At the center of the proposal is a call for Congress to codify Trump's Most-Favored-Nation drug pricing policy, which would require Americans to pay no more for prescription drugs than the lowest prices paid by other developed countries. Trump said the policy would lock in massive discounts already being achieved through voluntary negotiations with HHS and CMS, while grandfathering in those existing deals.
He argued the policy would push drug prices down "80, 90% in some cases," adding that some medications would see reductions of "300, 400, even 500%," figures he said Americans have "never heard of before."
He also proposed some small-bore changes to Obamacare.
A major structural shift in the Great Healthcare Plan involves insurance subsidies. Instead of continuing to route billions of taxpayer dollars through insurance companies, Trump is proposing that eligible Americans receive that money directly, allowing them to purchase the health insurance of their choice. "The government is going to pay the money directly to you," Trump said. "The big insurance companies lose and the people of our country win." The plan would also fully fund the Cost Sharing Reduction program, which the administration says would save taxpayers at least $36 billion and reduce premiums on the most common Obamacare plans by more than 10%, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates.
Trump did not shy away from attacking Obamacare itself, arguing it was "designed to make insurance companies rich." He pointed to billions in subsidies and what he described as skyrocketing stock prices for insurers while premiums climbed year after year for consumers. "I want to end this flagrant scam and put extra money straight into the healthcare savings account in your name," Trump said, arguing that consumer choice--not government mandates--should drive healthcare decisions.
The proposal also takes direct aim at pharmacy benefit managers and large brokerage middlemen, pledging to end kickbacks that Trump says artificially inflate insurance costs.
Eh. I dislike the price discrimination, I like the potential of paying less, but I'm not in love with the government intervention into the economy.
I'm also not animated about it. Big Pharma has revealed itself as mercenary and anti-freedom.
Update:
Disclose.tv
@disclosetv
30m
JUST IN - DOJ investigating Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for conspiracy to impede immigration agents -- CBS
A "queer ethnography" professor who goes by the name "LaWhore Vagistan" when in drag has been invited to Harvard University to give a special lecture on Kamala Harris.
Harvard last year hired Kareem Khubchandani, an associate professor of Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora Studies at Tufts University, as a visiting professor. Now, the wacko who spends his free time dressing up like a female caricature and performing gross sexual routines is back, not only to continue teaching classes, but to host a special and especially disgusting political lecture.
The drag queen professor is still set to teach "Queer Ethnography" and "RuPaulitics Queer Ethnography" for Harvard's Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Department. But on Feb. 10, he will host the 2025-2026 Matthiessen Lecture at the woke Ivy League university called "Auntologies: Queer Aesthetics and South Asian Aunties." It is going to feature discussions of two high-profile Democrat politicians -- Zohran Mamdani and Kamala Harris.
Kristen Sinema is accused of being a homewrecker, of carrying on an affair with her married Senate bodyguard.
The ex-wife of Kyrsten Sinema's bodyguard is suing the former Arizona senator for allegedly breaking up their marriage.
Matthew and Heather Ammel had "a good and loving marriage" with "genuine love and affection" before Sinema pursued Matthew Ammel, despite knowing he was married, Heather Ammel alleged in her lawsuit against the former senator, according to the Associated Press.
Sinema's head of security hired Ammel after he retired from the Army in 2022, according to the lawsuit, which also states he accompanied the then-senator on her travels to destinations such as Napa Valley, Calif., Las Vegas, and Saudi Arabia.
Ammel's wife in 2024 discovered "romantic and lascivious" messages he had allegedly exchanged with Sinema over the Signal messaging app. Then, in the summer, he stopped wearing his wedding ring, and Sinema gave him a job as a national security fellow in her Senate office while he continued to work for her campaign as a bodyguard, the lawsuit alleges.
The mother of Hunter Biden daughter Navy Joan Roberts is asking a court to arrest him for failing to uphold his part of their child support agreement.
Lunden Roberts, mother to the 7-year-old, urged an Arkansas judge on Tuesday to reopen the long-running child support case and arrest him until he complies with the agreement they settled on in 2023, according to court records, The New York Post reported.
Biden has five children including three daughters.
"[T]he defendant only tends to act in this case when he has to do so. As such, this court should motivate the defendant and incarcerate him in the Independence County Detention Center as a civil penalty until he purges his contempt by complying with this court's orders. In the alternative, this court should sanction the defendant as it deems appropriate and just," Roberts' motion reads.
DC transgender activist gets 3 years in prison, ordered to repay $956K for COVID relief fraud
FBI agents arrested the activist, Ruby Corado, also the founder of the nonprofit Casa Ruby, in 2024 when Corado unexpectedly returned to the U.S. from native El Salvador.
The founder of a nonprofit that provided LGBTQ+ services in the Washington, D.C. area was sentenced Tuesday to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay $956,215 in restitution for diverting federal COVID-19 relief funds.
The founder, transgender activist Ruby Corado, was also ordered to be under two years of supervised release after the prison sentence, if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn't move to deport Corado, Judge Trevor McFadden said in the sentencing hearing.
McFadden in announcing the sentence said Corado "found an opportunity to defraud U.S. Americans," instead of helping them, according DCNewsNow.com.
A foreign fraudster stealing Americans' money? Well now I've heard everything.
In case you missed it: Stronk Independent Women are now demanding that their men go out and get shot by ICE to "protect" them and show "leadership."
While they stay at home and further pad their soft asses eating bon-bons while inciting insurrection on TikTok.
Now men's "leadership" -- acting as cannon fodder for mentally-ill psychopathic women -- is needed.
And men's "leadership" consists of just obeying mentally-ill ugly leftwing women.
All of a sudden the big, strong, independent women of the country are looking to their husbands for protection and leadership.
Imagine that.
The same people who degrade and blame men for everything are now looking for a hero to tell that that everything is going to be okay.… pic.twitter.com/r5MyK71ch6
In 2016, under Obama, CNN road along with an Obama propaganda effort to show he was really cracking down on illegal aliens. Because the political imperative at the time was to prove that Obama was the "Deporter in Chief" -- and that that was a good thing -- CNN filed a very positive report on DHS arresting illegals.
Like Obama planned with the health care market. (And it's working -- it's failing and Democrats are demanding more and more socialist interventions, precisely as planned.)
Mayor Zohran Mamdani's controversial pick for tenant advocate, Cea Weaver, once admitted that pushing for rent control was just the "first step" in her plan to destroy the free housing market and move toward "full social housing."
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Videos of Weaver's past statements have gone viral on social media since Mamdani chose the 37-year-old to lead the city's Office to Protect Tenants.
"We decided that fighting for rent control was a strategic and critical first step in the fight for full social housing," she said in a newly surfaced clip. "So, a lot of times people ask, 'Why are we fighting for rent control when we have NYCHA? We should be fighting to save public housing.' We decided that through a program like rent control, we are able to directly challenge the logic of unfettered profit in the real estate market. Umm, and we are able to directly challenge housing as a wealth-building tool and, through regulation, strike a blow to the entire real estate industry at once."
She continued, "And so, the beauty of rent stabilization and rent control is that it weakens the speculative value of the real estate asset. The value is no longer based on what the landlord is able to get, but rather it's based on a state public board deciding how much rent is going up. And yes, that board is controlled by the real estate industry, and yes, there could be a better way to regulate it. But the idea is that we could weaken the entire industry at once through a strong rent control campaign, and that would strengthen our ability to do things, like fight for social housing."
Candace Owens is going to spin another conspiracy theory to explain this away -- a family member of Tyler Robinson's gay furry lover admits that xir's gay boyfriend killed Charlie Kirk.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk in September has generated a lot of conspiracy theories from the left. They range from claiming that the suspect, Tyler Robinson, is a MAGA supporter, a far-right "Groyper," and even not the actual assassin, and he's being framed.
NewsNation's Brian Entin interviewed a family member of Lance Twiggs, Robinson's transgender identifying lover, and she put to rest one of the key conspiracy theories.
She revealed quite a bit about the pair in the interview, but what stood out most was how quickly and confidently she shut down the swirling conspiracy theories. When asked directly whether police had the right suspect, she showed no hesitation at all.
"100%. They, they have the right guy."
No Egyptian planes, no Israeli assassins, no Mormon Bee Cultists, no betrayal by TPUSA staffers and Erika Kirk, scheming to murder her husband -- just the gay furry who left his fingerprints and DNA on the murder weapon.
But, but, but -- Candace Owens told me she had a dream in which Charlie Kirk came to her and told her that his friend and business partner Andrew Kolvet had "betrayed" him. And of course the near-retard malignant narcissist Candace Owens' dreams are never wrong!
The demonic hangar-nostriled narcissist is now using Erika Kirk pleading for her to stop accusing her of murdering her husband as a "funny" meme.
Do you remember Soy Actor Timothy Busfield? You'll probably recognize him. He was one of those Soy-Based Life Forms Hollywood pushed on us in the early 80s, seeking the next Alan Alda-type Sensitive Man.
I always despised him. I just don't like Soy. Never did. He was in Thirtsomething playing a character named, I assume, Cuck Softcock. Below, a picture from Field of Dreams, in which he played Professor "Stubby" Tinymeat. I mean, probably. I only saw it once and never got the big deal.
He also married left-wing has-been Melissa Gilbert.
Earlier this week, I wrote about how actor-director Timothy Busfield is facing two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse, according to an arrest warrant issued by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). He also appeared to be missing for a time, which led to the United States Marshals getting involved in the search.
They initially went to the home in New York's Catskill Mountains that Busfield shares with his wife, Melissa Gilbert, and, of course, no one was there. People magazine reports that there were concerns that he may have "done something to himself." The Marshals also set up a team to watch in case Busfield returned.
Now we know that the actor was actually on a little cross-country road trip to New Mexico, and he turned himself in to the police on Tuesday, claiming "I did not do anything to those little boys" and that he will "confront the lies."
The "little boys" in question are 11-year-old child actors who appeared on the show The Cleaning Lady, which Busfield directed. Busfield and Gilbert reportedly grew super close with the boys and their parents, which the APD called part of his "grooming" process, and allegations range from "tickling" to lying in bed together watching TV to rubbing one of the boys' genitals.
Busfield didn't deny being close with the boys and even confessed that he would often pick up a third little boy on the set and make him "giggle" to get ready for his scenes. However, he claims the twins' parents just wanted "revenge" because another child replaced them on the show at some point.
Fake allegations do happen. But he's been accused before:
In 2001, he was accused of assaulting a 16-year-old girl. According to the girl's father, his daughter "was auditioning for Busfield at B Street Theatre -- a nonprofit the actor founded in Sacramento -- when the actor kissed her, put his hands down her pants and touched her private parts. Busfield later allegedly begged the family not to report the allegations as long as he received therapy."
But at the end of the third paragraph, @nytimes finally mentions that the illegal immigrant in this story (and two others) assaulted the federal agent who pulled the trigger. pic.twitter.com/IaRyAlCYiC
Legacy media banding together to bury that the illegal immigrant in Minnesota shot last night (and his friends/family) attacked the federal agent in question.
President Trump on Wednesday said he's "taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes," linking the move to housing affordability.
Why it matters: Real estate investors -- including both large and small-scale operations -- bought about 1 in 3 single-family homes sold in the second quarter of 2025, according to a report by market intelligence firm C.J. Patrick using BatchData figures.
"People live in homes, not corporations," Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social.
The impact: Shares of home-owning companies fell sharply Wednesday after Trump's statement.
OpenDoor, an online platform that buys and sells residential real estate, was trading down 11.5%.
...
Friction point: Critics say the trend contributes to rising home prices and rent hikes.
Via Larry O'Connor, mortgage rates have fallen to a three-year low from the highs they reached under Biden, making buying houses affordable for many more people.
DeVory Darkins
@devorydarkins
CNN ADMITS Trump's housing affordability plan is working.
"So let's just say you're buying a $500,000 home. You're putting 20% down. A year ago, your monthly payments were almost $2,700 for principal and interest. Now they're around $2,400. Now, that might not sound like that much. It's about $260 difference, but over the course of a year, you're talking about $3,000 less in interest over the course of a loan, it's over $90,000. So that's huge, right? That's less money going to the bank, more for everything else in life. Now, all of this comes after the White House has really started to focus more on this issue of housing affordability."
🚨 HOLY CRAP. Liberals are panicked after CNN was just forced to admit President Trump is PLUMMETING home prices, saving the middle class THOUSANDS of dollars already
"The White House has REALLY started to focus on housing affordability!" 🔥
Larry O'Connor pointed out that the CNN cows had "faces longer than Secretariat" as they were forced to report on the increased affordability of homes, and pooh-poohed the news as they focused on home prices continuing to rise.
Which, you know, they usually do. That's why real estate is such an attractive investment.
But a falling mortgage rate means that the net cost to actually buy a house is now at its lowest level in three years.
Mortgage rates fell to 6% it's 3-years low , with some lenders offering as low as 5.87% As January 12, 2025. This is important I bought my first single family house 🏠at the same rate:" The president's latest affordability push sent 15- and 30-year mortgage rates tumbling ". pic.twitter.com/kmtxmaszY4
In more good news: NEC Director Kevin Hassett expects the economy to have grown at 5% (annualized) in the fourth quarter of 2025, and opines that the real rate of growth would be a point and a half higher but for the Democrat shutdown.
NEC Director Kevin Hassett: "If you look at the last three quarters, it's 4% growth, 4% growth, and now, we're looking at something like 5% growth... there have been very, very few times in American economic history where things were as strong as they are." pic.twitter.com/mTNy6zA4mo
"In Minnesota, the Troublemakers, Agitators, and Insurrectionists are, in many cases, highly paid professionals. The Governor and Mayor don't know what to do, they have totally lost control, and our currently being rendered, USELESS!" Trump posted on Truth Social. "If, and when, I am forced to act, it will be solved, QUICKLY and EFFECTIVELY!"
...
The 1807 Insurrection Act allows the president to use the military to enforce civil law and disperse demonstrators "[w]henever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings."
Luke Taylor comments on antifa's tactics in the above video:
Luke
@LukeTaylorUSA
Pause for a moment and notice something..
Look at this video from the perspective of "layers"
Layer 1: you have frontline agitators who physically encroach but do nothing else aside from yell & hurl vulgarity
Layer 2: Behind layer1 you have those I call grapplers. They will swoop in and shove or pull on an agent then fall back behind layer1.
Layer 3: Noise & light obstructionists. They blow whistles, bullhorns, honk car horns, beat on drums or trash can lids.. maximum auditory infusion to make a scene appear to be chaotic. To appear to be out of control
Layer 4: The "press people". These people have vests on and press badges but are not members of any press corps. They immediately move to capture images and video of any action by agents. They are constantly taking pictures of agents faces. Every image is scoured later for any and all ways to doxx or publicly ID law enforcement for obvious reasons
Every bit of this is optics. Every bit of this is rehearsed & practiced. These people have training. These videos are a production so they can frame law enforcement with selectively edited video with one goal in mind... one end-state objective:
To erode public support of Operarion At Large
They need sound bites & slick video clips to run on the evening news cycle (the MSM are their allies in this end-state objective)
That's what this is all about
It's a play straight out of the psychological operations manual being used against law enforcement by a communist insurgency
They have training. They have funding. They have singular purpose. This is an insurgency
🚨 BREAKING: Minneapolis City Attorney’s Office emailed staff inviting them to a “healing circle” with “therapy goats.”
While Democrats fan the flames against ICE agents. City staff are being offered quiet reflection time with goats.
US overdose deaths fell through most of 2025, federal data reveals
U.S. overdose deaths fell through the most of last year, suggesting a lasting improvement in an epidemic that had been worsening for decades
NEW YORK -- U.S. overdose deaths fell through most of last year, suggesting a lasting improvement in an epidemic that had been worsening for decades.
Federal data released Wednesday showed that overdose deaths have been falling for more than two years -- the longest drop in decades -- but also that the decline was slowing.
And the monthly death toll is still not back to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, let alone where it was before the current overdose epidemic struck decades ago, said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University researcher who studies overdose trends.
"Overall I think this continues to be encouraging, especially since we're seeing declines almost across the nation," he said.
Overdose deaths began steadily climbing in the 1990s with overdoses involving opioid painkillers, followed by waves of deaths from heroin and -- more recently -- illicit fentanyl. Deaths peaked nearly 110,000 in 2022, fell a little in 2023 and then plummeted 27% in 2024, to around 80,000. That was the largest one-year decline ever recorded.
...
Researchers cannot yet say with confidence why deaths have gone down. Experts have offered multiple possible explanations: increased availability of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, expanded addiction treatment, shifts in how people use drugs, and the growing impact of billions of dollars in opioid lawsuit settlement money.
Apparently it's just impossible that stopping fentanyl imports and deporting Tren de Aragua drug-dealers contributed to the decline. It's not even worth a mention.
By the way, note that overdoses shot up during Fauci's (and Tucker Carlson's) shutdowns. More deaths that can be laid at their feet.
Two other theories recently joined the list....
In a paper published last week in the journal Science, University of Maryland researchers point to the drug supply. They say regulatory changes in China a few years ago appear to have diminished the availability of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl.
Their argument is based partly on information from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which last year reported that the purity -- and dangerous potency -- of fentanyl rose early in the COVID-19 pandemic but fell after 2022. It suggests it became harder to make fentanyl and its potency was diluted.
One piece of evidence for that: More U.S.-based Reddit users reported a fentanyl "drought" in 2023.
The authors connect that to signs that the Chinese government -- at the urging of U.S. officials -- took steps in 2023 to clamp down on the selling of substances used to make drugs. Information is limited on exactly what the Chinese government did, and the paper is a bit speculative, but "we thought we could make a case," said Peter Reuter, one of the authors.
Oh, so it is possible that US government action is responsible for part of the decline -- but only those steps taken by Biden.
Another mystery: Why did US serious crime rates fallen by unprecedented levels in 2025?
Must be something Biden did.
The U.S. is on pace for the largest one-year drop in murders the nation has ever recorded, according to an analysis by crime stats expert Jeff Asher.
The big picture: The decline in killings is part of a broader decrease in violent crime following the COVID-era spike. Mass killings in the U.S. also fell in 2025, reaching their lowest level since 2006.
The Real-Time Crime Index, which compiles data from 570 law enforcement agencies, shows a nearly a 20% decline in murders this year compared with the same period in 2024.
The database, which Asher used in his analysis, does not consider manslaughter, self-defense, negligence, or "accidental killings" for the statistics, according to its online glossary.
The database's statistics are currently available through October. The FBI will not release official 2025 violent crime data until sometime next year, though RTCI estimates have historically tracked closely with federal figures.
Other major crime categories measured by the index were also down nationwide and across locations of all population sizes, including motor vehicle thefts (23.2%), aggravated assaults (7.5%) and robbery (18.3%).
By the numbers: New York City and Memphis recorded nearly a 20% drop in murders compared with 2024, and Chicago saw them fall almost 28%.
New Orleans saw a decline of 7.5%, while Los Angeles County recorded murders dropping by nearly 19%.
...
State of play: President Trump has prioritized cracking down on violent crime in his second term, though there is no clear evidence linking his policies to the decline. Crime rates have been declining since 2021, according to data from both the RTCI and FBI.
LOL, sure. Definitely cite the fake FBI crime figures -- which do not include most blue cities crimes, because they refuse to report them. And we know blue cities routinely cook their crime figures.
Also note the deceptiveness of this statement. Crime didn't just decline in 2025 -- it plunged by 20%.
So the fact that it's been (allegedly) merely "declining" for a few years does nothing to explain the huge fall we saw in one year, when Trump took office again.
She had previously dedicated the Prize to Trump when she was awarded it.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado told reporters on Thursday that she had presented her Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump when the pair met at the White House.
Machado dedicated the prize to Trump when she first received it. The U.S. president has long lobbied for the award and has received multiple nominations for his role in ending myriad global conflicts.
"I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize," she told reporters. She further recounted a historical episode in which Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette presented Simon Bolivar with a medal bearing the face of Washington.
Yes, she's obviously currying favor with Trump so that he will help her take the presidency when Maduro's regime falls.
Similarly, Crown Prince Pahlavi is saying he anticipated that Trump will "keep his promise," that promise being that America would come to the aid of Iranian protesters. He reminds Trump of that promise multiple times in this press conference:
He doesn't insult Trump. He doesn't accuse him of not honoring his promise. He says he believes Trump will keep the promise.
But he's definitely reminding Trump of that promise.
I saw a news report stating that Trump felt "obligated" to come to the aid of the Iranian protesters after encouraging them to keep marching and "keep fighting." Someone, I think Bonchie from RedState, commented, "He is obligated after encouraging them to keep marching and keep fighting."
I hope he continues feeling that obligation.
General Keane notes that Trump has made this "promise." He details Trump's moves against Iran, including stopping all of their oil shipments and cyber operations against Iran's ability to surveil and target its own population.
He also expects Trump to move decisively against the Revolutionary Guards.
Meanwhile, the USS Abraham Lincoln is closing in on Iran...
As SCOTUS Debates "Trans Women" Competing in Girls Sports, the World's 671st Ranked Male Tennis Player Easily Beats the Woman Ranked #1; also, Remembering Scott Adams and Dilbert
—Buck Throckmorton
The Supreme Court heard arguments earlier this week on whether individual states are allowed to ban “transgender women” (e.g. males) from competing in girls’ sports at the high school and college level. It’s a triumph for the woke assault on civilized norms that the Supreme Court justices even took this case.
The good news is that the prevailing sentiment of court watchers is that the court will rule in favor of the states which ban biological males from competing in women’s sports. But it is also concerning if this NBC report is true, “There was wide agreement on the bench that, at least in the cases before them, the scientific consensus on to what extent transgender girls and women have a competitive advantage is not clear.”
Yikes. I hope that statement is just wishcasting on the part of a left-wing journalist. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson famously admitted during her confirmation hearing in 2022 that she is scientifically illiteratenot a biologist and is unaware of any differences between men and women. But I certainly hope that there is not “wide agreement” among the other eight justices that men do not have a proven competitive advantage over women.
Meanwhile, a tennis “battle of the sexes” just took place a couple weeks ago, matching Nick Kyrgios against Aryna Sabalenka. Mr. Kyrgios is ranked 671st among male professional tennis players. He has played just six tour-level matches in the past three years. Ms. Sabalenka has won four women’s grand slam tournaments, and is currently ranked #1 in the world among professional female tennis players.
Because the tennis world understands that women and men are not equal, Ms. Sabalenka’s side of the court was 9% smaller, meaning that she had less ground to cover compared to Kyrgios, and that he had a smaller in-bounds area in which he could place his shots than she did.
Mr. Kyrgios won easily in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
This is also an appropriate moment to remember that back in 2017 a soccer team of under-15 year old boys whipped the US Women’s National Soccer Team.
In preparation for two upcoming friendlies against Russia, the U.S. women’s national team played the FC Dallas U-15 boys academy team on Sunday and fell 5-2, according to FC Dallas’ official website.
Circling back to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Ace documented this amazing question of hers from the bench this week, "Is treating someone transgender, but does not have, because of the medical interventions and the things that have been done, who does not have, uh, the same, uh, threat to physical competition and safety and all the reasons the state puts forward - that's actually a different class, says this individual. So you're not treating the class the same. And how do you respond to that?"
Yes, how do you respond to that? KBJ is an orator for the ages. We may have to start referring to her as Ketanji Wendell Holmes.
*****
GM Pivoting its Focus from One Tesla Niche to Another Tesla Niche
General Motors’ heir-apparent to the CEO office was hired just eight months ago from an autonomous vehicle start-up company that has lost billions of dollars and has less than 10 vehicles on the road.
Since Mr. Anderson’s hiring, several prominent executives have departed [General Motors], presumably because they don’t share his vision for prioritizing self-driving cars. As reported by CNBC a few weeks ago, Mr. Anderson “has consolidated power to oversee ‘the end-to-end product lifecycle’ of GM vehicles, including manufacturing, engineering, battery, software and services product management, and engineering teams, according to GM.”
Despite the massive EV losses that GM has incurred, the company is apparently casting its lot with a tech executive whose profit-and-loss experience is with cash burn rather than cash flow.
This piece is not behind a paywall. I’d be honored if you’d give it a read.
My latest at The American Spectator discusses how General Motors keeps getting distracted by shiny new objects. After its catastrophic losses on EVs, the mass-market auto manufacturer is again pivoting toward another boutique niche - autonomous vehicles.https://t.co/br4nimCGvG
Scott Adams’ death is being eloquently covered by others, so there is not much I can add. But I do want to offer up a few quick thoughts. Aside from Dilbert being my favorite cartoon for decades, I was a loyal reader of Mr. Adams’ blog for many years before his greater celebrity during the Trump era. Mr. Adams often expanded my views, and occasionally frustrated me, but he helped me understand how rational people can understand things differently.
Back in 2016, when I doubted that Donald Trump was in any way conservative, and when I thought Trump had no chance to beat Hillary in the presidential election, Scott Adams was one of two writers who made an impact on my attitude toward that election. Mr. Adams famously wrote about the reasons why Trump was likely to win. He was right. (The other writer was John Hinderaker of Powerline, who was the first legacy conservative I read who stated that of course we traditional Republicans needed to vote for Trump.)
I was flattered once when Scott put out a call for Dilbert topics and he ended up using one of my submissions. As I recall, his invitation to the public was something to the effect of ”You provide the workplace situation and I’ll provide the humor.” I wrote him and offered up what a special hell it was to be working for a company campaigning for recognition in a local “Best Places to Work” contest. Shortly thereafter he used that in a cartoon.
Finally, my favorite Dilbert character was one who got very little screen time. Scott Adams may be gone, but Mordac, The Preventer of Information Services lives on.
I think of Mordac every time I have a spontaneously obsolete password, or I’m blocked from being able to access a system necessary for my job, or I can’t access an SaaS app because there are too few licenses, or I’m logged out of a system because I got called away for a short meeting, etc. In all these circumstances, I give a tip of the hat to Mordac, and I applaud his success in protecting my employer by preventing me from doing my job.
Long-time Coblogger and commenter "Niedermeyer's Dead Horse" is having significant health issues, and would appreciate the thoughts and prayers of The Horde. If you wish to reach out, use @NiedsG on X/Twitter. [CBD]
Disclose.tv
@disclosetv
30m
JUST IN - DOJ investigating Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for conspiracy to impede immigration agents -- CBS
Podcast: CBD and Sefton chat about the end game in Iran, what to do about the Fed, its supposed "independence," and its hyper-politicized chairman, the housing crunch, and Trump's harebrained suggestion to decrease credit card interest!
Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, and an always interesting observer of the human and political condition, has died. RIP. [CBD]
Tousi TV: France closes embassy in Tehran, US Department of State advises all US citizens to get out of Iran He's been saying that Tuesday will be a decisive day. Other reports say that Trump is in the last stages of planning an action against the mullahs. (And other reports say that Tucker Carlson Simp JD Vance is attempting to get Trump to agree to "negotiations" with Iran -- for fucking what? What do we get out of saving the fucking mullahs and letting them kill and torture their own people? Apart from Tucker Carlson getting to pretend he's a Big Man Influencer and that he's worth all the Qatari money he's receiving.)
Asmongold predicted that AWFLs would turn on immigration the moment we started importing hot women into the country, and he was right via garrett
New Yorkers are shocked after footage goes viral of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani's Tenant Director stating that white people will be HEAVILY impacted after they transition property "as an individual good to a collective good" [CBD]
My schedule doesn't permit me to comment on the Book Thread in real-time very much. I recently read a book on the scientific evidence for the existence of God. I found the book to be interesting and a good review of the subject matter.
Dear Mr. Sefton,
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