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Overnight Open Thread 05/31/2023]

The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us. Thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love.

-- John Muir

Nature, red in tooth and claw

-- Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Deep in the forest a call was sounding, and as often as he heard this call, mysteriously thrilling and luring, he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it, and to plunge into the forest, and on and on, he knew not where or why; nor did he wonder where or why, the call sounding imperiously, deep in the forest.

-- Jack London

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.

-- Anne Frank

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That being said, there is something wonderful about wandering into a neighborhood bar on a cold, snowy, blustery night, opening the door to a blast of warm air and seeing friendly faces, engrossed in conversation or merely enjoying a respite from the chill. It can be the best that society has to offer, and a powerful incentive to enjoy humanity.

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That's an Arisaka Type 99 rifle...the main battle rifle of the Japanese in WWII. I've got one of those, and it's even in better condition than the one in the photo! I fired it a long time ago, then put it away for no particular reason. But I have decided to put it through its paces again, so I bought some ammo, cleaned it, and in a few weeks will see whether it still shoots!

I find military weapons to be fascinating glimpses into military history, and the Arisaka is a good example of that. The conventional wisdom in the West was that it was an inferior rifle, made from inferior steel, and would be no match for Allied weapons.

Well, we were wrong. The Japanese conquered most of the Pacific, and that rifle performed very, very well. Tests on them revealed that it is both an immensely strong design, and that they were manufactured with excellent steel.

Most were made with a chrysanthemum (the symbol of the Emperor) engraved on the receiver. Most of those were ground off, either by the surrendering soldiers so as not to dishonor the Emperor, or by the occupation forces for unknown (to me) reasons.

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WHAT WOULD GARRETT DO

This. This is exactly what Garrett would do!

Man indicted in theft of 'Wizard of Oz' ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland

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ALFRED HITCHCOCK WARNED US!

Psycho seagulls getting high on zombie drug after nicking addicts' stashes

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We are completely hosed as a country.

At High School Debates, Debate Is No Longer Allowed

Before anything else, including being a debate judge, I am a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist. . . . I cannot check the revolutionary proletarian science at the door when I’m judging. . . . I will no longer evaluate and thus never vote for rightest capitalist-imperialist positions/arguments. . . . Examples of arguments of this nature are as follows: fascism good, capitalism good, imperialist war good, neoliberalism good, defenses of US or otherwise bourgeois nationalism, Zionism or normalizing Israel, colonialism good, US white fascist policing good, etc.

I don't mind the out-and-proud Marxist blather...there will always be profoundly stupid people. In fact, apocryphal Lenin had a term for them: "Useful Idiots."

No, what bothers me is that this harpy is allowed to get away with it in a supposedly scholarly, evenhanded setting. THAT'S why we are screwed.

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[That may or may not be JackStraw]

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