Thursday Overnight Open Thread - December 11, 2025 [scampydog]

Welcome to the Thursday night ONT. Thank you for braving the traffic and holiday crowds to be here - the best place on the internet to spend your Thursday evening.

Been about a year since my first ONT post (with CBD patiently doing all the back end work - I figured it out eventually).

Your regular host, Doof, is in parts unknown - not saying he is on a secret mission, he will be back soon with a proper alibi.

Before we get started, please grab a snack and a second look at your therapy pamphlet.

The year is almost over. Time for the fourth quarter, lurker roll call. Comment section is mostly bite free this evening. Let's hear from you lurkers.

Lens flare pictures - occasionally chance deliver a beautiful shot. Here is a lovely one sent along by AoSHQ commenter, nurse ratched.

Nice collection of lens flare pictures here.

Undergrounds - plenty of interesting and historical visits out there. Have you roamed any?

Dixia Cheng, Beijing, China. The whole communist, totalitarian side of this is fascinating. Build, deny, reveal, conceal, deny (again), obfuscate.

Built 1969 - 1979 as a bomb shelter - they were worried about the Soviets (how things change). It is beneath Beijing and has somewhere between 33 to 53 square miles of tunnels - near Tiananmen Square (Walz was not there). A decade or so of black market living quarters, eventually squashed by the government. Much of the system/network of tunnels is now sealed off and closed to the public.

The subterranean world of Dixia Cheng consists of a network of tunnels and chambers under Beijing that stretches across 33 square miles of underground catacombs. Also named the “Underground Great Wall” for its vastness and military purpose, the tunnel complex was dug by hand by local citizens throughout the 1970s to serve as a shelter during invasions, air raids, or nuclear attacks. At the height of its readiness, there were more than 90 entrances to the underground corridors which were hidden in the backs of homes and businesses.

Civilians seeking shelter from Soviet bombardments in the underground complex would have been safe from boredom as well as bombs. Classrooms were constructed for the children living in the underground city, and recreational amenities like a movie theater, barber shops, restaurants, and a roller skating rink were all awaiting a potential flood of refugees. Chambers in auxiliary tunnels held grain, weapons, and other supplies. The underground city also held sites for growing sunless crops like mushrooms and areas prepared for well drilling.

Pendleton, OR. Way back days Pendleton boasted a lot of bars, 18 brothels, and what is now an underground (sounds Moron worthy).

Pendleton used to be known as the entertainment capital of Eastern Oregon, and with thirty two bars and eighteen brothels, it's easy to see why this was a hot spot of the old west.

Another 37 undergrounds across the world.

How about some of those catacombs in Europe?

ONT Relatable

Blame the distractingly attractive person you sat next to in Biology for your forgetfulness.

For anyone whose little(s) brought homework home expecting your help / decades old brilliance: which subjects betrayed you? Logarithms perhaps? Prompting a response of, "I'll drop you off early tomorrow. Go meet with your teacher."

Logarithms. This helps.

Simple, yet amusing.

A mathematician explains the uniqueness of the number 6174 pic.twitter.com/lxgJvypaCO

— Dudes Posting Their W’s (@DudespostingWs) November 18, 2025

Leaning into the education topic

A few links for your perusal and feedback.

Plyler v. Doe. A lot of left leaning articles out there.

Send this decision back up the ladder.

At least one state is currently proposing action to limit undocumented students’ access to a free, public education. Recent efforts to challenge Plyler in five other states have been paused or failed, according to an Education Week analysis. At least one state has enacted protections of this right.

Keep poking.

Dear Anonymous Professor:

You are profoundly detached from the real issues affecting us, our families, our country, and the world today.

Pour a drink. This will validate what makes you grumpy. Better reading is deeper in the article. Bookmark for later if interested.

Across a large swath of academe, teaching is perceived as a burden to be endured. Faculty bemoan heavy teaching loads. Prized faculty teach light loads, with courses “bought out” by research grants or fellowships. (Deans and department chairs similarly negotiate for reduced teaching loads.) In short, a lighter teaching load is a badge of professional success.

This administration continues to savage the legacy media. What's not to love about that?

The White House page of Media Offender of the Week. Scroll to the bottom of the page. From there you can click the various page numbers. They're calling out: The Claim, publication, reporter, and category.

THE OFFENSE

The Washington Post’s Alex Horton and Ellen Nakashima published an article from two unnamed sources claiming Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a Joint Special Operations commander to “kill everybody” during an anti-terrorist operation in the Caribbean Sea.

THE TRUTH

The Department of War killed 11 narco-terrorists in a coordinated strike designed to “kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people.” This attack was the first in a series of lethal kinetic strikes against Designated Terrorist Organizations. The Washington Post published this unsubstantiated claim in an attempt to discredit the United States’ warfighters and inflame anti-American sentiment.

Spent entirely too much time on this section. What a rabbit hole.

A four act musical tour. So many songs are written around love and relationships - could link a hundred for each act. Let's take a tour through the highs, lows, and the magic of it. Use link shortener if pasting songs in comments - don't blow out the margins!

Sparks Fly. Music and new love? The first few weeks were always exciting. Pure dopamine, everything electric.

Slow Hands - Niall Horan

***

Red Flag Phase. After a few weeks, sometimes things didn't go as planned. Hints that perfection may not be grounded. Eyebrow raising moments.

Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash

Sex as a Weapon - Pat Benatar

***

The Real Thing.Time and making it past phase two comes the, "Holy crap, this might be the real thing phase!"

Still the One - Orleans

Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton

***

And when things really didn't go well.

She Hates Me - Puddle of Mudd

Ex's and Oh's - Elle King

Was going to add Buck Cherry here. Reconsidered.

***

Silly season. Why not.

You'll find me at house #2...🎶😊

You? pic.twitter.com/Ji4swxrWQT

— Amy (@20th_Centurygal) November 29, 2025

The jesters and confused ones are always trying to box in the patriot.

How did Nutcrackers Become a Christmas Tradition?

Meet Wilhelm Friedrich Füchtner

Wilhelm Friedrich Füchtner (1844-1923), hailing from the quaint town of Seiffen in the Ore Mountains of Germany, is known worldwide as the “Father of the Nutcracker.” For good reason, as he created the world’s first mass-produced nutcracker around 1870 with a water-powered lathe, revolutionizing the craft and saving himself from the laborious task of carving each statue by hand.

Christmas traditions. Plenty in the scampyhouse. Favorite: Kids can get after their stocking whenever they awake. The presents wait until the cinny rolls are baked and mom has a cup of coffee. What are your traditions, Horde?

Track Santa Come Christmas Eve, it's time to track Santa Claus as he delivers presents! Kiddos can use a computer or phone to follow Santa's journey from the North Pole, thanks to the free tracker from NORAD. The suspense is just magical!

This ONT brought to you by: Wrapping presents.

More wrapping fails.

Tip of the cap.

⚠️ Warning. This is not a drill. pic.twitter.com/wi1Q9IAesi

— ☘️𝕃𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕪 Ƒʉͫcͧкͭιͪηͣ 𝕄𝕔𝔾𝕖𝕖‎ (@LuckyMcGee) December 6, 2025

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posted by Open Blogger at 10:00 PM

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