Ace: aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
Doof: doof2112 at proton.me
joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info: maildrop62 at proton dot me
The company saw net outflows of $3.64 billion (not $3.64 as Slashdot claimed) due to loss of trust, but has $170 billion in assets, which is kind of a lot.
Written entirely in Rust with no actual Linux code in it, but compatible enough that Rocky Linux 10 runs perfectly happily on top.
It doesn't support all the platforms Linux runs on, only modern Intel/AMD PCs, and it doesn't include the breadth of driver support Linux does. But it works, and it was developed, with AI assistance, in just 11 days.
This was done in the hardware by setting a limiting register that can never be changed on consumer cards, only allowing more expensive workstation and server models to achieve full performance.
But someone discovered a bug in the hardware that lets anyone with a consumer card basically crash it so that the register is cleared.
Howdy Hordelings! Welcome to the Sunday ONT. Appreciate you stopping by. Open thread, as always. Fashion and music, as always. What's on YOUR mind tonight?
[Top photo: Tanbark Ridge Tunnel - Blue Ridge Parkway mile marker 374.4- Weaverville North Carolina]
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump offers Rep. Haley Stevens (D) a spot in the Republican Party, and Speaker Johnson is worried for her safety after she backed Mike Rogers
Wow!
TRUMP: "I'd LOVE to have her. Mike, you talked to her!"
JOHNSON: I sent her a note...I told her how courageous she was...she's a good person...I encouraged her to stay safe. 🙏🏻
Think about that. A sitting Democrat congresswoman endorses a Republican, and the Speaker of the House feels he has to tell her to stay safe!
BECAUSE THE LEFT IS PSYCHO.
Her own mother says Haley was chased out of a park and called a "Zionist pig" this year
Not sure if this video has appeared in any previous threads. I could watch it all day!
🚨WATCH: Dramatic video shows an ICE agent forcefully pushing away a woman who tried to obstruct an active enforcement operation. https://t.co/vXAhyDw62L
Imagine putting together an entire halftime show based off of one woman doing a cover of Thunderstruck on xylophone……and having it KICK TOTAL ASS! https://t.co/BH2BWW5ibO
Kids get candy from most houses. These ideas are better!
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'Ette Couture (Courtesy of Piper)
It's that time of the week - when we turn the ONT over to our good friend Piper for a bit. Here's this week's fashion pr0n.
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Thanksgiving 2026: Color Schemes That Look Polished and Feel Like Fall
Thanksgiving asks a lot of an outfit. It needs to survive a long meal, a warm kitchen, a cool porch, and at least a few photographs.
This year’s freshest direction leans into color stories that feel seasonal yet modern. Khaki with cream and tangerine offers a warm, approachable mix. Charcoal and mustard deliver clean contrast. Chocolate brown and olive bring earthy sophistication. And burgundy with blush pink remains the pairing everyone is talking about.
Khaki, Cream, and Tangerine
Khaki and cream create a soft, easy base that reads polished rather than plain. A pop of tangerine adds festive energy without tipping into costume territory. It is the kind of combination that feels intentional without trying too hard.
Chocolate Brown and Olive
Chocolate acts like a warmer black. It is rich, grounding, and flattering. Olive adds depth without competing. Together they feel elevated and sophisticated, the sort of look that is refined without being fussy.
Charcoal and Mustard
Charcoal provides a cool-leaning neutral. Mustard, ideally a golden or slightly muted ochre rather than pure yellow, injects warmth. The contrast is clean, modern, and perfectly polished for anyone who wants a fall feel without traditional earth tones.
Burgundy and Blush Pink
The season’s most talked-about pairing. Burgundy brings depth and richness while blush pink softens it and lifts the overall look. The tension between deep and delicate feels slightly unexpected. It is festive without being obvious.
For the Gentlemen
A cable-knit or fine-gauge sweater in burgundy, olive, or chocolate over tailored trousers or dark denim, finished with loafers or clean sneakers, is more than enough. A navy blazer adds polish without formality.
Thanksgiving is about gathering and good company. The right outfit simply lets you enjoy this time with a gentle nod to the season instead of looking like you were styled by the centerpiece. It frees you up to worry about more pressing matters, like the cranberry sauce setting or remembering to take the biscuits out of the oven before the smoke alarm goes off. Not that this has ever happened, of course.
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Thanks, Piper!
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This made me laugh probably more than it should have
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DJ Doof - Heart Edition
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Tonight's ONT brought to you by math ideas
(If we had learned this, maybe math would be allowed on the blog!)
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Doof Enterprises, LLC welcomes you to November. Christmas music not yet allowed!
Your feedback may or may not be very important to Doof Enterprises. Follow Mr. Doof on X @doof2112 or do the email thing – doof2112 at proton dot me.
Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!
Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be the First November Edition? I'm certain many of you were hoping for another October edition, but the Gun Thread always marches forward in the pursuit of excellence and to that end, we've now moved on to November.
I'll likely be in and out of the comments this evening, so please have a good time and try not to burn the place down. Thanks.
With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?
So which is it, aiming or no aiming? A dichotomy, I say! A dichotomy!
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M14 v M1
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T20 - Grenades!
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Annie Oakley
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Rifle Boring Machines
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Uranus is Weird
Not mine. Yours.
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Our Pal The Forging Hammer
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Highway Patrol!
This week's episode: Careless Cop!
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The Phantom Planet
Uranus, perchance?
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Here are some different online cigar vendors. You will find they not only carry different brands and different lines from those brands, but also varying selections of vitolas (sizes/shapes) of given lines. It's good to have options, especially if you're looking for a specific cigar.
A note about sources. The brick & mortar/online divide exists with cigars, as with guns, and most consumer products, with respect to price. As with guns - since both are "persecuted industries", basically - I make a conscious effort to source at least some of my cigars from my local store(s). It's a small thing, but the brick & mortar segment for both guns and tobacco are precious, and worth supporting where you can. And if you're lucky enough to have a good cigar store/lounge available, they're often a good social event with many dangerous people of the sort who own scary gunz, or read smart military blogs like this one. -rhomboid
Anyone have others to include? Perhaps a small local roller who makes a cigar you like? Send me your recommendation and a link to the site!
Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!
That's it for this week - have you been to the range?
Food Thread: Beef-In-A-Bag And Other Deliciousness
—CBD
I made short ribs last weekend, and used a technique that is sure to raise the hackles of that small and deluded core of com-symps who reject modern cooking conveniences.
Yes...it was Sous Vide! And it was great. And all Sous Vide did was give me complete control over what was essentially a long slow braise at a very low temperature! The development of the roasted flavors that come via the Maillard reaction was a bit of a cheat, as I used homemade beef stock and Guinness Stout!
Delicious! Even if it did use a frog-invented technique!
Let's talk about bread. Specifically the utter, obscene, offensive ridiculousness of artisanal bread that costs $25 or $50 or $60...per loaf! You think I am kidding? Here is Martin Auer, a NYC bakery and clip joint that sells a rye loaf for $60. And if you aren't mortally offended by that price, just look at the other products he sells.
Flour, water, yeast, salt. That's it. The equipment necessary to make good quality bread that is better than supermarket bread and approaches the quality of many bakery's products is less than $100, and I'll bet that many of you have most of it anyway.
Sure, you can buy artisanal flour harvested by bare-breasted nymphs under a full moon, and milled with stones from Stonehenge, but good quality flour is $5 for a five-pound bag. Rye flour is more, but you only need about a pound of it for a large loaf.
I have been baking for a long time, so I have reasonably good dough-handling skills. It takes me about 15 minutes of work to make an excellent sourdough loaf that is better than 99% of the bread I have eaten. And sourdough is more difficult than good old white bread for sandwiches! You can make very good bread in a matter of a few minutes with what you have on hand at home. And it will be a fraction of the price of the supermarket stuff, and almost certainly better.
I am second to none in my pomposity and snobbishness when it comes to food and drink, but charging that much for a simple loaf of bread is simply f*cked.
And next week (if I remember) I will address the stupidity of the $8 Chocolate Chip Cookie!
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Long-time commenter and existentially flawed Manhattan maker "naturalfake" mentioned a drink I haven't had in forever. The Aviation is a classic cocktail when judged by its ratios, but the ingredients are a bit different....
Because I didn't have this stuff...
I made one with Crème de Cassis, which is a liqueur made from currents, and is most famously used in a drink called a "Kir," which is just dry white wine with Cassis to taste! Fun before dinner, and worth trying. "naturalfake" warned me that my Aviation with Cassis was not going to be as good, and he was correct, but it was still a tasty drink.
Of course I then ran to the store for a bottle of the real thing, and this was the result.
It is a nicer color than it looks...a delicate purple...and it was a success!
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Well, let us revisit one of the most important questions in cooking...to soak or not to soak your beans! DadCooksDinner weighs in with his instant pot solution, and because I am a traditionalist and a Luddite, I disapprove!
I either use canned beans or I soak the dried beans overnight. Anything else is an affront to the cooking gods and they will exact retribution!
Which reminds me, I think I am going to make a pot of WeaselBeenz!
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I have pontificated at length about the pleasures of expanding one's wine horizons. Yes, there are people who are content to drink Cabernet or Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc for their entire lives, and are perfectly content, and probably not bad people who kick puppies and pull the wings off flies.
But there are many other less-well-known grapes that are made into wonderful and usually less expensive wines for every day drinking. Here is a photo of a good bottle of a Spanish wine called Albariño, made from the grape of the same name.
It's inexpensive, delicious, and a great party wine because it isn't monstrously alcoholic. A nice crisp drink for a warm fall day! And yes, the gentleman in the background cooked the fantastic pork at the recent Texas Meet!
The moral of this story is to try the other grapes that winemakers use. They aren't paying a premium for the name of the grape, so in general there is more value in the bottle!
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Okay...now what? I had a lot of egg whites from the six egg yolks that went into my spectacular coffee ice cream with Heath Bars. So I made meringues, even though I didn't need an additional dessert, don't really like them that much, and wasn't expecting the brats to clean out the larder.
Yes, it is because I am a cheap bastard and don't like to waste. So I spent my time, a few bucks worth of sugar and cocoa powder, and I guess some natural gas to heat the oven. All so I wouldn't waste a few cents worth of egg whites.
I took them out too soon so they fell a bit. They were modestly pleasant to eat, but not something I will return too anytime soon...until I make ice cream again and have unused egg whites. Yes...it is a vicious circle!
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Maybe I am insufficiently attuned to the modern zeitgeist, but I don't give a shit who is touting the products advertised to me.
Do I like Mariano Rivera? Of course I do! He was the reason I didn't have to watch the end of the 9th inning when the Yankees were winning...back in the day when they actually won stuff. Lights out, seemingly a good man (maybe), and his attitude toward baseball and life was refreshing.
But what the hell does he know about hot sauce?
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The great garlic experiment of 2025-2026 was a resounding...meh. Send all of your excellent home-grown garlic to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.
About the Bourbon Bubble...I think it has burst, but the category is also suffering from the inflation that affected everything else (Thanks Biden!). I think the sweet spot is still $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.
The problem...or the solution...is to buy lots of bourbon, take tasting notes, and eventually arrive at your favorites! It should take forty or fifty years, but it is worth it!
You can't see it? You can't see it. YOU CAN"T SEE IT!
That is the perfidy of the spider! The evidence, its web, is invisible to the camera, so a charge, trial, and execution is impossible.
But I know it is there. And there will be consequences.
Replace the fixture? Of course. That is the minimalist response. Also in the mix is a removal and replacement of the ceiling and wiring. And certainly replacement of the ceiling joists is a reasonable approach.
I could rant for pages and pages about the evils of government largesse replacing private charity. It doesn't work, it never worked, and it will never work. A cursory glance at Europe and it sclerotic economy will buttress the argument that governments are horrendously inefficient at everything they do, so why not ensure that they do as little as possible?
Luckily, Americans are an amazingly caring and generous people outside of the cities, and there are many thousands of charitable organizations that do yeoman's work caring for those in need.
And as humans are wont, some are poorly run. Some are purposefully designed to enrich their staff. Some are flat-out scams.
And of course, because this is America, organizations have arisen to inform us of the relative quality of these charitable efforts. And that is a very good thing, because most of us will have difficulty reading IRS Form 990, which is just the beginning of the labyrinth that is financial reporting.
One website I use is called CharityWatch, and they seem to be rigorous and consistent in their evaluations. And that's nice, because I don't want to have to wade through some bullsh*t political screed just to see the cost to fund-raise compared to total revenue!
One of the things I think is important is the salaries of the administrators and board. It is glaringly obvious that there are some non-profit organizations that should be stripped of that designation and thrown into the general pile of companies in it for the almighty buck. And don't get me started on universities and hospitals that hide behind their non-profit status to evade the taxes that every other provider of a product or service has to pay!
Sadly, there are more ways for charities to obfuscate and redirect and flat-out cheat than there are watchers, so there is always a risk that the $25 you sent to XYZ charity is actually being funneled to some NGO that hides wetbacks from ICE. But careful reading of the materials provided by the charity will provide clues.
For me? I look for the most direct line between my dollar and the recipient. Tunnel to Towers Foundation is a good example of a well-run charity that doesn't piss away its donor's money on stupid sh*t. They used to send me stuff in the mail, which I think is a waste. So I called them, and a real person answered the phone! I asked that all communication be via e-mail to save a few bucks. And I have never again gotten anything in the mail! Is that a big deal? No, but it shows that they are serious about their work.
I am not touting CharityWatch or Tunnels To Towers. There are many fine organizations that are aligned with your charitable interests, and a bit of research into them will minimize the possibility of waste or fraud.
And speaking of charities! All of the profit from The Deplorable Gourmet goes to a couple of excellent and efficient charities.
What? You don't know what that is? It is the greatest cookbook of the 21st century! And a perfect Christmas gift, or even better a wonderful book to bring to your Thanksgiving host. It is elegant, well written, and everyone is wearing their best in the photos. It's even got original art! Plus, the food is great.
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 11-1-2026 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
—Open Blogger
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 (sponsored by Big Penguin). 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 kittymurderfluff (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, snack on leftover Halloween candy, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?
This is the view of my library from where I'm sitting in my comfy recliner. Dead center you will find my complete collections of Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side., guarded by a Lego Boba Fett. I used to have a Lego Super Star Destroyer on the shelf on the left hand side of the picture, but my catsmurderfluffs knocked it off and I moved it somewhere else. It's mostly intact. I don't spend nearly as much time reading in my library as I should. I do like to on occasion. However, whenever I do, certain kittiesmurderfluffs decide to join me and they don't always get along with one another, causing major distractions when I'm trying to read. So I usually end up reading at my desk in my office. The kittiesmurderfluffs don't bother me as much there.
COMFORT BOOKS
Dear "Perfesser" This is completely off topic, but I have a suggestion for a book thread. How about "comfort books" as opposed to "comfort foods" or books we have enjoyed very much and read again and again because they nourish our spirit or make us laugh, or we just feel good about reading them more than once.
I am thinking of this, because I am reading some selections of James Herriot All Creatures Great and Small, etc. He had such engaging descriptions of his work and his appreciation for (and sometimes exasperation) for the animsls and their people. Reading it takes me out of 21st century politics and to a simpler England.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 01, 2026 06:13 PM (JrHfD)
October is officially over, a month that is characterized by horror and terror as we end the month with Halloween. Now we are in November, looking forward to Thanksgiving in a few weeks, a time when we gather with friends and family to enjoy good food and fellowship. So why not celebrate November with "comfort books" as FenelonSpoke suggests above?
She brings up James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small as an example of a "comfort book" because of his wit and charm as he describes life as a veterinarian in rural England. I read that book many, many years ago when I was in junior high school and I admit I really liked it. I shall have to read it again someday.
My "comfort books" include the complete collections of Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side, as shown in the top picture. Though to be honest The Far Side is physically a difficult book to read because each volume is so large and awkward. Still fun to read, as it includes annotations from Gary Larson about many of his cartoons.
Other notable works that I would consider "comfort books" includes many of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. They are great satire about the modern world but set in a fantasy world. Witty and poignant at the same time. Good books where you can curl up for a few hours and forget about the rest of the world around us.
I also enjoy Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. Very re-readable with memorable characters, fun adventures, and creative world-building. We get to see Harry Dresden's journey from a mere wizard-for-hire in Chicago to becoming one of the most powerful wizards on the planet with the fate of the world in his hands. Fortunately he has a great support network of friends to help him in his life's journey. I love this series and can read them again and again.
I'm sure I have many more books that I would consider "comfort books" in my library. I know I've read The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan more than once because I find myself enjoying the company of the characters in the story as they go on their adeventures, saving the world from eternal darkness. I suppose that's true of a lot of the books I read. Terry Brooks, Tad Williams, Raymond E. Feist. P.C. Hodgell, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, and now Robin Hobb are all authors I can return to again and again to enjoy their worlds and stories.
So, on a crisp autumn day, when Thankgiving is just around the corner, what books do YOU curl up with to bring you comfort?
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DOORSTOPPERS -- WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR?
Those of you who have been following what I read over time (all two of you) know that I am no stranger to reading "doorstoppers" -- i.e., novels that are several hundred pages long, many of which exceed a thousand pages each. I definitely would not recommend "doorstoppers" for novice readers. You have to work up to them.
My latest challenge is reading Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings series. It consists of 16 books, with an average page count of around 670 pages per book (I know word count is more accurate, but page count is easier for me to calculate). None of these books are quick and easy reads. She's not the most complex author with respect to syntax, sentence structure, plot, etc., but she's still very good at her craft, requiring a fair amount of attention from the reader to understand all that's going on.
Perhaps my greatest conquest to date when it comes to reading doorstoppers is Malazan Books of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. (Average page count is 975 pages per book.) This ten-volume series is among the most complex stories I've ever read. You REALLY have to be on your game when you are reading these books because they can get very confusing very quickly if you aren't paying attention. The story is also non-linear in many places as each book takes place within a different part of the same timeline, but they are all connected in some way.
Why do I read such long books? I have plenty of much shorter books I could read. I do feel pressure to read more books because of my role as a curator of the Sunday Morning Book Thread, so if I'm not reading more books, I feel like I'm not keeping up with the rest of you avid readers out there. Doorstoppers take a long time to read. I can breeze through a 250-page Star Trek novel in just a few hours as those are largely just extended episodes of the television series in novel form. Reading a doorstopper might take me as long as a full week or more, depending on how invested I am in the story and how much time I have available. (These things called "jobs" keep getting in the way of my reading.)
One thing you have to watch out for when reading doorstoppers is that the pacing is suitable for the story. I hate reading 500 pages into a book only to encounter a major slog halfway through the story. Yes, there should be an ebb and flow to the pacing, but the author really does need to keep the story MOVING so that the reader doesn't get bored and tune out right before they get to the most exciting part at the end.
I do think that reading long books has helped me develop my ability to concentrate and focus on a single task at a time. I also think they have helped me with reading more material quickly, which is why I can read a much shorter novel in a very short period of time. John Bellairs' The Face in the Frost is less than 200 pages long, and I can read that in an afternoon if I'm so inclined. (It's also a great "comfort book!") Now that I've tackled one of the grand-daddies of doorstoppers in Erikson's Malazan series, I find myself less intimidated to read long books. A 900-page behemoth like Robert McCammon's Swan Song? No problem! Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive? Sure, why not? (Though it does have a terrible ending...).
What about you? Do you enjoy the occasional doorstopper? Or do you prefer more slender fare?
MORON RECOMMENDATIONS
I finished Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson. Imagine, if you would, Ron Goulart writing gritty grim-dark science fiction. That is Stephenson's cyberpunk.
Snow Crash touches on the problem of technology subverting central authority by making the traditional prerogatives of the state available to the individual, with the countering discussion on how this turns out on the street level with differing concepts of governance playing out on the neighborhood scale, and the needs for "intergroup diplomacy". (they shoot each other a lot to make each other stop shooting)
It also touches on how modes of thought are infectious, and can be used as a form of control, and posits a VR internet world underlaying the real world.
It also violates Chekov's gun in that elements at the beginning of the story -- for one a biometrically linked nuke -- are ignored at the end of the story.
It is still a silly story.
Posted by: Kindltot at October 25, 2026 11:56 AM (rbvCR)
Comment: No argument from me that Snow Crash is a silly story. I thought it was pretty cool and hip when I first read it in the 1990s. But now it's hilariously dated in many spots. I do find it to be a fun read, though, and I will gladly throw it on my "comfort reads" pile. I've read it so many times that I've been thinking of buying a replacement copy as my current paperback edition is pretty worn out. I know it was inspired in part by William Gibson's Neuromancer. I like Snow Crash much better.
Realm of the Elderlings - Liveship Traders Book 1 - Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
I finished the Farseer Trilogy and moved on to Hobb's second series set in the Realm of the Elderlings.
Unlike Farseer, which uses first-person point of view, Liveships uses a third-person omniscient point of view, giving us insight into both the heroes and villains of the story. All of the characters are morally complicated, as the heroes are deeply flawed and the villains possess hidden virtues (well, some of them do).
It's a pretty good story about a family who has fallen on hard times and has to make difficult choices to survive while the world they inhabit changes around them. There's very little magic in this fantasy story. Most of it involves the "liveships"--living breathing sailing ships that can speak and act of their own accord. I think you could retell this story in a modern setting if you changed the "liveship" to a modern cargo vessel equipped with AI. That's how little magic is involved here.
Realm of the Elderlings - Liveship Traders Book 2 - Mad Ship by Robin Hobb
In the second book of the Liveship Traders series, the liveship Vivacia has been captured by Captain Kennit, a wannabe pirate king who seeks to use Vivacia to consolidate his hold over the other pirate ships. Meanwhile, the free city of Bingtown is being corrupted into a vassal state of the Satrap through his mercenary allies.
We also get more insight into the nature of magic as it applies to the Rain Wilds traders that are the source of Bingtown's wealth and prestige.
Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.
Disclaimer: Jack the sound barrier! BRING THE NOISE!
* I'm now contractually obligated to inform you that rickb223 is the sole recipient of a lifetime exemption from the pants rule on the Sunday Morning Book Thread. May God have mercy on us all...
In this case, they are trying to charge the companies that send data over the internet to customers in France for the data they send - at an utterly absurd 6 cents per gigabyte.
Costs to send data from a server - except for the big three cloud platforms which are wildly overpriced - start at about one cent per gigabyte at the high end, so France wants to levy a tax of 600% - on people who don't live in France.
Also, tiny problem with the article:
With approximately 154 million users and counting in France, the proposal's authors say such a tax could generate around €10 billion ($11.2 billion) in annual revenue for the government.
Yeah, I don't think so, mate. Even after being invaded by North Africa, the population of France stands at around 66 million.
Saturday Night Club ONT - October 31, 2026 [Disco & Dino]
—Open Blogger
Welcome to Club ONT - a whelming collaboration of The Disco and The Dino.
Open thread - bar is open, too. Come in in, grab a drink or 2. Or 3. Keep it light and friendly. Be careful though. The Moose is wearing a Halloween costume, so you may not immediately recognize him.
As intestinal parasites go, tapeworms are the stuff of nightmares. Though they can grow over 80 feet long in extreme cases, they often measure less than one-inch-wide. The intestinal parasites feast on their hosts, sucking valuable nutrients from mammals.
And then there's the havoc they wreak on bear butts. One bear spotted in southeastern Alaska's Tongass National Forest this summer knows all about that. The unnamed bear was spotted with multiple long tape worms poking out of its butt as it walked along Anan Creek.
For its service as a host to these long worms, the Rangers awarded this bear the 2026 Host with the Most Award. It's a reminder that nature can truly be gnarly.
Perhaps not an award one wants to win...
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Club ONT Department of Adventures in Pumpkin carving
A new USGS study reveals that an estimated 18.7 million bats have been killed at U.S. onshore wind energy facilities since 1981, far more than previously understood. By analyzing data from hundreds of wind projects, researchers identified the species most vulnerable to turbine collisions and uncovered patterns that could help reduce future bat fatalities.
The study's findings provide evidence-based solutions for decision makers. For example, the study supports previous evidence that stopping turbines when bats are more likely to be present may reduce mortality for some species.
In other words, stop wind mills unless you hate nature. The Science says so.
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Club ONT Jukebox
Bonus!
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Top 10ish Comments of the Week
Distinguished honorable mention:
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Club ONT is brought to you by the tip jar
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Club ONT will remain open for an extra hour tonight since the clocks go back an hour. Use the time wisely!
As Garrett's closet goes, these aren't the most offensive things in it!
Halloween is a silly and inoffensive pseudo-holiday that nonetheless has taken over America (and other parts of the world!). The best part is watching the wee little ones in their costumes, not particularly sure of what the hell is going on, but confident that people giving them candy is never a bad thing!
It's far better than Kwanzaa or National Executive Assistant Day or the other fake holidays that are much less fun, and almost always include a bit of hectoring and mandatory kowtowing to the demographic being celebrated.
Of course, I am an advocate for John Moses Browning Day, so maybe I am not impartial!
Before we get into the silliness of Halloween music, maybe a taste of something lovely, but with an apt name! Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered by Ella Fitzgerald
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For the second time in a row, something a little different!
"Libiamo ne' lieti calici" is usually shortened to "Libiamo," and it is one of the great and popular arias in operatic history. The opera -- La Traviata -- which means "The Wayward," or "The Wayward Woman," was written by a guy named Joe Green, and with that pedestrian a name, of course he is going to write about drinking!
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. For this week, the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) is feeling sparkly and decided on a crystal and gem theme for this Halloween Hobby Thread.
Crystals and gems? Read on, fellow hobbyists...
[Top photo: why isn't there a picture of a crystal or diamond for a crystal or diamond theme? Answer - if you had a dinosaur Halloween photo, wouldn't you post it?]
Disclaimer - I know next to nothing about crystals and gems. I barely survived chemistry and my earth sciences class did not include gemology. Like anything I don't know or understand, I respect geologists, miners, and people that understand how the science works. In addition, my small brain and short arms make mining and cutting problematic. All of that means I've gathered random content that caught my eye, but will need help from the Horde in the gray boxes to make this work.
Credit for the hobby thread theme comes from this post last week:
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The content may not be your favorite but give it a chance before you judge and bail out. More importantly, what are you hobbying? Jump in with your hobbying, interests, stories and questions.
Anything (legal) you are hobbying is welcome. If nothing resonates, offer something else relating to hobbying or just check in and say hello.
As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Leave politics and religion to threads elsewhere (unless your hobby is building or restoring churches). Pants? Nope. As always, puns are welcome and encouraged.
Play nice and do not be rude. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.
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Apparently you can grow crystals at home with fertilizer? Has anyone done this? I'm pretty sure I would cause an explosion rather than grow a crystal.
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Is faceting the same as grinding or cutting?
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Can experience overcome low end equipment? Can higher end equipment compensate for a lack of experience? Either way, this video likely proves that you don't need to spend huge dollars to get into this hobby:
Do you know Destin? Of course you know Destin. Who better to show opal mining in Australia?
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I don't know anything about leather working but this project to make a maul (mini hammer) used a lot of different crafting skills. Then he uses it on a leather project.
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Remember this guy? Interesting test. Fascinating to see the measurements. These induction heaters are impressive. Anyone have one of these in your tool kit?
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Horde Hobbying:
From Semper Why:
I bought a couple of smart bird feeders last year. One for my parents and one for my house. They're pretty slick.
The downside is that the squirrels will climb the wooden pole and eat the feeder dry in a day. I could mount it higher and put in a squirrel guard, but my 70 year-old mother would need a ladder to refill the feeder. So like an idiot I got to designing.
I built a pulley & carriage system for 3/4" electrical conduit and connected it to a volleyball net tension winch. I 3D printed the pieces out of PLA and after 4 versions, I seem to have hit on a workable design. Now my mother can raise & lower the feeder with the winch and the squirrels can't get past the guard attached to the carriage.
So far, so good. The squirrels haven't been in either feeder in a month.
Looks clever! Anyone else have home built squirrel solutions? (Perfessor excepted of course...)
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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did a geocaching theme. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.
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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Reminder: if you put links in the comments, use a URL shortener and describe what you're linking to. Failing to do either or both makes you barrel-eligible. Don't make people click to find out what you're linking.
Boo! Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Or just email to say hello. Do mighty things.
You settle onto the couch after a tiring day, and your cat curls up beside you, resting its head against your hand. Its warm fur and purring are familiar parts of your bond.
How that connection affects both your bodies is less understood.
Scientists in Japan looked for signs of that connection in two hormones. Oxytocin plays a role in social bonding and can rise during affectionate contact. Cortisol helps regulate the body's response to stress and its use of energy.
The study, published in iScience, found that owners with higher oxytocin tended to have cats with higher oxytocin, too. Higher feline oxytocin was also associated with fewer negative emotions and lower cortisol in owners.
How these associations arise is still unclear. Petting is one possible explanation, lead author Saho Takagi of Kyoto University told ScienceAlert.
Courtesy NorCal Sierra Foothills Lurker
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Think these numbers are accurate?
The speed of dogs and big cats https://t.co/ueUPAPL3oI
In the Old World, people carved turnips and gourds into lanterns to scare away evil spirits. In America, they used pumpkins instead. Irish legend says a fellow named Jack was barred from hell for being too tricky, and had to walk the earth carrying a lantern lit with an ember the devil gave him. His name was Jack of the Lantern—or, as we say today, Jack-o'-Lantern.
This reminded me of my mom's childhood experience in Switzerland (no Halloween in Switzerland at the time 1940s) but there was a festival she told me about that was held around Halloween time.
She said kids carried hollowed out turnips that were illuminated with a candle and paraded through the street. The turnip lanterns were carried on a stick. I remember my mom telling me that she and her brother carried a hollowed out pumpkin instead!
Pumpkins of course were popular in America during autumn, and because my mom's papa was born in America he was familiar with pumpkin carving and pumpkin pie, which was not a "thing" in Switzerland.
My mom used to tell me how all the kids were very impressed with the large pumpkin lantern that my mom and her brother carried in the parade. She said her father had hung their pumpkin from a long stick that she and her brother held at each end.
Wish I had an old photo of that! My grandpa did take many photos for that era...but alas, no pumpkin parade picture. I did find pictures online about the Turnip Parade. Today it seems they create turnip sculptures too comprised of many turnips. Here’s a few of turnip lanterns. (Rabelichtli-meaning turnip and "lichtli" small light, and together they make a turnip lantern)
I closed the comments on that post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.
I think this is it on the flower sales front for this year, ending on quite a high with these 2 jars ❤️🍁💐
I don’t make wreaths (they’re just not me) so I’ll be getting everything ready for spring and no doubt buying more dahlias and lots of seeds 🙄😂
Have a good evening 🍁💐🍁 https://t.co/VtKZs4WauB
One of the greatest ironies of the COVID era, for me, was watching people whose self-concept revolved around championing multiculturalism, Indigenous wisdom, and respect for non-Western traditions suddenly demand absolute conformity to a single Western biomedical approach to health.
Traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, and countless Indigenous healing traditions around the world emphasize the health of the whole organism, its environment, and the cultivation of balance and resilience over fighting a particular pathogen.
Yet during COVID, discussions of these perspectives—overall health, fitness, mental health, nutrition, and internal balance—were met with ridicule and even censorship, while people who refused the novel allopathic pharmaceutical intervention were excluded from most aspects of society.
It was so dark that it was hard to appreciate the parody. People whose entire cultural narrative revolved around multiculturalism were insisting that everyone conform to the dominant Western biomedical establishment—a system consolidated through Rockefeller-era reforms, backed by oil wealth, that marginalized traditional approaches to medicine.
Anyone who refused to conform to the system during the Covid era was treated as an ignorant savage, too stupid or dangerous to participate in society.
Edgar Allen Poe turned his terrors into art, revealing a darker truth about the American dream. His nightmares are ours, too.
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It looks like Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) has been gutted, perhaps beyond repair. It’s an important historical site & lasting monument to the Führer’s monomania.
I wrote about a visit there for @LawLiberty in 2023: https://t.co/9L3ZiCSQGT
Yours truly in the lift. 1/2 https://t.co/vCZcIbI8Xi
— Helen Dale (not on your team, but always fair) (@_HelenDale) October 24, 2026
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The Founding
October 31, A Daily Dose of the American Rev
On this day in 1780 General Nathanael Greene wrote George Washington, expressing his great concern over the condition of the army in the Southern Department (of which he was about to assume command) and describing his pleas for arms and provisions. “I shall have the satisfaction of having done all in my power,” he concludes, “and if there is not public spirit enough in the people to defend their liberties, they will well deserve to be slaves.” The entire letter is a good read and a very interesting look at how desperate the situation was as the fateful year 1781 approached.
Philadelphia October 31st 1780
Sir,
On my arrival at this place I laid your Excellency’s letter before Congress and addressed them on the business of the Southern department. I am happy to inform you that my appointment is perfectly agreeable to their views and wishes. But I am sorry to acquaint you that from the best account I can get of the state and condition of the troops in that quarter, nothing is to be expected from them, unless large supplies can be forwarded from the Northward. They are altogether without clothing and blankets, and totally unfit for any kind of service. To carry them into the field in this condition will only fill the hospitals and sacrifice the lives of a great many valuable men. Arms are not less wanting than Clothing, and Waggons as much as either. Men I believe may be had if it was in our power to equip them for the field. But how we shall do this is difficult for me to imagine. Congress can furnish no money, and the Board of War neither clothing or other necessaries. Indeed the prospect is dismal, and truly distressing.
I beg your Excellency to urge unceasingly the necessity of forwarding supplies for the southern Army, as it will be impossible to carry on a winters campaign without clothing.
I have laid before Congress an estimate of our wants; but there is not the shadow of a prospect of their being furnished unless constant attention is paid to the business. And I am apprehensive as soon as I am gone, and no one left to urge our wants they will soon be forgotten.
The late success of the Militia against Col. Ferguson, I am in hopes will be attended with good consequences. It will give a severe check to the Tories and spirit and confidence to the Whigs. A report prevails this day that Lord Cornwallis has retreated precipitately from Charlotte, towards Camden.
The detachments of the Enemy that sailed lately from New York are landed at Portsmouth in Virginia; and it is said the shipping are pushing up the rivers. The troops have taken possession of the great bridge, by which I am told they command all the lower Counties.
How to employ our little force if we are attacked both in Virginia and N. Carolina at the same time is difficult to determine. My first object will be to equip a flying Army to consist of about eight hundred horse and one thousand Infantry. This force with the occasional aid of the Militia will serve to confine the enemy in their limits and render it difficult for them to subsist in the interior country.
I see but little prospect of getting a force to contend with the enemy upon equal grounds and therefore must make the most of a kind of partizan war until we levy and equip a larger force.
Such was the difficulty of getting provisions and providing the means of transportation that Genl Gates writes in his last letter that the Army was in the utmost danger of disbanding.
Congress have invested me with the same powers they gave to Genl Gates, and annexed Maryland and Delaware to the Southern department.
The arrangement of the Army has taken place, and I hope upon a footing which will render it more respectable than it has been, provided the business of Finance can be got into some regular order: but that is our weak side; and I wish our distresses may be painted in their true colours to the Minister of France, as he intimated to Baron Steuben that your Excellency did not appear to be apprehensive of any difficulty from the state of our affairs.
I have made application to the Merchants of this city for clothing for the Southern army; but they excused themselves as having engaged more already than they can perform. I intend to try to put subscriptions on foot in Maryland and Virginia for the purpose of supplying clothing. Whether it will produce any good or not time only can determine. At any rate I shall have the satisfaction of having done all in my power; and if there is not public spirit enough in the people to defend their liberties, they will well deserve to be slaves.
General Knox promised to send forward a company of Artillery if your Excellency approved thereof I wish they may come forward without loss of time. This State have promised to lend me one thousand stand of Arms upon a promise of their being replaced which I beg your Excellency to give an order for, as this was the only footing they could be obtained upon. I have the honor to be With every sentiment of respect and esteem Your Excellency’s Most Obedient Humble Servant.
The conjunction of Halloween and the midterms could be considered ominous, but it’s good for meme-makers. Otherwise, this week’s news was mostly last week’s news–riots in France and Ilhan Omar, still unsure about whom, exactly, she has been married to.
Comments are closed on the thread above so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on a week-old thread. But don't try it anyway.
FRANCE: For a carefully-worded piece which might help someone who is not too far gone over to the left understand that the problem with immigration in France is not just about recent immigration, consider sharing this piece on Mere Anarchy by Theodore Dalrymple.
The Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival
—Misanthropic Humanitarian
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 Denton.)
1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate. Don't forget to say a prayer or three.
2) Be kind, be nice. Vote early and vote often.
3) Running with sharp objects is really not a good idea.
4) Have a great weekend!!!
Please submit any prayer requests to me, “Annie’s Stew” at apaslo at-sign hotmail dot com. Prayer requests are generally removed after four weeks unless we receive an update.
Prayer Requests:
9/18 – Random Dave posted an update to his job progress. He is still looking for FT work, but has accepted a substitute teacher position (more flexibility for interviews, some income to slow the bleeding). He asks for prayers that the interview results he is waiting on will get back to him soon, especially if one is the “right job”. If any are “not the right job”, they would fall away soon and get back to him, and that if all of them are “not the right job”, the ‘right job” would show itself aggressively, so he doesn’t miss it! He also thanks the Horde and the folks at church for their prayers and support.
8/14 Update – Random Dave needs continued prayers for his job situation, that God would guide him to the right one soon, and also for prayers for M’s grandmother, who fell the other day and tore a ligament.
10/22 Update – M’s grandmother is healing well. She is mostly mobile now (on crutches), and occasionally has bouts of bad pain. They praise God for the healing and humbly request additional healing. Random Dave reports no real change on his job situation. He continues to pray for God to make the path known as he applies, and periodically deal with “good” interviews that end up going nowhere.
9/18 – Brother Tim posted that he has been overnight in his car more than indoors. He is convinced that his retirement/resignation was a severe error, a result of fatigue and depression. He asks for prayers.
10/17 – Bother Tim posted that he has been in the hospital for 3 weeks.
10/10 – Just Some Guy asked for prayers for his former work colleague, who had a heart attack and stroke.
10/10 – Mile, okravangelist, requested prayers for Mama Publius, for grace and fortitude, and that she passes in her sleep. Mama Publius is in home hospice care.
10/24 Update – Mama Publius passed away this past week.
10/14 – NR Pax requested prayers for a friend, whose husband died on 10/10 after a long illness.
10/17 – Pooky’s Girl posted that she is in the hospital, because Wee Pooky is threatening to come early at 30 weeks.
10/24 Update – Pooky’s Girl’s contractions have been stopped. She is at 31 weeks along, so every week that Wee Pooky stays put is less time in the NICU.
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.
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Goodbye Horde, I am stepping away from the blog. I have volunteered to fill in if needed but this is goodbye to the Coffee Thread & The ONT. Everything is fine. It's just time to walk away. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for making the Prayer Thread the most uplifting Thread anywhere on the web. Be well my friends.
I say "ish" for two reasons: First, half the funds were immediately frozen and cannot be transferred further; second, it's a bit like bank loans: When you lose $1000 in Bitcoin, you have a problem; when you lose $6.3 billion in Bitcoin the blockchain has a problem.
The attack was bootstrapped through a compromised devops laptop. The developer themselves didn't have access to do this, but they had access inside the corporate firewall so more sophisticated attacks could be launched bypassing that level of security entirely.
That's bad. It apparently doesn't affect the mainstream Claude Code interface, only that extension for that IDE on that particular marketplace, but that's another firewall bypass in a very widely used tool.
This is a small test run - only 1000 watts of power - and is intended to examine radiation and thermal stresses in the real environment before further deployments.
A local station used to run a Halloween Dance commercial. It's not good. Coincidentally, a commenter, maybe nurse ratched, linked this in the comments today. But I had already had it in this post. (I've been collecting Halloweeney links for a few weeks.)
"Cry Little Sister" from The Lost Boys. Don't blame me, Garrett told me to post it.
In True Stories of TikTok Witchcraft, a witch asked women (of course) to send in the names of the men who had wronged them. She intended a mass spell that would curse all of these male-factors in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, the women who submitted the names were cursed themselves -- getting fired out of the blue, having car accidents, even being diagnosed with serious maladies. Well, the real TikTok witches condemned the first witch for performing her witchcraft wrong so it Reverse Uno'd the women who wanted the men cursed.
Public service announcement: Only get your curse spells from TikTok witches approved by the Better Blasphemy Bureau.
Real, supposedly, and accomplished with pretty cheap materials:
Case Closed: Deportations of Criminals Reduce, Get This, Crime
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Update to Ada Brown story: This account, @capablanca_92, says that Ada Brown was pushed on Trump by, get this, Severely Conservative Stalwart John Cornyn.
A heretical thought, but give the man a chance to make his case.
The U.S. has been running a real-time experiment on two approaches to criminal justice: the Biden-era emphasis on social justice versus the Trump administration's embrace of traditional law and order. The results are now in.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported this morning that felony violent crime fell 25% in 2025. Rape declined 13%, robbery fell 27%, and aggravated assault dropped 31%. Property crime fell 19%. Except for rape, these are the largest one-year reductions recorded since data collection began 53 years ago.
The reductions followed substantial increases during the previous four years, when felony violent crime rose 59% and violent crime, including misdemeanor simple assault, increased 42%.
Murder also declined sharply last year. The U.S. recorded about 4.1 murders per 100,000 people in 2025, a record low, down from roughly 5.1 per 100,000 in 2024. The murder rate has continued to drop. If preliminary FBI data showing an additional 18.4% decline during the first seven months of 2026 hold for the full year, the murder rate would fall to approximately 3.36 per 100,000.
"We are witnessing a historic plunge in crime to levels never seen before in the United States," Professor Carl Moody, a crime researcher at the College of William & Mary, told RealClearInvestigations. "As a result, we are all safer in our communities than we ever have been. We should all thank our law enforcement professionals."
Lott notes two reasons for a decline in crime: Trump takeovers of law enforcement in two high crime cities, DC and Memphis, as well as greater prosecution of crime, even in leftwing cities like San Francisco, which replaced a Soros prosecutor who would not punish criminals with a somewhat less extreme liberal.
Read the article for that.
But I want to get to the deportation factor:
The crime decline has also coincided with increased immigration enforcement. While data indicate that legal immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born citizens, illegal immigrants commit crimes at a far higher rate. The Department of Homeland Security says approximately 70% of illegal immigrants deported under the Trump administration had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.
The trend represents a reversal from the Biden years, when felony violent crime increased sharply as illegal immigration also reached record levels. During the Biden administration, at least 12.8 million illegal immigrants were encountered at the border, apprehended after illegal crossings, or classified as known gotaways. The total also excludes undetected border crossings. During some surges, officials pulled 80% or more of Border Patrol agents away from guarding the border, while 30% of the cameras in Border Patrol's main surveillance system were broken. These gaps potentially allowed millions more illegal immigrants to cross the border undetected.
State prison data also illustrate the potential relationship between illegal immigration and crime. At the end of 2025, 7,113 illegal immigrants were incarcerated in New York, accounting for 14% of the state's inmate population, at least 3.4 times illegals' share of the state population. That is the best data available, but even that data understates the total because New York does not systematically identify inmates' immigration status, and federal authorities can deport some illegal immigrants before they complete their sentences.
He also points out that law-abiding Americans are arming up, which is a huge deterrent to violent crime, at least in areas with a strong gun culture.
Researchers point out that the historic decline in crime coincided with more aggressive law enforcement, tougher prosecution policies, increased deportations of criminal illegal immigrants, and more Americans carrying firearms for self-defense. "The results are unmistakable," said professor Gary Mauser, who has extensively studied crime at Simon Fraser University in Canada. "Americans experienced unprecedented drops in crime rates in 2025, and rates are continuing to fall in 2026. The government's most comprehensive measure of crime shows that the improvement was far greater than the FBI's widely publicized figures suggested."
The four-week moving average was 200,000, a decrease of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average, the department also said.
Unemployment claims are a proxy indicator for layoffs, and they signal to economists where the job market is headed. So far this year, claims have remained below 220,000, which is a historic low.
American paychecks grew faster than the rate of inflation, which was totally not the case under Biden. So obviously Trump is a disaster.
American households have seen the buying power of their paychecks grow under President Trump, a welcome change from years of watching real compensation fall thanks to runaway inflation.
The average private-sector paycheck has grown faster than prices since President Trump took office, Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show. And in recent months, real pay is growing even faster.
From January 2025, the month Trump was inaugurated, through August 2026, average weekly earnings of all employees on private payrolls rose from $1,222.14 to $1,298.94, a gain of 6.3 percent. The Consumer Price Index rose 4.8 percent over those 19 months. Adjusted for inflation, the weekly paycheck was up 1.5 percent. In January 2025 dollars, that is a gain of about $18 a week, from $1,222 to $1,240.
The most recent three months were stronger. From May to August, the average paycheck rose from $1,285.91 to $1,298.94, or 1.0 percent, while prices were essentially unchanged, up 0.05 percent. Real weekly pay rose 1.0 percent in that span, about $12 a week. August is the latest month for which both earnings and prices are available. The September price index is scheduled for October 14.
Over the four years of the Biden administration, the paycheck shrank after inflation. From January 2021 to January 2025, average weekly earnings rose from $1,047.55 to $1,222.14, a gain of 16.7 percent. Prices rose 21.4 percent. Real weekly pay fell 3.9 percent. In the dollars of January 2025, the paycheck went from about $1,272 at the start of that administration to $1,222 at the end, a loss of about $50 a week.
U.S. service-sector activity expanded in September at the fastest pace in more than five years, with technology businesses leading a broad advance as stronger demand encouraged companies to increase hiring, according to a survey released Monday by S&P Global.
The Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 58.8 from 56.5 in August, marking its fourth consecutive monthly increase and the strongest expansion since July 2021. Readings above 50 indicate growth compared with the previous month.
Activity increased across all five broad services sectors covered by the survey for the first time in ten months. Information and communication businesses reported by far the strongest expansion, while transportation and storage returned to growth.
...
Export orders also increased for a second consecutive month, although their growth was much slower than the rise in total new business. The pace of export-order growth matched August's 20-month high.
Companies responded to rising workloads by adding workers for a third consecutive month. The pace of services job creation was the strongest since June 2022. Some businesses reported that they had been able to fill previously vacant positions.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.4 percent in the third quarter of 2026 (July, August, and September), according to the advance estimate released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). In the second quarter, real GDP increased 2.2 percent.
...
Compared to the second quarter, the acceleration in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected an acceleration in investment and an upturn in government spending that were partly offset by a downturn in exports. Imports increased more in the third quarter than in the second quarter.
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The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 3.0 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 5.6 percent in the second quarter. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 2.1 percent, compared with an increase of 5.0 percent, and the PCE price index, excluding food and energy increased 2.5 percent, compared with an increase of 3.3 percent.
The conventional wisdom is that voters form their opinions about the state of the economy six months before an election. They do not update their opinions with late-coming information.
So this will not help us in the midterms. I guess maybe we could guess that people felt this growth before it was officially reported, but Gallup says economic confidence is low and has been for a long while.
Email confirmed as once used by the Muskily Heterosexual James Talarico found in leak of emails of Fling.com sex dating site:
An email address that James Talarico's attorneys confirmed belonged to and was at one time used by the Texas Democratic U.S. Senate candidate appears in a database search result associated with the adult dating website Fling.com's 2011 data breach. A Fling.com account was created with Talarico's email address just before Talarico began teaching sixth graders.
The result lists the username "mohawk787" and an account creation timestamp of December 26, 2010, at 20:56:49. The profile's interests field lists "FETISH," "GROUPSEX," "SEXUAL RELATIONS," "ONLINE FLIRTING," and "OTHER."
Townhall shared the information described in this article with the Talarico campaign and requested comment Friday morning, and in response, a mere 35 minutes later, received a four-page, detailed letter from legal counsel for Talarico that addressed some, but not all of the information described in this report.
"Well I can't believe the trans-child-obsessed Confirmed Bachelor James Talarico is into group fetish shit," said noted void phantom Doctor Nullity, The Man Who Never Existed
I'm not the guy who noted this, I saw it on X (Razib Khan maybe), but The Bulwark could be "audience capture". It might have started as the Frum / 90s-Kristol / NRO classic Eisenhower Republicanism. But nobody was reading the Bulwark except leftists.
Tallyrand has a quote on this, "I am their leader so I must follow them".
Same goes for David French, Christianity Today, and the "Anxious Bench" side of Patheos. They may have started out Christian. But it wasn't Christians signing their checks.
Flashback: "trans man" Lawyer freaks out after a judge denies "his" motion. He's ultimately arrested. "He" makes so much drama he was just recruited to develop a new CW show.
I'm just wondering if this flighty high-calorie pyrsyn is also in the news today for other reasons....
Update: No, it's not. Zee/Zem says they's name is like "Rob Hopkins" or something. Story here, courtesy of The Blade
[Song title]
Don't breathe down my neck, no
I got no trophies on display
I sign them away
I mean what the heck
All of your promises
Don't fill me with pride no
I just wanna get out on the floor
And do the Cuban slide, slide, slide, slide
From Anonosaurus Wrecks:
@NBCNews
Although Brazil's presidential election took place more than 4,000 miles away, the baseless conspiracy theory that it was stolen raced through the American right-wing media.
Podcast: The Brazil and Israel elections, the evil left, and more!
We call on France to exercise restraint when dispersing the freedom fighters on the streets of Paris. These brave warriors for justice must receive immediate humanitarian aid, and their safety must be guaranteed in accordance with international law. Failure to comply will leave us no choice but to bring a case before the ICJ, in close cooperation with that renowned champion of human rights, Afghanistan.
Forgotten 80s Mystery Click: Garrett's Sus iPod Edition Everybody wants you
Everybody wants your love
I'd just like to make you mine, all mine Just imagine he's singing that to a dude. BTW I thought this was a completely different band from Garrett's Sus iPod, the Bay City Rollers.
Podcast: The Nobel Peace Prize farce, Ilhan Omar in hot water, Talarico's disappearance, Guilfoyle is a crook, Should Nidal's execution be streamed, Bugs Bunny, and more!
