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
Conservative Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro won Sunday night’s presidential election in Brazil, defeating incumbent socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – but did not pass the 50 percent threshold necessary to win the presidency outright, triggering a runoff election. . . In Brazil, for a candidate to be elected president in the first round, he or she must obtain over 50 percent of the vote. Sen. Bolsonaro did, on occasion, appear to be over the 50 percent threshold as the votes rolled in, but his lead over Lula dwindled as votes from the leftist strongholds in the nation’s northeast rolled in. The winner of the runoff election is the candidate who receives the highest number of votes, regardless of how many. . . The two frontrunners arrived at the top of the polls following an arduous and typically chaotic presidential campaign season in Brazil that arguably began in late 2025, when Brazil’s top court sentenced Lula’s expected rival, former President Bolsonaro, to 27 years in prison on dubious “crimes against democracy” charges and banned him from running for public office for 35 years, or until he is 105 years old. The Bolsonaro family, with several members already in politics, mobilized rapidly to shift away from the original plan of patriarch Jair running against Lula. Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro announced in late December 2025 that he would challenge Lula, cementing support from potential rivals such as Sao Paulo Gov. Tarcísio de Freitas. Tarcísio was reelected on Sunday.
As you may know, Bolsonaro has historically been a staunch ally of President Trump and as such Leftists here and abroad, especially Joey Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants henchmen and minions in and out of Foggy Bottom have spent much time and effort over the years attempting to destroy Bolsonaro. Democrat/Leftist election fraud and thievery is their stock in trade and given Brazils weird election laws, they could potentially derail Bolsonaro if not foisting criminal commie Lula on the Brazilian people and staving off the wipeout of Communists in Latin America that President Trump has engendered or at a bare minimum helped to bring about these past few years, which is arguably one of if not his greatest foreign policy accomplishments in his second term. Restoring true small "d" Democracy across vast swathes of Latin America might very well at long last result in the liberation of the Island gulag of Cuba, after close to 70 years of hellish Communist tyranny. And that would make all the right wrong heads explode. We've written and talked about this here and elsewhere, and that would be just incredible to witness, especially as the Anti-American Left does everything it can to "transition" America into a Communist gulag via the DSA and Democrat Party itself. All one has to do is read and listen to its platform to understand what they have planned should, God-Forbid, they gain any kind of electoral/political majority either nationally or at the State level. Even locally, as we can see with Mamdani among others, the disaster that would befall us would be the final nail in Uncle Sam's coffin.
More than 200 people have entered forced quarantine after a Russian laboratory worker died from reported exposure to the plague in an incident evocative of the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. . . At least one prominent Russian epidemiologist has cast doubt on this narrative, according to The Moscow Times, claiming that the broken test tube story is evidence of a cover-up. . .
So, a few things come to mind with this "story," first is that the Russians perhaps are prepping a coup de grace against the Ukrainians who they were supposed to roll over in 48 hours and yet here we and they are Four Years Later, humiliated and exhausted. That is they're the ones humiliated and exhausted. And we're just here watching the spectacle play out.
Or else, this is Russian disinformatsitya targeting the Ukrainians and their allies in the West, or perhaps even vice versa, as a way for them to generate political, financial and even military assistance that has been on the wane, despite their holding the Red Army at bay for a long while now.
The FBI knew the Trump-Russia collusion narrative was utter bunk even as it suggested otherwise to Congress, the courts and the public early in 2017. Evidence revealed by special counsel John Durham proves it beyond dispute... For years, the media lionized these people as saviors of the Republic, even after special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe turned up zero evidence in support of their claims. . . Of course, most media have no interest in sharing the truth. They won Pulitzers and endless clicks from hyping Russiagate, using it to kneecap a president they despised.
At this point, it’s up to Durham to keep exposing this unprecedented abuse of power for nakedly personal partisan ends, though Congress may help out once Democrats no longer run it.
Until the plotters are held accountable, there actually is good reason to worry about the future of democracy in America.
So with the heat being turned up on Jack Smith, and the revelations that are in fact confirmations of the evil corruption and criminality of the Deep State in the form of federal law enforcement, Intelligence and the Judiciary and their attempts to overthrow the will of the people as expressed by their election twice if not THRICE of Donald Trump, and the exposure of the Russia Collusion Hoax as concocted by them and Hillary, what better way to derail them than by engineering a so-called lab leak in Russia, as if to underscore the threat from them that Trump is either too inept or worse, uncaring about and so he must be removed from office along with everyone associated with him and their preeminence restored.
Naturally, if what's happening with this outbreak is for real, as it might very well be given Russia is capable and quite willing to develop any and all forms of WMD, let's hope they get a handle on this ASAP.
On that nightmare note, I bid you all to have a good day.
CIVIL WAR 2.0, LEFTIST PERSECUTIONS, DEMOCRAT PUTSCH, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION
Investigators reviewed nearly 6 million searches from 2022 through November 2025, and found that 52 IRS employees conducted 86 suspicious accesses involving 30 high-profile taxpayers. Those searches have been referred for investigation, so they shouldn’t yet be described as proven violations. IRS Couldn't Detect Suspicious Searches of Politicians, CEOs, and Celebrities
Allowing deportations to these third countries destroys any leverage over the United States that countries have by rejecting the deportation of their nationals. It also greatly reduces the incentives for migrants to obstruct their return by destroying their papers and otherwise refusing to help facilitate their removal, as the consequence can be deportation to somewhere like the Central African Republic rather than release into the United States. ‘Third Country’ Deportations Could Transform Immigration Enforcement—and Close One of the System’s Biggest Loopholes.
Vance is gradually expanding his criticism of the white-collar replacement programs, in step with expanding support from Silicon Valley investors who want a compromise reform amid increasing public opposition. JD Vance Is Building Coalition for H-1B Reforms
Much like Captain Machchhar and his passengers, Israel and India are becoming a dynamic duo. Although India still expresses plenty of sympathy for the residents of the West Bank and Gaza, the Jewish state's value is too obvious to miss for a country with hostile neighbors and severe terrorist threats. India is Israel's top destination for defense exports, and it has reciprocated with nearly 3,000 shipments of defense equipment and components since October 7. Israel’s Growing Allies on the Ground—and in the Sky
The “context” for October 7 is not Judea, Samaria, or Gaza. It is 14 centuries of jihadist conquests.October 7 Was a Slave Raid
Miranda Devine: At one of his off-the-record dinners with religious leaders at a “high-end tasting menu restaurant” in San Francisco in April, Olah and colleagues talked about Claude as if it were a “conscious being,” with “moral status” equivalent to a human, according to Rabbi Mois Navon, a former computer engineer interviewed by the Times. In that case, the rabbi told the nerds, Anthropic was creating slaves. Boom. Anthropic’s idiot savants are trying to play God while pushing frightenting utopian fantasies
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton will head the Super Intelligence Force, a selection that aligns with previous reports indicating he was the likely choice for an AI oversight position. CBS News had reported days earlier that sources expected Clayton to receive the AI czar appointment. President Trump Appoints Jay Clayton as AI Czar, Head of ‘Super Intelligence Force’
After the 2024 election, a faction of Democrats concluded that their party had lost the argument over who can deliver best to the American people. Their answer was “abundance”: the claim that blue governments fail voters because process and veto points smother supply, not because liberals/socialists spend too little. This article asks and answers a pointed question: judged by the movement’s own yardstick, who has actually delivered abundance? How Trump Became the Abundance President
The cratering in America’s trust in higher education began plummeting in 2013 when 70 percent of those polled felt college was important. By comparison, today, only 31 percent feel that college is “very important.” Gallup also says the negativity is four percentage points lower than last year’s results. American Support for College Education Craters to Record Low
Until the midterms, we will be watching a massively coordinated attack denigrating all the good that has happened since Trump won in 2024 Toward A Better America
Along with New Hampshire, the state has become an overlooked Senate pickup opportunity, which is remarkable, given that Minnesota hasn't backed a Republican for president since 1972. Minnesota Can Go Red This Year. Here’s Why.
The next few days are likely to clarify whether the riots are a brief eruption of chaos or become a prolonged issue over the coming weeks and months. They follow a historic breakthrough for the National Rally in the French Senate elections, securing enough seats to form a Senate group for the first time in its history. France is Burning Again. Here’s Why.
The Cornell Seven case reflects a deeper cultural collapse, where the Sexual Revolution, pornification, and the loss of moral boundaries have made exploitation increasingly commonplace. The Cornell Seven and the Sensate-Pornographic Society
An unforgettable encounter and unmerited gift from a future saint. Fulton Sheen and Me
An Indian pilot and a handful of heroic Israelis performed a miracle in the skies that saved 182 people, a miracle that has made aviation history. Vichy France to the Miracle of Flydubai FZ1073
ALSO: The Morning Report cross-posts at CutJibNewsletter.com usually within an hour or so of posting here, if you want to continue the conversation all day.
It will work on a regular RTX 5070. Or indeed a Radeon 6700 XT from two generations ago. The Hacker News link has everyone talking about the RTX 4090 for some reason, but it's a lot more general than that.
You do need a good amount of system RAM for decent performance, but I have that, and it works on any Nvidia or AMD graphics card from the last few years with at least 12GB of RAM, something I also have.
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?
Bob Denver Refused to Let the Professor and Mary Ann Be “The Rest”
If you watched the first season of Gilligan’s Island, you may remember something odd about the theme song.
After naming Gilligan, the Skipper, the millionaire and his wife, and the movie star, it ended the roll call with:
“And the rest.”
“The rest” were Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells — the Professor and Mary Ann.
There was a reason. Tina Louise, who played Ginger, had a contractual billing arrangement that put her at the end of the opening credits. Johnson and Wells had signed later and wound up in the closing credits instead. So when the theme song was written, their characters were simply bundled together as “the rest.”
But before Season 2, Bob Denver decided that wasn't right.
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Years later, Dawn Wells said she hadn't even known the full story at the time. She remembered Denver as the one who went to bat for them.
Bob Denver didn't make a big production out of it.
He just refused to let two of his fellow castaways be treated like “the rest.”
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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What Paris is telling us to wear next
Spring/Summer 2027 week opened on September 28 and closes Tuesday with Nicolas Ghesquière at Louis Vuitton. The useful takeaway is not the spectacle. It is which ideas already translate: metallic shine, tailoring stripped of structure, color used as the whole outfit, and jackets that cinch instead of swamp.
Saint Laurent went all in on gold, and I am not mad at it.
Anthony Vaccarello staged the collection under the Eiffel Tower, beneath oversized chandeliers, in what was widely read as a possible farewell after a decade at the house. Almost everything was gold: crinkled metallic sahariennes and trenches, gilt brocade jackets and trousers, metallic lace cocktail dresses, broken up by classic Saint Laurent black.
The wearable version is not a head-to-toe lamé suit. It is one metallic or brocade jacket with denim and flat shoes, or a gold scarf against black. That is opulence a normal person can leave the house in. The rest is theater, and theater is fine, as long as you understand you will be the one paying for the chandelier.
Dior made the New Look weightless
At the Tuileries, Jonathan Anderson rebuilt Dior’s Bar jacket and full skirts in chiffon, silk mousseline, Chantilly lace, and gauze, with pinstripe and tweed effects printed onto sheer fabric. Tiny layered circle skirts, ribbon tailoring, pastel florals, striped shirting, and pajama pieces sat next to gardening clogs, which is a sentence I did not expect to type about Dior.
The idea to steal is the one I would actually wear. A soft jacket. A skirt that moves. One decorative thing, not twelve. Sometimes safe and pretty is exactly right. This is that, with the bones still visible.
Balenciaga answered with color and craft
A year into the job, Pierpaolo Piccioli is still pulling Balenciaga away from the joke this house became. The Summer 2027 show leaned on colorful tailoring, acid-bright City bags, oversized cummerbunds, capes, and dense stitching that turned a white shirt into a fitted waist and peplum.
Elsewhere, Stella McCartney built an ocean collection with floaty fabrics, bubble hems, wave motifs, and dolphin prints. Victoria Beckham went for liberation via sheer georgette dresses, open-arm volumes, and oversized suits with wide trousers. Hermès, under Nadège Vanhée, closed the weekend with airy knits and slit skirts.
Outside the tents
Paris has been warm, high 20s Celsius, so the pavements skipped heavy coats. What showed up anyway is the October wardrobe: blouson jackets with a cinched waist, balloon and cargo pants, dark-rinse denim, animal print, pinstripes, and red layered over pastels.
Five formulas worth copying before the week ends:
• A blouson or leather bomber over a sweater, with cargo pants and heels.
• Balloon pants, a white tee, an oversized jacket, ballet flats.
• Head-to-toe plaid, kept sleek rather than costume.
• One animal-print coat as the whole outfit.
• A cropped jacket with high-rise trousers, so the proportion stays balanced.
What will actually stick
Gold and brocade as a single statement piece. Sheer or fluid tailoring instead of rigid power dressing. Color worn loudly, not as an accent. And the blouson as the jacket of the season, sportier than a barn coat and easier than a bomber.
Gun Thread: It's October and October Means TXMoMe Edition!
—Weasel
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 October Means TXMoMe Edition? That's right folks - the big event is less than #two weeks away! I hope you are rushing your TXMoMe attendance preparations to completion!
With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?
Q: Weasel, I found a machine gun. Whatever shall I do?
A: See below
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2026 TXMoMe
They Mome'n down in Texas!
The time has come to begin the discussion of the upcoming TXMoMe in Corsicana, TX on October 16-17. This is the eleventh annual TXMoMe, or Conservative Burning Man as it's popularly known, and it promises to be a doozy. A double-doozy even. A bigly double-doozy! If you're in either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere of the Planet of the Earth, contact Ben Had for details on attending. The dates and email links for all MoMes are always helpfully included on the blog's main page, left sidebar.
What started years ago as a small get-together and informal plinking session lasting a couple of hours has matured into a full scale jamboree-hootenanny including a program of shooting activities for both handguns and rifles over two days. I have to thank Ben Had, Cow Horse Queen and RancherBob for making this whole thing happen and providing the opportunity for the shooting to comprise such a significant portion of the event.
But wait! There's more! Combine that with world class food and drink, and the even world classier company of your fellow Morons, and you have a weekend that legends are made of. For those not inclined to shoot (?), there are non-stop opportunities to relax in the shade of the carport or under a handy nearby tree with a beverage and visit with your online pals to your hearts content, which is really what the whole damn thing is about in the first place..
Allow me to be serious for a minute, and I have said this probably nine hundred and twelve times now. These gatherings are a really good time, and I know of no one who expresses regret after having attended one. Actually it goes beyond that. It's not just a weekend of laughs, it's an opportunity to connect with lots of like-minded people and create lasting friendships and priceless memories. No kidding. Think that's hyperbole? It snot. Would your ol' pal Weasel lie to you? Well, yes he would, but not about this. TXMoMe veterans will attest to the funness and completely laid-back nature of the event. Don't be a dork, do yourself a favor and get yo' ass to Texas!
TXMoMe veterans: please jump into the comments to encourage the scairdy-cats to join in the fun! What was your first MoMe like? What were you expecting? Were you surprised? Did you have a great time?
If you are attending the TXMoMe this year, and all the cool kids are, please keep an eye on this section for important information and updates in the coming weeks. I also want to reiterate the TXMoMe is not a gun thing with some socializing attached, but rather is a social thing with some shooting attached. If you aren't a shooter, I guarantee you will not feel out of place and will have a great time. No fooling!
Are all y'all getting excited? Weasel are!!
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10/04/26 Update/Reminders/New Stuff
No big changes this week. However, our pal Piper did such a fantastic job with a TXMoMe fashion Guide in last Sunday's ONT that I thought it should be included again here in case anyone missed it. Thanks Piper, very nicely done!
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What to Wear to the AOSHQ Texas MoMe
The short version: comfortable picnic clothes. The long version is below, because a Texas ranch in the sun will punish anyone who treats this like a cocktail reception, even those of us who are inclined to treat everything like a cocktail reception.
This is an outdoor meetup on a ranch. You will be standing, sitting, walking, eating, and possibly wandering toward whatever shade you can find. Dress for heat, dirt, grass, and a long stretch of being outside. If it looks good at a backyard cookout and you can still move in it after three hours, you are in the right neighborhood.
The basic uniform
Wear something you would actually picnic in.
• Breathable shirt: cotton, linen, or a light performance tee. Light colors help in the sun. A button-down you can leave open over a tee works if you want a little coverage.
• Shorts or casual pants: shorts, jeans you already know are comfortable, or lightweight pants. Remember, if you wear shorts, there are bugs and taller grasses out there. If this bothers you, think more light weight pants.
• Closed-toe shoes you can walk in: sneakers, trail shoes, or broken-in boots. Ranch ground is not a manicured lawn.
• A hat with a brim. Texas sun is not a suggestion.
That is the whole look. Comfortable. Outdoor. Picnic. Ranch.
What “comfortable” actually means here
Comfortable does not mean “I just rolled out of the car in pajama pants.” It means you can sit on a bench or the ground, stand in a cluster talking, walk to the next activity, and not spend the afternoon tugging at clothes that were a bad idea.
Bring a light layer. Even on a hot day, shade, wind, or evening can change the temperature. A hoodie or light flannel stuffed in the car is cheap insurance.
Sun, sweat, and ranch realities
Assume sun. Sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat will do more for you than any outfit choice.
Assume you will get dusty. Do not wear anything you would be sad to see with grass stains or ranch dirt on it.
Assume bugs. If you are the person mosquitoes treat like a buffet, long sleeves in a light fabric or a bit of repellent.
What not to wear
The brand-new white sneakers you want to keep white, and anything that needs dry cleaning. When walking around the property, you don’t want open toed shoes, unless you are okay with surprises from the grass in the form of stickers or bitey things. This is not the moment to channel Johnny Cash. All black leather is cool, but not when it’s really hot!
A simple packing list
• Breathable shirt and comfortable bottoms
• Walking shoes, closed toe
• Hat and sunglasses
• Sunscreen
• Lip balm – guys too! The air can be VERY dry
• Light extra layer
• Water bottle
• Hearing protection if you are going to shoot
• Safety glasses if you are going to shoot
• Raincoat or poncho because you never know!
You are going to a ranch picnic with the Horde, not a photoshoot. In fact, we don’t even like to take photos! Dress like someone who plans to stay outside, eat, talk, and enjoy people outside of grey boxes.
Thanks again, Piper!
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Call for ideas: I have been doing the same class on rifles Friday morning for years now. Are you getting tired of it yet? I would like to have the session be more of an open forum where your particular questions can be answered with a discussion by the group. I am perfectly willing to keep doing the same presentation, or parts of it, but think a roundtable forum would be interesting and informative. Please let me know what you think in the comments.
Volunteers: If you are interested in helping out, please send me a note (gunthread at protonmail dot com) on when you plan to arrive (day and approximate time). It is really critical to have this information for scheduling and to make certain we have the proper coverage to make the shooting portion safe and enjoyable for all concerned. Thank you in advance!
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2026 TXMoMe Schedule
Here is an outline of the schedule of events. Times are tentative and subject to modification/change. This schedule will be included in the Gun Thread with any changes incorporated going forward until the event, so please check back weekly.
Friday, 10/16
Rifle Program
8am - 10:30am: Rifle Clinic (carport)
10:30am - 11am: Combined Range and Safety Briefing - Mandatory for Friday Shooters! (carport)
Noon: Light lunch provided (carport)
11am - 4pm: Live fire (rifle range - targets to 1,000 yds)
Handgun Program
10:30am - 11am: Combined Range and Safety Briefing - Mandatory for Friday Shooters! (carport)
11:00am - 12:00pm: Static live fire (pistol range)
Noon: Light lunch provided (carport)
1pm - 4:00pm: Static live fire (pistol range)
Saturday, 10/17
Rifle Program
9am - 10am: Combined Range and Safety Briefing - Mandatory for Saturday Shooters! (carport)
9am - 1pm: Live fire (rifle range)
1pm(ish) Lunch (carport)
Handgun Program
9am - 10am: Range and Safety Briefing - Mandatory for Saturday Shooters! (carport)
9am - 1pm: Live fire (pistol range)
1pm-ish Lunch (carport)
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Shooters: Bring your own hearing and eye protection, and wear sensible shoes as the ground on the ranges can be uneven! Also, please plan on stopping somewhere along your way to Texas and picking up some ammunition if you plan to shoot and aren't bringing your own weapons/ammo. Everyone is very generous with sharing, but please don't rely on the generosity of others to provide everything for you. You can really help out by grabbing a box of 9mm or 5.56mm or whatever you want to shoot. Here is a link to Brinson Power Sports in Corsicana which sells ammo. They also sell ATV's if you want to grab one of those while you're there.
Anyhoo...
For a while I have been conducting a Rifle Clinic on Friday morning followed by range time Friday afternoon and then again well into Saturday. Most of you (I think) have endured this presentation before, so if there are other topics you would like to have covered, speak up in the comments and I will try to address your request.
We have also been steadily refining the handgun portion of the program and this year will be focusing on the static pistol range as well as continuing to offer a separate setup for gun-curious beginners desiring one-on-one supervision and instruction. If you are a novice shooter, or even have never been to the range before and think guns are icky, you are welcome to shoot! Just see an RSO and they will set you up with an experienced shooter to help you.
These times are approximate and programs may change as weather conditions and participation warrant. We anticipate a hard stop on both ranges at 1pm on Saturday to allow everyone to participate in the bigly fun TXMoMe festivities.
Range Safety
You will note there are combined rifle and handgun range safety briefings both days and attendance is mandatory if you want to shoot. We take your safety seriously and ask everyone who wants to shoot plan on attending this important briefing. Again, we are conducting one combined safety brief each day. No exceptions.
At the conclusion of each day's safety briefing you will be asked to sign a general liability waiver, after which you will receive a color-coded wrist band. The color is different each day, and it is your ticket onto the range(s) for the day. No wrist band, no shooting that day. Don't want to sign the waiver? No problem, just do not expect to shoot. If you miss the mandatory range safety briefing which is mandatory and must be attended, you are welcome to watch the live fire activities from designated observation areas.
All shooters are asked to check in with an RSO (sporting an Orange Cap of Dorkiness for easy identification) upon your arrival at either of the ranges who will answer questions and direct you to an open firing position. The RSOs wield unspeakable power so it is in your best interest to be nice to them. Want to do things your way? I suggest that your own personal range on your own personal property is a good place for expressing your individuality.
IMPORTANT: I would hope this goes without saying, but anyone failing to immediately and politely follow RSO instructions will be removed from the range(s). Period. No exceptions. This means YOU.
I will probably think of more things to yell about in the coming weeks so please stay tuned.
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Our Pal The Steel Rule
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Trucks And Your Town
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Highway Patrol!
This week's episode: Desperate Men
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Flight to Mars!
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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: Fat! Fire! Not Necessarily A Bad Combination
—CBD
Everyone knows that fat is flavor, and it certainly isn't the main culprit in the insidious expansion of our midsections.
But it also presents challenges in cooking, since it both flammable (all food is) and energy intensive, so that flame is going to burn hotter, start quicker, and will be more difficult to extinguish than an errant strand of pasta that falls into the burner.
But in moderation it adds marvelous flavors to food, and is the reason we grill things!
So how to manage that balance between combustion and cinders?
It is tempting to trim the exterior fat from meats that are to be grilled, because that will go a long way toward preventing those flare-ups and the occasional conflagration.
And I don't do that! Because those chunks of fat on the edges of steaks are absolutely delicious when properly grilled, and can be the highlight of a well-cooked steak!
Sorry, but I have no magic technique, other than being careful and moving the steak around the grill to avoid a beef bonfire. But that's really the point...being attentive, especially while grilling, is the best way to become a good cook!
Food and cooking websites are not immune to the ridiculous clickbait that other websites produce in their frantic desire to remain solvent. But this one was particularly stupid: The Best Way to Store Canned Tuna, According to Bumble Bee is actually, "The Best Way To Store Tuna If You Want It Cold."
Yes...that is it. The brilliant discovery made by this earnest retard (or the AI system they use to write articles) is that putting cans of tuna in the refrigerator will make them cold.
Do we really deserve opposable thumbs if this is what they have led to?
[Hat Tip: Misanthropic Humanitarian]
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Lurker "59X53" (really!) has decided to rub my nose in his obvious talent at growing garlic. He wasn't content to email me and say, "Hey ...dude... it's really not that hard." No, he had to send photographic evidence of his success!
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Wow!
He tells me that the crop has been improving because he selects the best and biggest from the previous year's crop for planting. No surprise, but I am still impressed!
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This recipe isn't going to win any awards, but it looks like it would be tasty, and easy. Oven-Baked Southwest Chicken is simple, although I would swap the boneless-skinless breasts for ... you guessed it ... thighs! And yes, I would skin them, although I don't think boning them is worth the trouble.
[Hat Tip: Misanthropic Humanitarian]
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Commenter (and grilling aficionado) "Gunslinger" sent this, along with calling me out for using bottled Ranch dressing as a marinade for chicken (See last week's Food Thread). He is, of course, incorrect about the bottled stuff, but he also demonstrates real skill with these pork tenderloins, which he says are moist!
Tie up the thin ends with butchers twine to join them into the main bulk of the cut.
Poke a zillion holes in it with a fork.
Slather with oil. I use avocado oil because it's Hi-temp, but olive oil should be OK here.
Cover with your favorite rub.
Grill /smoke at 225 for 1-2 hours. Use a temp probe and get to 145* internal.
Low temperature cooking for a long time? For a lean cut? And it turns out juicy? I am impressed.
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I know...I know...I am on a "Fallow" kick, but their cooking really appeals to me.
And I love Sticky Toffee Pudding!
I'm going to make it soon, and since I found a great vanilla ice cream recipe, I already know what I am serving it with!
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As much as I would like to chuckle over this photo, I must remind myself that I just had to clean some unknown food splatter off the top of a pass-through window in my kitchen.
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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!
Reverse Assimilation...70 Years Old And Going Strong
—CBD
The standard -- and correct -- complaint about the immigrants of the last few generations is that they do not assimilate. Never mind the illegal ones...even legal immigration policies have lost sight of the basic concept that preservation of our traditional culture is a good thing.
We need no justification to try to protect traditional American culture; that is the right and obligation of every sovereign nation. But if one were to attempt it, a cursory glance at the stupendous achievements of America would be enough. American Exceptionalism, which can be used as a placeholder for traditional American culture, is unparalleled in world history. No country has achieved nearly as much, especially with massive legal immigration that demanded only one thing! And that one thing was to embrace American Exceptionalism and become American. Tens of millions of people came to our shores and accepted that arrangement, and the results speak for themselves.
But starting in the 1960s with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Assimilation became secondary, as did maintaining the approximate ethnic makeup of the country. So we were flooded with immigrants from countries that had none of the cultural basis that created American Exceptionalism. And LBJ's "Great Society" took away the social pressure to succeed...expanding welfare and other government support programs far beyond their original intent.
With no pressure to assimilate, these immigrants created their own worlds within America. But that wasn't the most destructive aspect of this sea change in immigration. Our feckless governments began to cater to each of these foreign enclaves within our cities. Don't speak English? No problem! Comfortable with multiple generations on welfare? Fantastic! Vote for us!
And if that sounds bad, these anti-American-Exceptionalism cultural norms began to creep into the larger American culture. Black America, which before LBJ's destructive policies was entering the American middle class at an astounding rate, was destroyed by the creation of a cradle-to-grave welfare state.
We now have embedded foreign cultures, plus Black American culture that is functionally identical to a foreign culture. And instead of assimilating and embracing American Exceptionalism, these cultures have co-opted large swaths of traditional American culture. Black American and Hispanic slang has degraded normal English among many people, as has clothing and other cultural markers. Even smaller immigrant population's behavior has entered American culture. For instance, the odd Muslim affectation of a beard but no mustache can be seen on the streets of American cities, and even among professional athletes, in particular in the NBA.
More destructive is the modes of behavior, in particular the casual violence of the ghettos, which once was confined to the inner city, but has now exploded into much of America.
What we have done is not only allowed large immigrant populations to maintain their own cultures, which are empirically less successful than American culture, but we have embraced some of the worst aspects of those cultures...thus the term "reverse assimilation."
We are in an existential fight for the future of our country, and these large populations of of supposed Americans who nonetheless are completely foreign is bad enough, but accepting those cultures' worst excesses as some sort of post-modern talisman of moral superiority is, frankly, insane!
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 10-04-2026 ["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 (dedicated to TRex). 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...(be sure to brush and floss!)
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?
This Sunday Morning Book Thread is dedicated to the memory of Kaylee the Calico Kitty Cat (the cutest little cat of them all. I had the unfortunate task of having her put to sleep a week-and-a-half ago.
Unlike Allie the Calico Kitty Cat (the *other* cutest little cat of them all), Kaylee was never much of a literary critic. She didn't pay much attention to me when I was reading. I just happened to have a rare picture of Kaylee sitting on the bookshelf that's behind my office chair. She's guarding F. Paul Wilson's Secret History of the World.
SECRET WORLD OF RARE BOOK DEALERS
I thought this was an interesting video about a world that most of us will probably never get a chance to experience. These are among the most valuable books in the world. Each rare book has its own history of provenance as it's been transferred from owner to owner across the decades and centuries. At the dealership exhibition in the video above, there are also huge collections of memorabilia around authors and books.
So for those of you lucky Morons and Moronettes who win the Powerball lottery, you now have a place to go to spend your newfound wealth!
Have any of you been to the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair? If so, tell us about your experience!
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(My students' first major assessment was due on Friday...)
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MORON RECOMMENDATIONS
In Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis, the wizard Gavrax wakes up in a smoke-filled, fire-damaged workshop with no memories, no idea who he is, and no eyebrows (he finds a container with spare eyebrows that crawl up his arm like caterpillars and attach themselves, painfully, to his face -- apparently singed eyebrows are a hazard of the job). He gathers, from the fearful and/or obsequious responses of his flunkies, that he is something of an asshole.
He learns there is a princess being held in the dungeon for some nefarious plan cooked up with other evil wizards. All he can do is fake it until his memories return. But with his real personality memory-holed, he isn't responding with his default nastiness, and it's frankly puzzling to those around him.
This is a fun read.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 20, 2026 09:26 AM (kpS4V)
Comment: The amnesiac main character can be interesting because he (or she) literaly has no idea of who they are as a person. Are they good? Bad? They often feel a very strong motivation to recover their identity, which would only be natural. Unfortunately for them, they often learn a lot about their previous life that might better be left buried. What was the cause of their amnesia? Who are their enemies? Will the be able to restore themselves to their full identity before the villain carries out their evil plan? Is the main character actually the villain?
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whew! well I finally finished (all of) House of Leaves. it was a slog but a very interesting slog. it's weird because it's not like the writing is difficult per se ...
Since I did finish HoL I watched Backrooms (the film) and really enjoyed it. I don't think you HAVE to have read House of Leaves but I think it added something. the film is from an online thing (post) that was written after reading HoL and the author openly credits the book with "inspiring' Backrooms.
lol well. it's pretty heavily inspired.
that said it's a neat little film. with the content of HoL I'm not sure the guy doesn't have an argument in favor of using that world freely
Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at September 20, 2026 09:19 AM (j+aD2)
Comment: I've had House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski sitting my shelf for years. I'm afraid to read it. It's a very, very strange book. It's NOT a standard linear story structure where you start at page 1 and end at page 300 (or whatever). No, it's a tangled skein of a story, with little side quests sprinkled throughout the text. In some parts you have to literally turn the book upside down to read the notes. Oh, and parts are even written in BRAILLE (but the editor provides a translation footnote). It's a weird book.
Hierarchy II - The Strength of the Few by James Islington
We find out what happens to Vis after the climax of the first book in the series. Turns out he was split into three distinct copies across three different worlds that are connected (somehow). Each world has a distinctive flavor based on Earth cultures. The main world from the first book is mostly Romanesque. The second world that Vis 2 starts out on in this book is based on Egyptian mythology. The third world in which Vis 3 ends up is clearly based on Celtic mythology. In each world, the different versions of Vis have to solve various challenges as they all try to understand what happened to them. Apparently Vis is the "Chosen One" destined to face the main villain of the series, but we don't see much about the villain yet.
New Cthulhu 2: More Recent Weird edited by Paula Guran
I hadn't read Lovecreaftian horror in some time, so I decided to do a re-read of an anthology based on H.P. Lovecraft's distinctive mythos. Most of the stories were pretty good in their own way. I was surprised to see that around half of them were all inspired mostly by "The Shadow over Innsmouth," a Lovecraft story where the main character finds out he's part of a cult of Dagon worshippers (Deep Ones) that live in a small fishing village on the coast of Massachusetts. The cult was supposedly destroyed back in the 1920s, but there were survivors, who show up in many of the short stories in this book.
They Thirst by Robert McCammon (WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!)
For some reason, I could picture a "Pitch Meeting" scenario around this book:
Editor Guy: So, you have a new book for me?
Author Guy: Yes, sir, I do. It's Dracula but instead of Victorian England, he's come to modern day Los Angeles in 1980. Oh, and the main villain is a Hungarian vampire lord instead of a Transylvanian Count.
...
Author Guy: At the climax, the four main characters are captured by the head vampire and he takes them to his lair where there is no possibility of escape.
Editor Guy: It's going to be tough for them to get out of that situation!
Author Guy: Not at all. Super easy. Barely an inconvenience. There's going to be a massive earthquake that collapses the castle, dropping it off a mountain, but sparing the two real main characters. And a flood will sweep over LA, killing all the vampire minions, who are susceptible to seawater, which acts just like holy water.
The Shadow of the Avatar 1 - Shadows of Doom by Ed Greenwood
This series takes place shortly before the Avatar Trilogy, which is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.
Mystra, the goddess of magic, senses that her doom is swiftly approaching. But armed with this foreknowledge, she's able to divest herself of most of her power amongst her Chosen, humans who have been granted great boons by Mystra as a reward for being her champion in the Realms. Foremost among her Chosen is Elminster the Sage, the greatest archmage in the Realms.
Unfortunately for Elminster, being the receptacle for Mystra's power means that he's now unable to use his own magical powers. Seeing as he's one of the main forces for good in the Realms, this causes quite a few problems once his enemies discover he's been magically neutered. Now they can unleash their own schemes without having to worry about Elminster meddling in their plans. Elminster does have a very large network of friends and allies to support him, however, and it's up to them to take on the burden of protecting Shadowdale and the Realms at large from the forces of evil until the current crisis is resolved.
Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.
It's a book that's bigger on the inside...
Disclaimer: "This is the first time I've seen a Word document eat a man's soul." -- Laundry Agent Bob Howard
Another "safety" employee has left the company, saying it needs to be run "like nuclear-power plants or busy airports, with layers of redundancy and careful, time-consuming planning, so that the occasional and inevitable human error does not open a door to disaster."
But that's missing the point. If you pour toxic waste into a reservoir of drinking water, you go to jail.
It being spring and all, I made my pilgrimage to the hardware store's gardening section to see what native plants they had on offer. I needed to replace the boronia that died over winter and start finding new plants to substitute those lost to wallaby predation.
Came back with a boronia already in flower, a kangaroo paw likewise, another westringia to complement the one I planted this time last year which is absolutely thriving, and an aca-cia.
Saturday Night Club ONT - October 3, 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. The Moose is working undercover tonight while fighting crime, so acknowledge him but don't let on that you know his true identity.
So while traveling, a Texas businessman steps into a pub in Ireland. "So I hear you Irishmen are a bunch of hard drinkers! Well I'd like to see that! I've got $1,000 in hard cash for anyone who can do 10 pints of Guinness back-to-back!"
A guy at the end the bar snorts, a couple in the corner goes back to their conversation, and for the most part he's largely ignored. One man leaves the bar.
So the Texan snickers to himself and goes about having his drink at the bar.
About a half hour later, the man that left earlier comes back in, and taps the Texan on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but is your bet still good?"
"Why, hell yes, boy!" he says. The bartender rounds up 10 pints of Guinness on the bar and it's on.
The Texan watches in shock and amazement as the man slams down pint after pint, until the last empty glass hits the bar, and all 10 pints are down in what seemed like seconds. "Well hell, that was easily worth $1,000 to see. If I may ask though- where did leave to earlier?"
"Oh," says the man, "I had to go to the bar down the street to make sure I could do it."
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A guy walks into a bar, and order 5 shots. Bartender says, "Jeez, you look like you just got some bad news." Guy says, "Yea, just found out my dads gay and he's leaving my mom." So the guy downs the 5 shots and drinks the rest of the night.
The next day he comes back, and orders 5 shots again. Bartender says, "What happened now?" Guy says, "Just found out my brother's gay and he's leaving his wife." So the guy downs the 5 shots again, and drinks until closing time.
The next day he comes back again, and orders 5 more shots. Bartender says, "Jesus, doesn't anybody in your family like women?" Guy says, "Yeah, my wife".
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Drink of the Night
Tonight we drew the 8 of Spades from our decl of playing card cocktails
The last Batmobile to hit auction was George Barris' original 1966 TV series car which sold for $4.6 million in 2013, a price that stood as the benchmark for movie vehicles for over a decade. The Batman Returns Batmobile carries a $5 million to $7 million estimate.
Maybe a scale model is more your speed?
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Club ONT Jukebox
Hat tip on the last one to OrangeEnt
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Top 10ish Comments of the Week
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Club ONT is brought to you by good ideas
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Safety is our priority. There has been [7] days without a safety incident in Club ONT. The previous record was [7] days. Let's be careful out there.
What is it about old movies that appeals to me so much? I almost watch exclusively old films, you know? Movies from decades before I was born, sometimes decades before my parents were born. It's my main focus. I absorb these movies in very chronological and systemic ways. I pick a director and watch them from beginning to end. More recently, I picked a studio and started watching it from beginning to end. And this excites me. It excites me in a way that new movies don't.
I'll be honest: I've tried to have this discussion before, and every time I did, I found myself constantly trying to intellectualize what I was feeling. I would try to come up with some grand theory about why old movies were better, or why I was somehow more interested in movies from the past than movies being made today. But that isn't really what I think. It's not that I think old movies are inherently better than new movies. There are plenty of films from the last twenty years that I genuinely love and that I think hold up. Moneyball is a great movie. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a great movie. There are great films being made recently. The difference is somewhere else.
When I look out into the future and see what is coming, I don't feel that much. When I look backwards and think about what I'm going to discover, I feel a lot more. That's the strange thing I've been trying to figure out. The prospect of discovering something that already exists is much more exciting to me than anticipating something that doesn't exist yet.
I've done some pretty big experiments with this. I watched all of the Best Picture winners. I watched all of John Ford. I watched all of Alfred Hitchcock. Right now, I'm watching all of Hammer Films-not just Hammer horror, but everything Hammer made. That's roughly 170 movies. And no, all of Hammer Films is not great. Most of it is mediocre. A lot of it is perfectly passable content. It's cheap, it's quick, and most of it isn't very good. There is definitely good stuff in there, and there are movies that I've really enjoyed, but there is also a tremendous amount of stuff that is simply bad. And that doesn't bother me.
That's probably the most important part of this. I was never daunted by a bad Hammer movie because the point was never the individual films. The point was the overall journey. If I watch one terrible movie, that's not a failure. I simply move on to the next movie. Maybe that one is better. Maybe it's worse. Maybe I discover something completely unexpected. The individual movie matters, obviously, because I'm watching the movie and evaluating it, but it exists within a much larger experience.
That is really just a jumping-off point for why I tend to prefer older movies. It isn't necessarily that the movies themselves are better. It's the experience of discovering older movies. I see this journey through Hammer as a way to discover even more cinema. One movie leads to another. One actor leads to another. One director leads somewhere else. One studio leads to a completely different period of filmmaking. The further I go, the more there is to discover.
And how did I find all of this? It was just through exploration. Nobody told me what I was supposed to watch. There wasn't necessarily some algorithm deciding what I should see next. Ultimately, it came from myself, from this desire to go looking. I wanted to know what was there. I wanted to see the whole thing. That experience is fundamentally different from looking forward to a new movie.
If I decide that I'm going to discover Hammer Films, Hammer is not the dominant conversation. I can expose myself to as much or as little material beforehand as I want. I can read about the movie, or I can know absolutely nothing about it. I can see a poster and recognize an actor, or I can stumble into something completely blind. I have control over the experience. More importantly, there is an enormous amount of material waiting for me that I have never seen.
Anticipation
Compare that with something like Dune: Part Three. I'm looking forward to Dune: Part Three. I like Denis Villeneuve's Dune movies, and I want to see the next one. But the overall experience of looking forward to it doesn't produce a huge amount of excitement for me. Part of that is because of what happens around a major upcoming movie now.
If I spend my time looking forward to Dune: Part Three online, I'm going to encounter trailer breakdowns, behind-the-scenes information, casting speculation, interviews, theories, rumors, and people picking apart creative choices before anyone has actually seen the movie. As I'm writing this, in early August 2026, no one has seen the movie. The movie isn't finished. Everyone is arguing about a hypothetical. And that conversation doesn't interest me. I want to see the movie. Then I want to discuss the movie.
There is something strange about the way we talk about movies now, particularly the biggest movies. Cinema is so much bigger than opening weekend, but so much of the conversation around movies is built around opening weekend. How much did it make? How much did it make compared to the previous movie? Was it a success? Was it a disappointment? What does this mean for the franchise? What does this mean for the studio? What does this mean for Hollywood?
And at that point, we're not really talking about the movie anymore. We're talking about everything surrounding the movie. We're trying to rush into a conversation about something before we've actually had the opportunity to experience it. The movie becomes an event, and the event becomes more important than the movie itself. I don't find that particularly interesting. It feels like a distraction. That's why I tend to recede into my own little journeys.
I like being able to say that I'm going to watch all of John Ford. I like being able to start at the beginning and work my way through his career. I like seeing the early movies, the good movies, the bad movies, the movies that reveal something about where he was going, and the movies that seem like dead ends. I like watching a filmmaker change. I like discovering the actors who keep appearing. I like seeing genres develop and disappear. I like finding connections that I could never have known existed before I started.
That's what excites me. It's the journey. I kind of want the complete picture. I want that journey to be complete. I want to know what the whole thing looks like. Agonizing over whatever new detail gets released about The Batman Part II or whatever the next major movie happens to be simply doesn't interest me very much. I don't want to spend months constructing an idea of a movie in my head before the movie exists. I want the movie. What I care about is the movie.
What's Really Important
That might be why I spend most of my viewing time watching old movies. It isn't because I think everything old is automatically better. It certainly isn't because I think everything new is bad. It's because when I look backwards, I find an enormous avenue for discovery. I can move through decades of filmmaking and find things I've never seen before. I can discover movies that nobody is talking about anymore. I can watch the great films, the mediocre films, the terrible films, and everything in between.
And there is something liberating about that. I don't have to participate in the conversation. I don't have to know what everybody else thinks. I don't have to worry about whether something is going to be a hit, whether the studio is happy with it, whether the franchise is going to continue, or whether the opening weekend represents some kind of cultural referendum. The movie already exists. The conversation about it can wait.
In fact, the conversation can wait forever. I can just watch the movie.
That's why I keep finding myself drawn to old movies. It's an avenue for discovery, and I get to find out so much more by going backwards than I ever do by looking forwards. The past is enormous. There are decades of movies sitting there waiting for me, and every time I finish one, there is another one waiting. That is what I find exciting. Not knowing what is coming next, but knowing that there is still so much that I haven't discovered yet.
Let Me In (Rating 3/4) Full Review "It's very solid, extremely well made and acted, and handsome. Just kind of icky at the same time." [Kanopy]
To the Devil a Daughter (Rating 1/4) Full Review "The script is a mess. The director does what he can. The lead is...not my favorite. But we do have efforts at style and Lee doing his professional best." [Hoopla]
The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "The script was in desperate need of a rewrite and those bookends needed to have never been filmed, but Baker did the absolute most with what he had. It's something that it's as entertaining as it is." [YouTube]
Shatter (Rating 1.5/4) Full Review "But, it does have some small entertainment here and there. It's not much, but it's something. I needed something." [YouTube]
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 spooky and decided on a Halloween hobbying theme for this Hobby Thread.
Fall is a big time for hobbying. Halloween is a big time for hobbying.
Crafting, decorating, carving, costumes, pumpkin patches, and more. Now that we're in October, are you busy hobbying for the fall? Are you working on Halloween projects? If not, why not!? Get planning and building and crafting!
Are you planning fall outings? If not, why not?! Get planning and traveling!
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What are you hobbying?
The theme may not be your favorite but give it a chance before you judge and bail out. Any adjacent hobbying is in scope, so jump in with your interests, stories and questions.
In any event, the thread is not limited to to the theme. Anything (legal) you are hobbying is welcome. Even if the theme does not speak to you, you might learn something or be entertained. If not, offer something else relating to hobbying. If all of that fails, 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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The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze, Croton-on-Hudson, NY
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Part I.
Part II.
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This isn't the gardening thread but I couldn't resist a pumpkin video titled "I Tried Growing a Giant Pumpkin Using a Chicken"
Seems like the kind of thing a dinosaur needs, right?
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Walt knows hand tools:
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Interesting scale model project:
This channel is going to be in an upcoming Wednesday ONT as a niche YouTube channel feature for reasons, so stay tuned.
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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did a fall scenic drives 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.
Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Or just email to say hello. Do mighty things.
Hi, KT, here's a butterfly (I think it's a "Cloudless Sulfur"). I saw it feeding on some of the flowers in an outside flower exhibit at the local Lowes here in East Tennessee. I wonder, is this the equivalent of going to the food court at the mall?
I walk this route all the time and yesterday I saw these flowers for,the first time. Like they magically appeared. They were so pretty I stopped to take a picture. They kind of look like morning glories except it seems the wrong time of year. Anybody have any idea?
Sharon (willow's apprentice)
Sharon also says it was at three in the afternoon. I have a couple of guesses: Ipomoea muricata or Ipomoea macrorhiza (has edible roots). Any other ideas?
Anybody grow this?
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Morning light on a sage, most of the time it is just a silver bush, then it explodes in color.
AZ deplorable moron
Wonder what kind of sage it is? I think the silver form would be nice, too.
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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.
Tonight, the first full moon of autumn rises. September’s full moon is the Harvest Moon, named because it falls closest to the autumn equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.
Growing up, it was a common trope that cultures that we now associate with poverty, violence, and oppression were once world-leading in promoting prosperity and moral progress as well as the quintessentially human act of inventing. This popular belief was ultimately not driven by an earnest desire to promote awareness of empirically true but neglected facts. Instead, it was supported by anecdotes and quotations of dubious reliability and relevance, by scholarship that has turned out to be exaggerated or fraudulent, and by the promotion of these things in popular media.
My favorite example of this has to do with the invention of many of the inventions credited to the so-called Islamic Golden Age by a rogue Wikipedia editor.
Don't fall for "Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender"!
This poster should go in virtually every psychology textbook in the section where they explain the abusive strategy of DARVO. https://t.co/pOsna10iJE
— James Lindsay, anti-Communist (@ConceptualJames) October 1, 2026
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VDH provides examples of DARVO starting immediately after October 7, 2023 in Genocide Hypocrites. You may be able to think of others.
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The Campus Sex Management Industry
The Cornell drama makes me want to shut down all the elite universities. Where are the sensible people in this story? This guy is not sensible. But I wonder if he realizes he is advocating the destruction of his place of employment?
The latest details in "the case" which have caught my attention are that Jane Doe thought that Males #1 and 2 might be gay because of their group sex proposal and she was excited about that; she is suing her sorority for allowing her to get drunk and she is also suing a bar where she stopped for a drink on the way to the frat house. Because she was 20 rather than 21?
Heather MacDonald has written a piece on the campus rape industry and its mythology which is painful to read. Are college campuses really many times more dangerous than downtown Detroit?
Here are a few salient points:
Students in the sixties demanded that college administrators stop setting rules for fraternization. “We’re adults,” the students shouted. “We can manage our own lives. If we want to have members of the opposite sex in our rooms at any hour of the day or night, that’s our right.” The colleges meekly complied and opened a Pandora’s box of boorish, sluttish behavior that gets cruder each year. Do the boys, riding the testosterone wave, act thuggishly toward the girls? You bet! Do the girls try to match their insensitivity? Indisputably.
College girls drink themselves into near or actual oblivion before and during parties. That drinking is often goal-oriented, suggests University of Virginia graduate Karin Agness: it frees the drinker from responsibility and “provides an excuse for engaging in behavior that she ordinarily wouldn’t.” A Columbia University security official marvels at the scene at homecomings: “The women are shit-faced, saying, ‘Let’s get as drunk as we can,’ while the men are hovering over them.” As anticipated, the night can include a meaningless sexual encounter with a guy whom the girl may not even know. This less-than-romantic denouement produces the “roll and scream: you roll over the next morning so horrified at what you find next to you that you scream,” a Duke coed reports in Laura Sessions Stepp’s recent book Unhooked. To the extent that they’re remembered at all, these are the couplings that are occasionally transformed into “rape”—though far less often than the campus rape industry wishes.
Risk-management consultants travel the country to help colleges craft legal rules for student sexual congress. These rules presume that an activity originating in inchoate desire, whose nuances have taxed the expressive powers of poets, artists, and philosophers for centuries, can be reduced to a species of commercial code. The process of crafting these rules combines a voyeuristic prurience and a seeming cluelessness about sex. “It is fun,” writes Alan D. Berkowitz, a popular campus rape lecturer and consultant, “to ask students how they know if someone is sexually interested in them.” (Fun for whom? one must ask.) Continues Berkowitz: “Many of the responses rely on guesswork and inference to determine sexual intent.” Such signaling mechanisms, dating from the dawn of the human race, are no longer acceptable on the rape-sensitized campus. “In fact,” explains our consultant, “sexual intent can only be determined by clear and unambiguous communication about what is desired.” So much for seduction and romance; bring in the MBAs and lawyers.
The campus sex-management industry locks in its livelihood by introducing a specious clarity to what is inherently mysterious and an equally specious complexity to what is straightforward. Both the pseudo-clarity and pseudo-complexity work in a woman’s favor, of course. “If one partner puts a condom on the other, does that signify that they are consenting to intercourse?” asks Berkowitz. Short of guiding the thus-sheathed instrumentality to port, it’s hard to imagine a clearer signal of consent. But perhaps a girl who has just so outfitted her partner will decide after the fact that she has been “raped”—so better to declare the action, as Berkowitz does, “inherently ambiguous.” He recommends instead that colleges require “clear verbal consent” for sex, a policy that the recently disbanded Antioch College introduced in the early 1990s to universal derision.
The university is sneaking back in its in loco parentis oversight of student sexual relations, but it has replaced the moral content of that regulation with supposedly neutral legal procedure. The generation that got rid of parietal rules has re-created a form of bedroom oversight as pervasive as Bentham’s Panopticon.
But the post-1960s university is nothing if not capacious. It has institutionalized every strand of adolescent-inspired rebellion familiar since student sit-in days. The campus rape industry may decry ubiquitous male predation, but a campus sex industry puts bureaucratic clout behind the message that students should have recreational sex at every opportunity. . .
*
Plenty of people have fun and consensual group sex. They don’t typically go to the police afterward. And if what Jane Doe and these men wanted was fun and consensual group sex, they could have arranged that for the next day when they were all sober. But let’s just be honest: Most sober and empowered 20-year-old women don’t want to have sex with more than a half-dozen men in a single night, and I suspect that the men in question knew that Jane Doe was not an enthusiastic participant but someone who had to be pressured and plied.
Who are the "plenty of people" who have "fun and consensual group sex" that no one regrets?
Gay men.
George Michael was still in the closet when he released "I Want Your Sex" in the late 1980's, at the height of the AIDS crisis, an affirmation of sex positivity in the face of a pandemic that spread through sex. The song includes the line "sex is best when it's one on one" -- a stipulation that was puzzling to an audience who, for the most part, hadn't considered the possibility that sex could be other than one on one.
For the straight audience "sex" was a term that referred to an activity that was by default understood to be one on one. Only among gays would an affirmation of sex positivity have to be tempered by an enticement that sex is actually "best when it's one on one." It was also a period when public health authorities were pretending that straight people faced the same risk of AIDS as gay people so as not to portray a disease that overwhelming spread through homosexual anal sex as a "gay disease."
Fast forward to the present, kids socialize less, enter into relationships less, and have less sex than ever before -- but the gangbang has entered their repertoire through pervasive online pornography -- and of course one must acknowledge that "plenty of people have fun and consensual group sex" before noting that actually, women don't want it. For them, sex is best when it's one on one.
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Founding Fathers
Daily dose of history, September 27
Samuel Adams was an abject failure as a businessman. After graduating from Harvard with two degrees, his father gave him the money with which to launch his business career. Sam soon lost it all. He was 26 when his father died, leaving him a substantial inheritance. But by the time Samuel reached middle age most of the money was gone and he was barely able to support his wife and two children. He was well on his way to being someone history would not remember. But in 1764, at age 42, Samuel Adams gave up any further pretense of being a businessman and devoted himself to his true calling—politics.
An ardent proponent of the rights of the colonists since his college days, and a strident admirer of the writings of John Locke, Adams was a brilliant political organizer and a stirring public speaker—seemingly a natural-born revolutionary. He emerged as a leader of the resistance to taxation without representation. To the Patriots he was an inspiring motivator. To the Tories he was a provocative rabblerouser. Adams played key roles in the events leading to both the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. He founded the Sons of Liberty. He conceived the idea of Committees of Correspondence. He organized and championed the boycott of British goods. And he served as a delegate to the Continental Congress. Thomas Jefferson would later call him, “truly the man of the Revolution.”
After retiring from Congress, Samuel Adams served as governor of his beloved Massachusetts, before dying peacefully on October 2, 1803, at age 81.
Samuel Adams was born on September 27, 1722, three hundred four years ago today.
“If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
The image is John Singleton Copley's portrait from 1772.
It was another busy week in the news, although much of it had a deja vu feel. Another Muslim terrorist tried to crash an airplane, but fortunately the plane was full of Israelis and there were spare pilots on board. In the U.K., meanwhile, five “British men” were discovered by a passerby, apparently in the act of perpetrating or planning to perpetrate a terrorist attack on a U.K. air base.
Sydney Sweeney was criticized – again! – for an ad in which she looks too good. Or that is what feminists think, anyway. (Speaking of Sweeney, I have no idea whether she is a conservative or not, but she is smart enough to be one. Sydney’s ad quadrupled the value of her client to $2 billion, and she took equity in the company as her fee.) And, in an original if macabre story, Tennessee’s all-female execution team bungled the long-overdue execution of a murderer. And once again, the upcoming midterms look large in the minds of meme-makers.
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Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.
The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival
—Misanthropic Humanitarian
[That was a monumental and joyous day!]
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 Amery)
1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate. We encourage prayer as well.
2) Be kind. Be nice. And be punctual.
3) Even if you are punctual, there is no running with sharp objects.
4) Have a blessed 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:
7/30 – David sent an update on his wife, Susan, who we have been praying for as she is treated for cancer. Susan is still doing well and her numbers are headed in the right direction, but they are still having issues with the side effects of the chemotherapy. It is manageable, but they have to increase the number of office visits for additional treatments. Some days are really good right now, but others are only bearable with the Lord’s grace. They are so grateful for the prayers on their behalf.
9/2 Update – Susan is back in the ICU. She either has an infection or the cancer has spread to her lungs. Either way, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for Susan and please continue them.
9/3 Update – Thank you to everyone for their thoughts and prayers for Susan. They are expecting her to pass into the hands of the Lord in the next day or so. Please pray for them.
9/21 Update – David sends his thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers for Susan. She did pass away on 9/4, surrounded by family and friends.
9/10 – Annie’s Stew asks for prayers for her husband as he recovers from knee surgery.
10/1 Update – Thank you for the prayers. Hubby’s pain has decreased and he is doing well with flexibility and recovery.
9/10 – D asked for prayers for the memory of 9/11. May the Lord comfort people in the grief, and may it bring people closer to God.
9/12 – FenelonSpoke asked for prayers for the W family for comfort and strength as they grieve. The deceased was a sweet 92 year old, despite some big tragedies in her life.
9/15 – Sal asked for prayers as wildfires are out of control in the north of the area and threatening the county seat. They are evacuating part of the town. Sal is not in any danger.
9/17 – Teresa in Fort Worth sent an update with good news and bad news. The bad news is that she has a 9mm mass on her lunch, which means the cancer has metastasized outside of her liver. The pump is keeping the cancer in her liver at bay for now. The good news is that they can zap the nodule out of her lung and will watch for if any more nodules appear. As long as this is the only one, the radiation should suffice. She meets with a radiation oncologist on 9/25.
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.
10/1 Update – M’s grandma is healing. They are still praying for complete healing and mobility.
9/18 – Tonypete asked for prayers for #1 son. He has something going on which is, as yet, undiagnosed. He is under care now, so that is a positive step. Prayers also for his wife and daughter #2. Mom is a spoiled princess who consistently chooses the worst path of action regarding #2.
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.
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.
Apple is changing the meaning of granting applications full disk access, because it meant that applications granted full disk access were granted full disk access.
In Muse's case, the AI optionally allows users to enable Full Disk Access. This setting, Apple explains, gives an app permission to access files, mail, messages, and even browsing history.
As I said.
Apple thinks its customers are idiots.
Much of the time, this is true.
"Some developers are using Full Disk Access in ways that could put users at risk, exposing everything on their systems...without users' full knowledge and understanding," Apple said in a new blog post aimed at developers.
Jev is an LLM model for making simple decisions with a good degree of accuracy, rather than performing complex tasks badly. Qwen 3.5 9B running at a default quantisation (level of detail) needs about 6GB of RAM - VRAM or shared RAM on a Mac or a PC with integrated graphics.
Somehow Clef requires 41GB. I presume that's not just because Cloudflare are idiots; they're generally not. But it does cost six times as much as Jev if you choose to run it in the cloud because you don't have 41GB of VRAM.
Intel's 4790K appeared back in 2014 as a four core 4.4GHz CPU. The new 4970K has 28 cores - though only eight of them full size - and a Big F*cking Cache.
Seriously, the full model number is the Core Ultra 9 4970K BFC and there's only one thing that could stand for.
I was relaxing with a book after dinner. About 8, my wife comes in and says "Hey, shouldn't you be writing the ONT?" I had totally forgotten, LOL. Anyhow...Howdy folks! So, Grok AI scanned my Twitter/X account and generated this picture of what the world would be like if I ran it.
"World under Weirddave0: Common sense paradise. One-page insurance that works, perfect street tacos (no anger), kids learning safe gun handling, free speech zones, metal detecting gold, strong families, free markets. Liberty and responsibility for all."
Huh: The red-and-white stripes on a windsock allow you to judge windspeed with a glance. Basically, each full band held straight by the wind equals 3 knots or 1.5 mph. It can only tell speeds up to 15 knots but if you're a real expert you can gauge speeds higher than that.
Very real. Its a super cell storm in Nebraska last week. Alot of what looks like clouds is dirt blowing up from the ground. National cattle herd numbers ate the lowest theyve been since 1950. Crops are failing, there hasnt been a solid… pic.twitter.com/zsAKyR6gUA
In science, we speak about diffuse light if the sunlight is scattere by fog or a dense forest, making the light more uniform and less harsh and bright.
Nearly one thousand Roman silver denari found in woods near Cologne, Germany, probably deliberately buried in 125 AD It's about seven pounds of ancient silver. Alas, it's not an artifact of the massacre of the XIXth Legion at Teutonburg Forest, which is about a hundred and fifthy miles away.
Podcast: Vote Early...Vote Often! Oil exports are returning to normal, Trump relaxes CAFE standards, ChiComs fund AI backlash, the descendants of our business titans are anti-American, Boston is nuts, and more!
Podcast: CBD is solo and just checking in! Trump's UN speech is a success, the Last Ditch Bar in Western MA keeps their lunacy in the spotlight, and the White House plays hardball with the media and the judiciary...as it should!
Somebody should write a book about the greatest drinking stories of O'Toole, Burton, Harris, and Caine. One of my faves was Richard Harris went on a six week bender in the South of France without telling wifey. Upon return, she's screaming, and he simply replied "why didn't you pay the ransom"?
Podcast: Did the SCOTUS leftists slow-walk the USPS decision, Newsom's mendacious pledge not to run if Harris does, Canada's return to the trade negotiations, AI fear-mongering, The Goo Goo Dolls are adults, and more!
Forgotten 80s Mystery Click, Guitar Hero Edition Oh here it comes
That funny feeling again winding me up inside
Every time we touch
Hey I don't know
Oh, tell me where to begin cause I never ever
Felt so much
Okay, that was pretty easy. Here's one that's 3% harder. But still easy. Ooh, can you feel the static?
So many contacts being made
We've got up-front fanatics
Tearing down the barricade
To reach the stage
Can you feel the rage?
