Overnight Open Thread [October 6th, 2025]

—CBD

That was two years ago, a few hours east of Yellowstone. Not a particularly good photo, but still one of many data points that show me that the American west is the most wonderful place on earth.

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A little Dire Straits in a strange place...
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Ooh La La by "Faces." 50+ years old, and not bad at all.
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Well, this is on one of my playlists, and to be honest I don't remember why I liked it. It's not bad, but something hooked me a few months ago that isn't clear to me now.

Does that happen to you folks?

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Boom Boom!
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Dirty Boulevard? Those were the good old days in NYC!
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[Hat Tip: dhmosquito]
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Close it up

Ninja Stealth Roll Cafe

—Ace

Autumn in Fribourg, Switzerland
from @ToshioK

Dog offers mistress a mid-workout hug.

Boy soothes a terrified puppy.

"Sorry he's new."

Baby vs mini-pony.

Fluffy head-tilts.

The dog version of Midsommer. Or as I know it, "Greta Thunberg's Childhood."

Some kind of cat yiffing sitch.

And another yiffing sesh.

Professional red panda hugger.

Alien Paw Syndrome.

Lucky pig.

Giraffe fails its stealth roll. But he did his best.

Trump Ignores Lawless Ruling of Lowly District Court Judge and Sends Troops to Portland

—Ace

It's time to start impeaching these insurrectionary "judges."

President Trump on Sunday sent 300 California National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, defying a federal court order to block the move. The deployment comes after months of Antifa-led chaos outside an ICE facility and what the White House called a total failure of local leaders to restore order.

Key Details:

The deployment came just one day after U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut blocked Trump's plan to federalize the Oregon National Guard, ruling it unconstitutional and in violation of federal law restricting military involvement in domestic law enforcement.

Despite the ruling, Trump ordered Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to mobilize California troops, saying he has "lawful authority" to defend federal officers and facilities under attack.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the move as "un-American" and vowed to sue. The White House defended the decision, pointing to ongoing "violent riots and attacks on law enforcement," while ICE officials reported nightly assaults by Antifa mobs outside the Portland detention center.

Diving Deeper:

President Donald Trump took decisive action Sunday, deploying 300 California National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, despite a federal court order attempting to block him. The move followed months of violent unrest and nightly assaults on federal immigration officers that state and local authorities repeatedly failed to stop.

Trump's order came after U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut ruled Saturday that deploying troops would "violate the Constitution and federal law barring military involvement in domestic law enforcement." Her ruling claimed that protests near the ICE processing facility in south Portland were "small and uneventful."

Mostly peaceful small and uneventful attacks on federal officials.

That assessment directly contradicted reports from the Department of Homeland Security detailing repeated attacks, vandalism, and harassment of ICE personnel by Antifa-linked agitators.

In defiance of the ruling, Trump directed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to deploy "all necessary forces" to protect federal assets. White House officials said the president acted under his constitutional authority to ensure national security and uphold federal law. "President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement," a White House spokeswoman told The New York Post. "President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities."

Good precedent. Just ignore them.

How many divisions do the Hawaiian Judges have?

Japan Elects a "Female Trump" as Prime Minister

—Ace

Many are calling her "Japan's Trump."

The leftwing propaganda media calls her "Japan's first female PM," and sometimes "hard right."

But they don't want to admit another Trumpian official has been elected and that the progressive globalist/transgender/Islamic conquest movement collapsing.

And on that: She's not PM yet. She has been elected leader of the ruling conservative power. Ergo, she should quickly be confirmed as PM, but she hasn't been confirmed yet.

President Trump welcomed the news Monday that Japan is poised to have its first female prime minister, calling it "incredible for the people of Japan."

"Japan has just elected its first female Prime Minister, a highly respected person of great wisdom and strength. This is tremendous news for the incredible people of Japan. Congratulations to all!" Trump posted on Truth Social.

Sanae Takaichi, a conservative lawmaker, won a key leadership vote Saturday, which put her on track to become Japan's prime minister. She will be the first woman to hold the role in the country's history.

The Japanese stock market gained more than forty f***ing million Deutschmarks.

Japan stocks hit record after ruling party names pro-business leader

Japanese stocks have hit a record high after the country's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) named Sanae Takaichi as its new leader, positioning the pro-business politician to be Japan's next prime minister.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 4.75% higher on Monday, ending the day above 47,000 for the first time.

Takaichi, who has held senior government roles including minister for economic security and internal affairs, is known for her support of higher government spending and lower borrowing costs.

The Japanese economy continues its long period of weakness. She's hoping to stimulate it back to life.

She is also a long-time admirer of former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher and her free market approach to economics.

Investors welcomed the announcement of her victory in the LDP leadership race, with shares rising in real estate, technology and heavy industry companies.

While the Japanese stocks rose, the yen hit a record low against the euro and dropped by 1.7% against the US dollar.

Monday's market response was largely a "knee-jerk reaction" to the potential appointment of Takaichi as prime minister, Japan economist Jesper Koll told the BBC.

How Close Are We to a Shooting War?

—Ace

The left is already shooting. But there is no war until the other side starts shooting back.

Guy Benson just lets his liberal friends know that their support of Manson Family Helter Skelter terrorism is noted:

Guy Benson
@guypbenson

I'd like to ask my non-conservative followers to pay attention here for a moment. I don't need a response or a rebuttal or a 'whatabout.' Just read on and consider what I'm saying. Please.

We are only a few weeks removed from a leading conservative figure being shot in the throat and killed by a leftist, for and during his speech, at a public speaking event. Stunning, jarring numbers of leftist Americans justified or celebrated this assassination, aligning with multiple public polls showing that a sizable minority of leftists in this country think political violence can be acceptable.

Today -- just today -- many conservatives are thinking about:

(1) a major leftist statewide candidate being exposed for sending texts to a political opponent (R) explicitly hoping for the death of another conservative political opponent...along with the deaths of that opponents' young children. He WROTE DOWN that the pain of those deaths might promote his own agenda, which would be worth it, in his estimation. This candidate is now condemning his current conservative opponent for noticing this information.

And also (2) a development in the case of a leftist would-be assassin of a conservative Supreme Court Justice, who traveled across the country, heavily armed, with the stated intent of murdering up to three right-leaning Justices because he was angry about their abortion jurisprudence. The leftist judge in the case rejected prosecutors' request for a multi-decade sentence, giving the defense team the very lenient sentence they'd sought. The leftist judge, in her reasoning, cited the criminal's trans identity as a factor & expressed happiness that the assassination plot and its aftermath helped with the criminal's family therapy around the trans issue.

And also (3) yet another violent leftist attack -- this time an apparent ambush -- against federal immigration officers. This did not take place in Dallas, where a leftist sniper very recently went on a deadly spree while trying to murder as many ICE officers as possible. This one happened in Illinois, where the leftist governor just called these officers "jack booted thugs." Violent attacks on these federal agents (thugs, fascists, gestapo, per various leading leftist politicians) are up approximately *one thousand percent,* per DHS.

And also (4) a prominent university being pressured into reversing its attempt to shut down a conservative event commemorating the second anniversary of the Oct 7 terrorist massacre of Jews -- because, the school said, they were worried about the security situation around the event. They were referring, of course, to the violent Islamist-Leftist coalition pro-Hamas mob, which has engaged in harassment, threats, violence and murder ever since that mass slaughter.

AND YET, we see many of our leftist friends tweeting and posting about how *their opponents* are the "dangerous" and "authoritarian" "fascists."

I ask you to try to contemplate, even for a quiet moment or two, how this might strike many of us.

That's all for now. Thank you.

VDH:

In blue cities across America--Portland, Oregon, especially--often violent protesters now seek to surround ICE facilities to stop federal officers from fulfilling their assigned and legal duties of arresting illegal aliens.

...

Left-wing protesters are swarming ICE headquarters in Portland to violently oppose all deportations, even those of known criminals and those who have already exhausted efforts to remain here illegally.

Why? The Democratic Party apparat knows that the public wants both secure borders and deportations of illegal aliens. Indeed, in part, it lost an election by its open-borders advocacy.

But Democrat officials feel that if street thugs like Antifa can surround and besiege ICE facilities in Portland, Oregon, then deportations will stop. Then, a de facto amnesty will follow for millions who entered the U.S. illegally--and will soon become Democratic constituents.

As a result, they do not fully enforce the law when thugs attack federal law enforcement. Antifa and its spin-off groups favor the night, when they try to block all entries and exits of ICE vehicles and personnel, and can commit their violence with greater anonymity.

The masked rioters assault anyone in their way. They count on exemption from punishment for committing violence against federal officers through the goodwill or indifference of kindred local and state officials who hate the Trump administration more than they respect the law. An Orwellian scenario follows in which federal officers are attacked by Antifa, which in turn counts on the non-intervention of local police.

Summed up: the city of Portland's armed officers are in a de facto proxy war with their federal counterparts--in our version of something out of 1860, on the eve of a real civil war.

Leftists are calling for secession/insurrection.

From a column in the U.K. Guardian,

Blue states should come together to declare an emergency. Here's how.

Ok. I'm all ears,

States opposed to Trump can create a compact -- a new prototype for American government -- even if it's perceived as political theater.

I'm no student of history, but I'm pretty certain that was tried right after the Ft. Sumter incident. The author refers to 1776, but his idea is straight out of 1861.

What kind of "compact"?

Like the founders, we should create a limited, invitation-only body -- an embryonic constitutional convention -- that the anti-Trump blue states exclusively set up for themselves, limit to themselves, and control.

Limited? Invitation only? Exclusively? May I remind readers that all of the Confederate states were blue states at the. time of their confederation.

Powerline said the left is trying to manufacture a "Kent State moment," where they provoke cops into shooting their Antifa street stormtroopers and the public, in their imaginings, sides with the Antifa terrorists and their Democrat Party funders/protectors.

They think a "Fort Sumter Moment" is more likely.

Chicago Antifa Terrorists Box In an ICE Vehicle and More Antifa Ram Another ICE Van;
CHICAGO POLICE ORDERED TO FLEE THE AREA AND RENDER NO ASSISTANCE TO FELLOW LEOs UNDER ATTACK

—Ace

This is insurrection.

The Democrat-Antifa-Media Cult is making it clear that yes, Antifa are their street paramilitaries and operate under color of law at the direction of Democrat politicians.

Shocking video captured the moment an unhinged driver rammed into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle in Chicago amid a spate of attacks on federal agents.

The chaotic scene unfolded when the black SUV was caught on camera suddenly plowing into the back of the ICE truck in the middle of heavy traffic on Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said.

The driver then chased the ICE vehicle before repeatedly slamming into its bumper in front of shocked bystanders.

Scores of federal agents could be seen drawing their guns in a bid to prevent the driver from fleeing.

It wasn't immediately clear if the driver was apprehended.

The assault came soon after Border Patrol agents shot a gun-toting woman elsewhere in the city when an angry mob of anti-ICE protesters ambushed federal agents and boxed them in with 10 vehicles.

The woman, Marimar Martinez, as well as another driver, Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, were both arrested and branded "domestic terrorists."

"The scene became increasingly violent as more domestic terrorists gathered and began throwing smoke, gas, rocks, and bottles at DHS law enforcement," DHS said.

Several Border Patrol agents were injured as the violent scenes unfolded, according to authorities.

Chicago Police were ordered to allow the terrorists to attack ICE and Border Patrol personnel.

Two longtime, ranking Chicago police sources sharply rejected the department's assertion that officers responded to calls for help from ICE agents who were rammed and surrounded by protesters on Saturday, telling Fox News the official statement is, in their words, "COVER THEIR A-- BULLS--T!!"

Their comments come as Fox News obtained an internal dispatch revealing that Chicago police officers were ordered by their chief of patrol not to respond after Border Patrol agents called for help, saying they were boxed in and surrounded following a ramming incident outside the city, according to multiple federal and Chicago law enforcement sources.

Fox News reviewed the computer-aided dispatch message sent to Chicago police officers by their chief of patrol. The message instructed officers not to respond to a Saturday morning ramming on the southwest side of the city in which an armed woman was shot and agents were boxed in and surrounded.

"PLEASE CHIEF OF PATROL NO UNITS WILL RESPOND TO THIS AS RELATED FROM 04-Oc5-2025/12:34:44...CALLER IS 1 OF APPROX 30 ARMED PATROL AGENTS (ICE) WHO ARE BEING SURROUNDED BY A LARGE CROWD OF PEOPLE REQUESTING CPD," the dispatch message read.

On Saturday morning, federal agents were rammed and trapped by 10 vehicles, where anti-ICE crowds had gathered for days. Nearly a dozen people were arrested.
In a statement Sunday, the Chicago Police Department disputed claims that officers failed to respond, saying they were on scene to manage safety and document the incident.

...

But two senior Chicago police sources told Fox News the department's statement was false -- and that internal communications tell a very different story.

One ranking source told Fox News that the Chicago Police Department's statement is "not true," pointing to "legit" dispatch audio.

In the NJ Governor Race, Republicans Are Turning In Mail-In Ballots at a Faster Clip Than Democrats

—Ace

And of course Democrats have long enjoyed a big advantage in the early vote, with Republicans forced to make up the deficit on the actual (Constitution-prescribed) Election Day.

I should clarify that Republicans are turning in ballots at a higher rate, not necessarily in terms of absolute numbers. There are more Democrats in NJ than Republicans so they are probably turning in more actual ballots.

New Jersey Republicans are returning their mail-in ballots at a higher clip than Democrats in an early positive sign for GOP gubernatorial hopeful Jack Ciattarelli, as polls show a tightening race between him and Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the high-stakes race.

Garden State Republicans have so far notched an 18.61% return rate for their mail-in ballots, outpacing the Democrats' 16.55%, according to data compiled and analyzed by DecisionDeskHQ's director of political science, Michael Pruser.

GOP pollster Adam Geller, who has worked with the Ciattarelli campaign, told The Post that Republicans have historically been less inclined to vote by mail, meaning this lead in the rate of early ballot returns could be a hopeful sign.

"Clearly, it's encouraging for the Republicans right now," Geller said. "You could argue that, in addition to coming around to vote by mail, it could be a measurement of the enthusiasm for the candidate."

Brent Buchanan, the president and CEO of Cygnal polling firm, said that the early mail-in data is interesting given President Trump's growing popularity in the Garden State.

"Republicans have gotten serious about participating in early voting," Buchanan told The Post.

"Pair that with the strong shift statewide toward Trump, and you have a growing recipe for Republican wins up and down the ticket."

Kamala Harris only won New Jersey by a 6% margin in the 2024 presidential election, marking the narrowest Democratic margin in the state since 1992, according to the New Jersey Globe.

...

An internal poll conducted by Geller showed Ciattarelli with a threadbare lead, and an Emerson College Polling survey pegged Sherrill and Ciattarelli as being neck and neck.

Other polls have shown that the race is getting tighter, something that has spooked national Democrats.

Sherrill has a 3.3 percentage point advantage over her conservative counterpart, according to the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polling. Exactly one month ago, she had an 8.3 point lead.

For context, the RCP aggregate underestimated Ciattarelli's support by some 5 points in the 2021 New Jersey gubernatorial race. Ciattarelli lost to incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy (D) by about 3 points.

The early mail-in vote means that Democrats can't pull a Torricelli Option any longer. Votes have already been cast. I don't doubt that the ultra-corrupt far-left NJ Supreme Court would try to justify cancelling the votes already cast and forcing people to vote again with a new Democrat candidate in the race, but I think the Supreme Court might actually step in and tell them they can't cancel votes already cast.

Democrats are worried:

Top Democrats are increasingly alarmed the party could lose the governor's race in traditionally blue New Jersey next month because of a series of stumbles by the Democratic nominee, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill.

Why it matters: Both parties are investing millions in the race between Sherrill, a former Navy pilot, and Republican Jack Ciattarelli, an ex-state lawmaker -- and it's getting national attention as a preview of the 2026 midterms.

The prospect of a close election or even a loss in the Garden State has set off handwringing among Democrats.

"So much for the Dem resistance if we are struggling to even win a N.J. governorship while Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the government and Constitution," said Democratic strategist Irene Lin, who isn't working on the race.

"Sherrill has spent a fortune on polling and has no message beyond she flies helicopters and Ciattarelli loves Trump," Lin said. "How have we not learned ... that tired anti-Trump attacks aren't enough?"

Behind the scenes: Some Democrats privately say Sherrill is a better candidate on paper than in reality. They argue she's been too scripted, hasn't focused enough on high prices, and has relied too much on staff from D.C. rather than New Jersey-based operatives.

They're also concerned Ciattarelli is hustling to make inroads in Black communities that usually vote overwhelmingly for Democrats.

Sherrill initially had trouble naming "one piece" of legislation she would pass in response to a question from a CBS New York reporter, which led to Ciattarelli blasting her in an ad.

In an interview with influential radio host Charlamagne tha God in May, Sherrill -- who's in her fourth term in the House -- struggled to answer questions about her family's increased wealth in recent years.

When asked whether she made $7 million through stock trades as alleged in conservative media, she said, "I, I haven't ... I don't believe I did," and then said she'd have to check where the allegations originated.

Ciattarelli's campaign responded by launching a website: MikieMadeMillions.com.

Another spot by a pro-Ciattarelli super PAC highlighted Sherrill saying clean power is "gonna cost you an arm and a leg, but if you're a good person, you'll do it."

But the group's ad didn't say that Sherrill actually was criticizing her own party's messaging.

Bullshit.

All she was doing was criticizing the messaging -- not the policy itself. She was saying that Democrats can't sell green energy by saying it will cost you an armed and a leg, but you should sacrifice your limbs for Gaia. But she completely supports cutting off limbs for Gaia. She just wants to be more dishonest about the transaction.

A spokesperson for the Republican Governors Association, which backs the group behind the ad, declined to directly address taking Sherrill out of context and provided a statement attacking her energy record.

Related: Run, Julianna, Run!

Washington Post Goes On Firing Spree, Canning Presumably Far-Left Opinion Writers

—Ace

Oh no. No!

The Washington Post launched a sweeping round of layoffs Friday in its Opinion section, cutting veteran journalists and longtime staffers.

The Washington Post ignited a firestorm inside its own newsroom after reportedly axing more than a dozen editorial staffers, according to multiple reports. NBC News reporter Mark Segraves said that Marc Fisher -- a 39-year veteran of the paper and one of its most recognized voices -- was among those terminated.

"The @washingtonpost has fired writer & editor @mffisher along with 15 other columnists & editors. Marc Fisher spent 39 years at WaPo and is one of the greatest voices and reporters our city has. Democracy Dies In Darkness and the Washington Post is turning out the lights," Segraves wrote.

New York Times media reporter Ben Mullin posted a confirmation that Adam O'Neal, the Post's new Opinion Editor, ordered the dismissals as part of a planned overhaul. Mullin reported that six employees were formally laid off, while several contractors also lost their jobs. He shared an internal email that outlined O'Neal's decision to restructure the section.

"Scoop: Adam O'Neal, the new Opinion Editor at The Washington Post, is laying off staffers as part of a plan to shake up the section. A source says six employees are affected. I've also been told some contractors are being terminated," Mullin posted.

Retired Washington Post editor, correspondent and columnist Robert McCartney added more details, warning that the Opinion section will now operate without copy editors.

The Washington Post actually reported on DC cops complaining that serious crimes are routinely recorded as minor crimes to make the numbers look good and to avoid the "ire" of the brass.

D.C. police officers are feeding information to the Justice Department as it probes accusations of manipulated crime data, according to the D.C. Police Union and five other people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an investigation in progress. The voluntary cooperation of about three dozen from the police force, according to three of the people, reflects long-standing frustrations about how violent crime is categorized by supervisors -- and surfaces as public safety in D.C. continues to capture the president's attention.

Some rank-and-file officers and detectives have complained for months -- in some cases, years -- that managers were recording serious crimes as more minor ones to make their police districts appear safer or avoid the ire of top department brass. Some kept lists, documenting cases where they believed a higher-up improperly classified a crime as a lesser offense. One such tally, obtained by The Washington Post, lists more than 150 instances since March 2024 where staff in a Southeast D.C. police district believed offenses were, at least initially, inappropriately classified.

Previously, just a month ago, the Washington Post insisted that Trump was crazy to claim that crime was out-of-control because all of the numbers say crime is down!

The Democrat Running to be Virginia's Top Law Enforcement Officer, the Attorney General, Repeatedly Wished for the Assassination of a Former Speaker of the House;
CIA Plant Abigail Spanberger Refuses to Call for His Withdrawal

—Ace

National Review's Audrey Fahlberg:

Dem AG Nominee Jay Jones Fantasized About Shooting Former Virginia GOP Speaker: 'He Receives Both Bullets'

On August 8, 2022, a Republican state legislator received a disturbing string of early-morning text messages from a former colleague, Jay Jones, this year's Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general.

Jones, who at the time had recently resigned from the state house after a brief stint representing Norfolk, had strong feelings about how the political class was eulogizing recently deceased former state legislator Joe Johnson Jr., a moderate Democrat with a long tenure in Virginia politics. Republican legislators like House Speaker Todd Gilbert had begun making public statements honoring Johnson's memory and political legacy, and some of those statements were making the rounds in state legislative group chats.

Around 8 a.m., Jones shared those feelings with his former state legislative colleague, Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner. In a series of text messages obtained by National Review, Jones derided Johnson's political centrism and scoffed at the "glowing" tributes that were being made in his honor by Republicans in the wake of his death.

"Damn that was for mark," he wrote to Coyner, suggesting he'd meant to send the texts to someone else. And yet that realization didn't stop Jones from joking about what "that POS" Gilbert "would say about me if I died."

Then, the conversation took a dark turn.

"If those guys die before me," Jones wrote, referencing the Republican colleagues who were publicly honoring the deceased Johnson's memory, "I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves" to "send them out awash in something."

Jones then suggested that, presented with a hypothetical situation in which he had only two bullets and was faced with the choice of murdering then-Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert or two dictators, he'd shoot Gilbert "every time," prompting pushback from his former colleague:

Jones: Three people, two bullets
Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot
Gilbert gets two bullets to the head
Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time
Coyner: Jay
Please stop
Jones: Lol
Ok, ok
Coyner: It really bothers me when you talk about hurting people or wishing death on them
It isn't ok
No matter who they are

...

Asked about the years-old text exchange, Coyner condemned Jones's rhetoric and said she sent screenshots of the conversation to Gilbert that day. She said she and Jones haven't spoken since, aside from a brief conversation about policy issues. "On August 8, 2022 I had a text conversation with Jay Jones, what he said was not just disturbing but disqualifying for anyone who wants to seek public office," she told NR in a statement. "Jay Jones wished violence on the children of a colleague and joked about shooting Todd Gilbert. It's disgusting and unbecoming of any public official."

...

'Breeding Little Fascists'

Coyner's alarm at her former colleague's violent rhetoric toward Gilbert prompted Jones to call her and explain his reasoning over the phone, a source familiar with the exchange told NR.

According to the source, the Democratic former legislator doubled down on the call, saying the only way public policy changes is when policymakers feel pain themselves, like the pain that parents feel when they watch their children die from gun violence. He asked her to provide counterexamples to disprove his claim.

Then at one point, the source said, he suggested he wished Gilbert's wife could watch her own child die in her arms so that Gilbert might reconsider his political views, prompting Coyner to hang up the phone in disgust.

Afterward, Jones continued his barrage of text messages, saying he was just asking questions. Coyner dismissed his excuse via text and chastised Jones for "hopping [sic] Jennifer Gilbert's children would die."

Rather than deny that he had wished death on the children, Jones responded by saying, "Yes, I've told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy."
Faced with more pushback from his frazzled former colleague, Jones somehow took the conversation a step further: "I mean do I think Todd and Jennifer are evil? And that they're breeding little fascists? Yes," he wrote, referring to Gilbert's wife and two young children.

The CIA Operative and Deep State Obersturmkommander Abigail Spanberger refuses to call for him to step aside.

Below, the children that Jay Jones -- who would be the top prosecutor in the state -- wants to see murdered so that their parents will adhere to the commands of the Democrat-Antifa-Media Death Cult.

A Breakdown of Joe Biden’s Unprecedented 81 Million Votes in 2020

—Buck Throckmorton

Hillary Clinton tallied about 65 million votes as the Democrats’ presidential candidate in 2016, but in the Covid-year of 2020, Joe Biden received over 81 million votes. In 2024, Kamala Harris received 75 million votes, a significant dropoff from Joe Biden’s record ballot total.

Donald Trump, by contrast saw a steady increase in his vote total in each successive presidential race:

2016: ~ 62 million votes
2020: ~ 74 million votes
2024: ~ 77 million votes

Because it is simply preposterous that Joe Biden so wildly overperformed Hillary and Kamala, especially considering that all three ran against the same Republican candidate, there is a widespread assumption that Covid-era ballot chicanery resulted in Biden’s unmatched vote total. You’ll also recall that in the midst of the 2020 Covid hysteria, in-person voting was deemed lethally dangerous by Democrats, numerous judges, and the legacy media. Instead, ballots were scattered into the wind, to be gathered via mail, dropbox, ballot harvesters, copy machines, etc., with verification protocols mostly abandoned.

So where did those excess Biden ballots come from? I asked Grok to create a table for me, showing the vote totals by state for each of those three presidential elections, and then I exported those results into Excel so I could calculate the differences over the election cycles. There is nothing askew in the Trump results. On a state level and nationally, his vote totals consistently increased across the board over the three elections. But there are some huge swings in Democrat vote totals.

None of this proves fraud, but neither does it explain the Democrats’ extraordinary ballot haul in 2020. Further, the most preposterous Democrat vote totals in 2020 mainly occurred in deep blue states, so whatever ballot fraud may or may not have been occurring there served to increase Biden’s national vote total, but did not affect those states’ electoral votes. However, to the extent that there were fraudulent Democrat ballots for Biden, those likely cost Republicans some down ballot races in blue states.

While I have posted all vote totals further below, immediately below are the Democrats’ totals in swing states, and a few other interesting state results. Directly below this table are a few observations of mine about these state results.

CALIFORNIA
• Joe Biden received 3.7 million more votes in 2020 than Hillary did in 2016, a 51% increase!
• But in 2024, Kamala – a California politician - received 1.9 million less votes than Biden did in 2020, a 26% decrease.
• If there wasn’t widespread fraud in California in 2020, there was a peculiar level of non-replicable ballot harvesting.

IllINOIS
• Kamala Harris’ vote total in 2024 exactly matched Hillary Clinton’s 2016 vote total in Illinois, 3.09 million votes.
• But Joe Biden somehow received 381,000 more votes than either of them, 12% more.

FLORIDA
• It’s easy to forget that Florida was still a swing state when Ron DeSantis took office in 2019 - the great rightward shift in Florida voters had not yet occurred. Democrats thought they could win Florida in 2020, and they did an amazing job getting Biden ballots counted. In fact, Florida may have had the most statistically improbable Democrat surge of any state in 2020.
• Joe Biden received 792,000 more votes in Florida in 2020 than Hillary did in 2016. Since Trump beat Hillary by barely 100,000 votes in Florida in 2016, that could have easily flipped Florida to Trump if Trump hadn’t gathered 1 million more votes.
• But in 2024, Kamala received 614,000 less Florida votes than Biden received in 2020, making Kamala’s 2024 result little different than Hillary’s 2016 result.
• It is just preposterous to believe Joe Biden outperformed both Kamala and Hillary in Florida to that extent.

As for the swing states that Trump seemed to have won on Election Night 2020, but then magically lost in coming days, the trends are not as dramatic, but of course, the goal wasn’t to run up the score, it was just to find enough ballots of various integrity to count. Here are some observations on those states:

ARIZONA
• Joe Biden received 735,000 more Arizona votes in 2020 that Hillary did in 2016, a whopping 79% increase! That allowed Biden to beat Trump by about 11,000 votes.
• Kamala received 89,000 less votes in Arizona in 2024 than Biden did in 2020, losing handily to Donald Trump, who increased his vote total.

GEORGIA
• Despite Biden collecting 32% more votes in Georgia in 2020 than Hillary did in 2016, Kamala actually got more votes than Biden in 2024.
• In fact, Georgia is pretty much the only state that Kamala outperformed both Hillary and Biden
• Fortunately, on a statewide basis, Trump in 2024 was able to outperform the fraud Democrat voter passion that persists in Fulton County.

PENNSYLVANIA
• Biden’s 2020 vote total was 18% higher than Hillary’s 2016 total.
• Kamala’s 2024 vote total was 5% lower than Biden’s 2020 total.

MICHIGAN
• Biden’s 2020 vote total was 24% higher than Hillary’s 2016 total.
• Kamala’s 2024 vote total was 4% lower than Biden’s 2020 total.

There is no great thesis to this post other than to break out where Biden’s excess 2020 votes came from. While I’m not going to dig any deeper, I’m sure there are some fascinating county-level results that would shed more light on specifically which precincts were so adept at “get-out-the-vote efforts” in 2020.

Below is the vote total by state for each candidate in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 elections.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Close it up

Mid-Morning Art Thread

—CBD

Rosemary in Thought
Raphael Soyer

The Morning Report — 10/6/25

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. First, a very happy 250th birthday to the United States Navy! The Secretary of War (I just love writing that) Pete Hegseth had this to say:

War Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed a lively audience of U.S. Navy Sailors in Virginia to commemorate the military branch’s 250th anniversary, reiterating President Donald Trump’s emphasis on “America first, and peace through strength” and blasting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Hegseth received loud applause as he began his remarks to thousands of Sailors at the Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval station with over 82,000 active-duty military on base and over 29,000 civilians. Calling the crowd “the absolute best of America,” the War secretary said, “Looking out at all of you — I know you know why the President always says we have the strongest, most powerful, most lethal, most ready military on the planet, and he’s going to make sure we keep it that way.” “This is the perfect way to mark 250 years of the United States Navy. You know, President Trump has made our mission clear; America first, and peace through strength with common sense at every turn,” Hegseth continued, before emphasizing the name change from Department of Defense to Department of War. 

CBD and I discussed Secretary Hegseth's outstanding record to date as among the bright spots of the Trump 2.0 administration on the latest edition of the podcast. As a bit of a tease for the upcoming episode a bit later this week, we will be joined by a retired army veteran whose byline as an open blogger has appeared here on many occasions, and we'll get into the nitty gritty of Hegseth and the newWar Department. Should be an outstanding show.

So happy birthday and Anchors Aweigh!

Well there are wars and rumors of war. Abroad for sure but most alarmingly here at home. After 10 years and counting of blood-libeling President Donald Trump as literally Hitler and those who voted for and support him as White-Supremacist fascists (not understanding what that word actually means) ready to round up colored people of color and toss them into concentration camps, is it any wonder that cities have burned to the ground, and ICE officers are openly assaulted in the streets for doing their jobs in apprehending and deporting illegal aliens.

Most unhelpful to say the least are vile scumbag degenerates like this one shooting his mouth off and in so doing giving the green light for the truly unhinged among the Left (which is a number that is perhaps even larger than even we want to imagine possible) to attack anyone and anything even a red pubic hair's breadth to the right of Fidel Castro.

Virginia Democrat attorney general nominee Jay Jones in 2022 "fantasized" about shooting then-Republican colleague Todd Gilbert twice and wished death on Gilbert’s children, National Review reported Friday.

"Gilbert gets two bullets to the head," Jones told Republican House delegate Carrie Coyner as he laid out a hypothetical "three people, two bullets" scenario in which he listed Gilbert alongside Hitler and Pol Pot, according to text messages dated August 8, 2022, obtained by National Review. "Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time," Jones wrote.

And this bipedal metastatic cancer on everything that is just, decent, moral and righteous is actually a candidate for Attorney General?! More horrifying than that is the fact that Virginia being what it is, he'll probably win.

Small wonder then that this actually happened:

A Biden-appointed federal judge who sentenced the man found guilty of attempting to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022 is being accused of leniency in the case. Judge Deborah Boardman sentenced Nicholas Roske to eight years in prison on Friday, Fox News reported on Saturday. Roske is a transgender person, or a man living as a woman, who goes by the name Sophie. . . “The sentence is more lenient than what the Department of Justice (DOJ) had sought. Prosecutors said Roske should face at least 30 years, while Roske’s defense team had asked for eight,” the Fox article said. In a social media post on Friday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) would be appealing the sentence

Good on Bondi. That said, here's a headline or internet meme that I'd truly like to see:

Brett Kavanaugh's would-be assassin didn't kill himself! Ditto this Deborah Boardman.

As for this notion of being in a civil war, that would presuppose that both sides are racking up body count. And so far, it is our side that is being put into hospitals, morgues and prisons as terrorists in black robes hurl law books at us while terrorists in keffiyahs and balaclavas hurl prepositioned bricks, molotov cocktails, fists and bullets at us with impunity courtesy of the former.

And so President Trump has thrown down the gauntlet by sending in the National Guard to try and put a stop to this insanity before it gets out of hand, unless of course we have blown past that point.

A federal judge on Saturday issued a temporary restraining order blocking President Trump from sending Oregon’s National Guard to Portland to defend federal agents from violent attacks by black bloc militants who surround the ICE facility every night.

Obama-appointed District Judge Michael Simon was convinced by lawyers for Oregon State that the attacks were peaceful. 

This flies in the face of footage from Fox News and “citizen journalists” chronicling violence every night as Antifa mobs hurl rocks at federal agents and their vehicles, assault journalists, and block traffic while Portland police stand by.  In fact, Portland police are doing more than nothing: they have been filmed actively gathering complaints from Antifa thugs who claim they were maced or roughed up by federal agents.

When called for backup, these pretend cops respond that they “don’t have the resources,” according to court documents tendered in the State of Oregon’s lawsuit. 

After “citizen journalist” Katie Daviscourt was given a black eye by an Antifa type who attacked her with a flagpole last week, Portland police ignored her entreaties to arrest her assailant. 

But the next night, they arrested her colleague Nick Sortor and charged him with disorderly conduct after he got into a one-sided scuffle with an aggressive group of black bloc militants who pushed him to the ground and broke his camera. 

After spending the night in a cell, Sortor told Fox News that the Portland jail was “weirdly empty because they don’t actually arrest criminals around here, just people like me that report on what’s actually happening on the ground…

“If what I was doing was disorderly, what do you call people with megaphones at three in the morning lighting fires in the middle of the street?”

Under orders from the Democrats who run the city, there’s no question that Portland cops are taking sides against the federal government, even as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has revealed that her officers are being threatened with doxing campaigns and even $10,000 bounties to kill them.

I suppose the question is; Are the Portland cops sitting on their hands for fear of Antifa or for fear of retribution from the Democrats who control the city, or worse because they are actually members of Antifa who somehow snuck onto the force. Considering that a known Communist John Brennan actually became not only a CIA operative but rose to become the head of the agency itself, my assertion is certainly a frightening possibility.

There's Portland Oregon and the entire state of Illinois as that fat criminal Schlub Pritzker is also engaging in incitement and insurrection against the legitimate functioning of federal law enforcement. This is insurrection and revolution my friends. Unless and until everyone and everything behind this is utterly smashed, we are facing a reckoning and it's not going to be pretty.

An Indiana man accused of breaking into a home and stabbing a family, including the brutal, fatal stabbing of 6-year-old Logan Tipton, is now a free man. . .

"If I ever cross paths with him, I will kill the man. I will kill him where he stands," the boy's father said.

Consider that heartbreaking statement in light of all of the aforementioned and the totally corrupt system. So what would happen in Portland should the good and honest citizens decide to take matters into their own hands to defend their lives and property. They might actually find themselves firing not only on Antifa goons but Portland Police officers who may very well be Antifa's allies but dressed in Cop drag as it were.

And this my friends is how societies break down.

Have a good day!

And lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know. 

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY LINKS
• Roger Kimball: The FBI once chased Catholics and parents with the SPLC’s “hate map.” Now, under Trump, the grifters are exposed and America’s institutions are being reset.
  Trump’s Second Term Resets Washington’s Playbook
  
• Victor Davis Hanson: Portland’s left-wing mobs and officials are waging a neo-Confederate-style rebellion—defying federal law, protecting illegal aliens, and turning the city into a sanctuary for anarchy.
  Reactionary, Neo-Confederate Portland

Daily Tech News 6 October 2025

—Pixy Misa

• In May, OpenAI, which has never made a profit, spent $6.5 billion to buy Jony Ive's company io, which has never made a product. The first device to ship from the partnership? Anyone's guess, they're out of ideas. (Tech Crunch) (archive site)

  The FT now says that OpenAI and Ive aim to create "a palm-sized device without a screen that can take audio and visual cues from the physical environment and respond to users' requests."

  A phone? I'm told those already exist.

  But unresolved issues around the device's "personality," how it handles privacy, and computing infrastructure might delay the launch.

  Good grief, they've created the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

  "Listen," said Ford, who was still engrossed in the sales brochure, "they make a big thing of the ship's cybernetics. A new generation of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation robots and computers, with the new GPP feature." "GPP feature?" said Arthur. "What's that?"
  "Oh, it says Genuine People Personalities."
  "Oh," said Arthur, "sounds ghastly."
  A voice behind them said, "It is." The voice was low and hopeless and accompanied by a slight clanking sound. They span round and saw an abject steel man standing hunched in the doorway.
  "What?" they said.
  "Ghastly," continued Marvin, "it all is. Absolutely ghastly. Just don't even talk about it. Look at this door," he said, stepping through it. The irony circuits cut into his voice modulator as he mimicked the style of the sales brochure. "All the doors in this spaceship have a cheerful and sunny disposition. It is their pleasure to open for you, and their satisfaction to close again with the knowledge of a job well done."
  As the door closed behind them it became apparent that it did indeed have a satisfied sigh-like quality to it. "Hummmmmmmyummmmmmm ah!" it said.

Sunday Overnight Open Thread - October 5, 2025 [Doof]

—Open Blogger

Welcome one and all to the Sunday night ONT!

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When You've Lost NBC News

Wow, even usually reliable media is calling them out

Even NBC is calling out Democrats over their government shutdown hypocrisy

WELKER: "It's Democratic Senators who are withholding their votes on what is called a clean resolution...which is something quite frankly ... that you and other Democrats have advocated for in the past." pic.twitter.com/BBDZBafH1a

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 5, 2025

NBC calls out Adam Schiff for his shutdown hypocrisy.

Schiff in 2013: “It’s more than fair to ask the President to negotiate…. but not with the threat of shutting down the government.”

Democrats shut down the government to give Medicaid to illegals. pic.twitter.com/tP8dJw5eAe

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 5, 2025

This is getting more and more brutal for the Dems. Yet they don't appear ready to blink any time soon.

Perhaps Senator Kennedy's advice here will help

😂😂😂
Oh my he just hits it every time. pic.twitter.com/QUUuXtYHZx

— Sadie (@Sadie_NC) October 2, 2025

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Kewl Stuff!

Quite the rabbit hole!

This artist creates “giga zoom” art where you can just keep zooming in….. pic.twitter.com/gdYwsZuBSF

— Dudes Posting Their W’s (@DudespostingWs) October 5, 2025

This guy shares what nearly 100 years of horns from cars sound like

Teachers turn the tables

The school's teachers decided to mimic their students by leaving school as soon as the bell rang.

pic.twitter.com/DP2db1WyXN

— Be Believing (@Be_Believing) October 3, 2025

80's football - best referee penalty call ever
"He's giving him the business down there"

***

'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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Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2026

Ah, Paris Fashion Week— that magical time of year when the City of Light turns into a runway for the rich, the fabulous, and the occasionally fabulous-in-a-garbage-bag kind of way. We're talking Spring/Summer 2026, folks, where the shows ran from September 29 to October 7, and left us wondering: Is that high fashion or a cry for help? From ballerina pink to celebrity cameos, this season was less "ooh la la" and more "ooh la…what in the world?” Let’s dive right on in!

This season's big debuts had everyone buzzing—or was that just the sound of sequins clashing?

Celine's Michael Rider Takes the Wheel: New creative director Michael Rider rolled up with his first full ready-to-wear collection, turning heads with sleek, '80s-inspired vibes. But the real star? BTS's V (aka Taehyung), the house's ambassador, who showed up looking like a walking K-drama heartthrob. One viral clip has him munching a pastry post-show, proving even icons need snacks. If that's not relatable fashion week energy, what is?

Saint Laurent's Eiffel Tower Extravaganza: Anthony Vaccarello set up shop under the twinkling Eiffel Tower for a show that was pure cinematic glam. Think 80’s silhouettes, big shoulder pads and all. Their collective look spelled out the defining trend of the night: big top, tight skirt.

Dior's Standing Ovation Shock: Jonathan Anderson's debut had the crowd on their feet. He swept away the archives for bold, noisy looks inspired by past Dior rebels like Yves Saint Laurent and John Galliano. Sharp-shouldered jackets met fluid skirts in a "horror-to-love" mashup that had everyone gasping. Pro tip: Pair it with the new Cigale bag—it's archival chic.

Trends That Tickled Our Fancy: Pink, Provocative, and Pure Absurdity

This season, Paris whispered (okay, screamed) a few key vibes. I have filtered the fun below:

Trend-
Ballerina Pink

Why It’s a Vibe-
Soft, feminine, and somehow calming amid the couture carnage—like a hug from a tutu-wearing unicorn. Louis Vuitton nailed it with tones that made everything feel less "end of the world

Where to Spot It (without breaking the bank)-
Thrift a pink slip dress and call it “quiet luxury.”

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Trend-
Sheer Shenanigans and Revealing Vibes

Why It’s a Vibe-
Skirts like glitter filled sacks, cutouts that say “surprise!”, and outfits so transparent you’ll need a permission slip. Schiaparelli’s knots had us squinting: Is that fabric or…

Where to Spot It (without breaking the bank)-
Layer with confidence (or a trench coat). Fashion's basically saying “show us your soul, darling.”

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Trend-
Skinny belts

Why It’s a Vibe-
Because nothing says "summer 2026" like cinching your waist into oblivion.

Where to Spot It (without breaking the bank)-
DIY with a shoelace. Who needs haute couture when you’ve got hardware store hacks?

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Louis Vuitton

Matières Fécales Spring Summer 2026 Ready to Wear

Schiaparelli

Dries Van Noten Spring Summer 2026 Ready to wear

Mugler

The Afterparty Afterthoughts: What Did We Learn?

Paris Fashion Week SS26 reminded us that fashion is about the plot twists. This week was a whirlwind of whimsy, weirdness, and "why not?" energy. Next summer, we'll all be in sheer skirts and pink hues, unruly, unapologetic. This is 100% the kind of chaos I would wear to brunch

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Thanks, Piper - another paltry amount of elbows, though.

***

DJ Doof - This Date In Music History Edition
(from thisdayinmusic.com)

On October 5, 1973, Elton John released his seventh studio album, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It became John’s best-selling studio album and features some of his best-loved songs, including “Candle in the Wind,” “Bennie and the Jets,” and the title track. Ranked as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone, the record was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003.

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Born on this date in 1952: German musician, composer and record producer Harold Faltemeyer. He is best known for composing 'Axel F' the theme tune for the feature film Beverly Hills Cop, which became an influential synth-pop hit in the 1980s. He also composed the 'Top Gun Anthem' for the feature film Top Gun.

Great stuff - but I'm partial to this greatness!

Also born on this date:
1943: Steve Miller
1947: Brian Johnson (AC/DC)
1951: Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats)
1961: Pete De Freitas (Echo & the Bunnymen)
1967: Butch Vig (Producer, Drummer from Garbage)

***

Tonight's ONT brought to you by grilling accessories

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Comments or questions? Suggestions for content? Inappropriate social media reels to share? Fun tales of furloughed Feds? Do the email thing at doof2112 at proton dot me.

Close it up

Gun Thread: First October 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 first October edition? The TXMoMe is just a couple of weeks away!! More on that below.

Programming Note: I am still out of town on a super-sekrit mission, so this week will again be an abbreviated, or content-lite, Gun Thread. Thanks for understanding

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

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FUNdamentals

Hopefully you are rushing your TXMoMe plans to completion, including your focus on fundamentals. This week we have a double feature with the proper fundamentals of stance and trigger mechanics.

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Smith & Wesson Model of 1917 Revolver

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Slo-Mo at 20M fps?

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Landing on the Moon
Think shooting is hard? Try landing on El Moon-o.

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Highway Patrol
This week's episode: Machine Napping!

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Report on the Atom - 1952
Kind of a movie!

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FUNdamentals of MoMe'n: TXMoMe X

They Mome'n down in Texas!

10/5/25 - No updates this week

Changes to note from prior years:

We are implementing a change regarding the safety briefing and range access this year. The daily mandatory safety briefings are really mandatory now if you plan on shooting each day. Without exception. These will be conducted on the carport at 10am on Friday and 9am on Saturday. Due to the growth of the shooting programs, at the conclusion of the safety briefing you will be asked to sign a liability release form and only then be issued a color coded wrist band for the day. The wrist band is your ticket onto the ranges. No wrist band, no range access. If you visit the bar during the day, you remove the wrist band. Simple.

For those who miss the mandatory briefings in the morning, we will attempt to accommodate with a secondary briefing sometime after lunch for late arrivals to sign the release and be issued a wrist band for that day.

RSO's - I will be sending a follow-up email to you soon.

***

2025 TXMoMe Schedule of Shooting Activities
Friday, 10/17
Rifle Program
8am - 10am: Rifle Clinic (carport)
10am - 11am: Range and Safety Briefing - Mandatory! (carport)
Noon: Light lunch provided (carport)
11am - 4pm: Live fire (rifle range - targets to 1,000 yds)

Handgun Program
10am - 11am: Range and Safety Briefing - Mandatory! (carport)
11am - 2:30pm: Static live fire (pistol range)
11:00am - 12:00pm: Handgun FUNdamentals (tentative)
Noon: Light lunch provided (carport)
1:00pm to 2:00 pm (carport) - Demonstration: Basics of Rifle & Handgun Cleaning and Maintenance - EdL
2:30 - 4pm: Briefing and Move & Shoot live fire (pistol range)

Saturday, 10/18
Rifle Program
9am - 10am: Range and Safety Briefing - Mandatory! (carport)
9am - 1pm: Live fire (rifle range)

Handgun Program
9am - 10am: Range and Safety Briefing - Mandatory! (carport)
9am - 1pm: Live fire (pistol range)

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 MoMe festivities.

***

The time has come to begin the discussion of the upcoming TXMoMe in Corsicana, TX on October 17-18. This is the TENTH annual TXMoMe, or Conservative Burning Man as it's popularly known, and it promises to be a 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. I have said this probably two hundred and fifty-seven 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?

Call for Volunteers
Help! As I mentioned above, the shooting program in Texas continues to grow, and we wouldn't be able to do it without a lot of help. If you're interested in lending a hand in some capacity, please drop me a note at gunthread at protonmail dot com indicating your date and time of arrival and we'll be in touch. Thank You!

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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Ammo Link-O-Rama
I'm really very seriously not kidding around anymore. Buy Ammo
AmmoSeek - online ammo search tool
GunBot - online ammo search tool
SG Ammo
Palmetto State Armory
Georgia Arms
AmmoMan
Target Sports USA
Bud's Gun Shop
American Elite Ammo
Lucky Gunner Ammo NEW!

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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?

Close it up

Food Thread: Luscious Peacock Thighs, And Other Delicious Things

—CBD

Yes, yes, everyone should know by now that chicken thighs are the way to go, but I am nothing if not repetitive and tedious! So here it goes again! But humor me, they are so easy and forgiving that it is shame to waste the money on any other part of the chicken, except perhaps legs, but I think the thighs taste better!

Now...I'm talking about pieces to be grilled. Roasting a whole chicken is a different animal entirely, and I heartily recommend doing that as often as possible.

Anyway, my current technique is to trim the excess skin from the thighs, and carefully reserve it for chicken skin cracklins, otherwise known as Gribenes in Yiddish.
Then I salt them, dust on my homemade dry rub, and stash them in the refrigerator, uncovered, for a day, or as long as I have, whichever comes first.

Then it is on to my gas grill, with the burners on low, for about 30 minutes. I then turn the thighs and move them around so they all cook evenly. The next part is optional, but it has worked very nicely the last several times I have done it. I paint the tops with some homemade Kansas City BBQ sauce (thank you Bluebell for the recipe!), cook for another 10, then flip, paint, and cook for however long they need to get nice and crispy and almost charred.

Yes, I have frequently lost track of time (Old Fashioneds will do that), and thighs stand up to overcooking extremely well!

Yes, this is a lazy man's technique, but they are delicious!

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Florida man killed and ate his pet peacocks, authorities say

Why is this a crime? How do peacocks differ from chickens or ducks or geese or guinea fowl or turkey or any other domesticated bird?

Hell, peacocks were delicacies as far back as ancient Rome, and well into the 17th century. What changed?

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I am sure I have used this photo...it is one of my favorite dishes, but I am far, far away from my favorite version of it! Yes, I am sad.

Slow-roasted chicken livers tossed in a nice salad with a good vinaigrette. They are perfectly cooked, without the dry dustiness of most places' chicken livers.

Nice and simple, and a testament that food need not be complicated to be delicious.

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The World of Modern Nonalcoholic Drinks

You should all know me better than that by now!

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This is a new one for me, but it certainly is intriguing. I would use shoulder chops for two reasons; the first is that they are much less expensive than loin or rib chops, and the second is that they will stand up well to the strongly flavored sauce. Lamb Chop Stroganoff sounds delicious!
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Well...now I am pissed. I saw a recipe for Brown Butter Toffee Cookies, and I was immediately smitten. Except...it's just toffee bars broken up into a plain old brown butter chocolate chip cookie. Hell, I can do that without a recipe.

I hate cooking websites and magazines that recycle recipes with minor tweaks, then loudly and obnoxiously tout them as the BEST RECIPE EVER!

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I thought France would have good garlic, but the Frogs seem to have the same problem we have in the U.S. At least they don't import filthy garlic from China. Pork is great here, but no game, so send all of your extra antelope to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.

Who are those poor deluded souls We know who shakes their Manhattans! These are the same people who drink fine bourbon with coke, and probably shake red wine with ice too.

$1,200 for a bottle of bourbon is just stupid, insulting, and a ghastly affront to most people's palates and wallets. I think the sweet spot is $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!

Close it up

First-World Problems...

—CBD

Sigh...what to use?

I have ricocheted from electric to safety razor to cartridge to a brief foray into straight razor insanity.

And because I have a rare skill at drawing blood, I can cut myself with all four!

Seriously. I can draw blood with an electric shaver.

Recently I have settled on a cartridge system that seems to work reasonably well, but not the five-blade silliness. No, I am a purist, and go with the four-blade system!

Finding the sweet spot is a pain in the ass though...the first, and sometimes the second shave is sub-optimal, then there are a few good shaves, then it descends into abattoir-levels of bloodiness.

And because I am a cheap bastard, I will always push the hematological envelope!

The struggle is real!

Until You See Pigs Flying Over Trenton And Richmond, Don't Hold Your Breath

—CBD

Sometimes the conventional wisdom is correct, no matter how much we want it to be wrong. There are two governor races that are being sized up as referendums on the 2026 prospects for the Republican party, but neither race is being taken seriously by the corporate Republican hierarchy, which signals their lack of interest in the mid-term elections, and their lack of support for Donald Trump!

The Republican candidates are both flawed, but in different ways.

Virginia: Winsome Earle-Sears vs. Abigail Spanberger is an easy one. Winsome Earle-Sears is relatively new to politics, and simply does not have the relationships and contacts necessary to raise money on her own. Her earnest but ham-handed direct efforts may draw small donations, but the Democrats are throwing a huge amount of money at her trans-loving lunatic opponent! And of course corporate Republicans are flocking to Sears' campaign to sop up whatever money is available, but there is no coherent effort. They want her to lose with dignity!

New Jersey: Jack Ciattarelli vs. Mikie Sherrill is a clown-show of flawed candidates. The republican challenger is conspicuously light on political philosophy, but quite adept at judging wind direction! In 2015, he called Donald Trump a "charlatan," but by 2020 he was a Trump supporter! Of course he is pro-abortion until 20 weeks, and supports drivers licenses for wetbacks, so how he meshes with President Trump's policies is a mystery. He also failed to pursue the obvious failings in the 2021 NJ governor's election, preferring to lose with dignity, mostly to preserve his options to run again!

Sadly, he is running against an awful candidate who is implicated in three different issues that should have sunk her campaign. She was implicated in a cheating scandal at the Naval Academy, she scammed her two teenage children into nominations for the naval academy class of 2029, and she claims ignorance about the now-typical stock grift of congressmen that supposedly netted her $7,000,000. Whether that is true is secondary to her evasions about it and the other issues.

But hope springs eternal!

Hope in Virginia and New Jersey: Republicans Could Actually WIN This Thing!

Conventional wisdom has the GOP dead in the water in Virginia and New Jersey — the only two states that’ll be electing new governors in Nov. 2025. This highly focused spotlight gives the Commonwealth of Virginia and/or New York Junior an outsized role in determining long-term political mojo: The winning party owns the opening momentum in next year’s midterms.

And conventional wisdom has the Republican Party in a world of hurt.

New Jersey, after all, is a Democratic stronghold. Hasn’t gone Republican in a presidential race since 1988. Out of their 12 congressmen, only 3 are Republicans.

Meanwhile, from 1952 through 2004, Virginia went red in every presidential election, sans ’64. But since 2008, they’ve gone blue every single time — and often by lopsided margins. The three times Trump was on the Virginia ballot, he never got within five points of his Democratic opponent. (His worst defeat was in 2020, where he lost to Biden by over 10 points.)

And in New Jersey? Sure...Sherrill has been rocked back by the allegations, but she has a compliant media backing her, and as is their wont, the Democrats are circling the wagons to protect her. Is there a significant GOTV effort funded by the Republican party? Hah! I have not gotten a single in-state communication about the governor's race or, for that matter, any NJ race!

These two races expose the weakness of the Republican party as a counter to the Democrat party's fantastic legal and illegal efforts. Think about the disarray of the Democrats this year, and imagine how these two sates would be fairing with a well-organized state Republican party and solid, well-organized support from the national party.

But the real question as we begin to look at a post-Trump political landscape is whether the Republican party can energize the base without the incredible draw of Donald Trump? Converting his popularity into meaningful, long-term electoral changes requires more than what the Republican party is doing today.

Reading Thread 10/05/2025

—Weasel

Howdy Readers! Welcome to the Reading Thread, your Sunday morning source for the insightful, lively and spirited discussion of books 'n stuff. I'm filling in for a while as this space re-invents itself under new management so please set your near-term expectations accordingly low.

What do we have this week? Why, it's none other than Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and published in 1818. As I mentioned in the other editions of the Reading Thread you may not always get such fabulous selections as this.

Anyhoo, feel free to discuss reading and books in general and share your thoughts on this week's selection if you're so inclined. There may even be a special added bonus below!

I know you're just as excited as I am, so just jump below the fold to get started!

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click for download options

New procedure for clicking - rather than opening a PDF, a link now takes you to the Gutenberg Project web page for the book with multiple download options.

Also, for those interested, here is the Frankenstein Wiki page link.

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Special Bonus Topic For Today's Discussion

Yes or No, would you have guessed Frankenstein is the top book downloaded on the Gutenberg Project website?

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Extra Super Bonus Additional Content

Review submitted by our pal OrangeEnt

White Mutiny Malcolm Jameson

White Mutiny is a pulp magazine story from 1940. It concerns the officers of the spaceship Pollux and their reactions to a new commanding officer. I'd call it Captain Queeg in space. The captain, Shinnery, runs roughshod over the crew. His regulation mania results in the titular "white mutiny," where the XO, Bullard, orders the crew to follow the captain's orders to the letter, and nothing more.

This results in problems, of course, when the ship receives orders to Neptune to face space pirates. Shinnery's incompetence leads to the ship crash landing, leaving it at the mercy of the pirates, who soon appear and attack the disabled ship.

Shinnery demanded adherence to maintenance regs, and the malicious compliance with them leaves the ship defenseless. The captain loses his nerve and claims sickness to cover his incompetence, allowing Bullard to take over and defeat the pirates.

Bullard returns the victorious ship to its base, and after the fleet commander reviews the captain's reports and Ballard's, Shinnery gets retired by the commander, and Bullard becomes commander of the Pollux.

Fun story. Recommended for those who like old pulp stories, or have an interest in discovering them.

OrangeEnt adds it's available to read online HERE

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So that's it for now, guys and gals. Come to class next week prepared to discuss reading 'n stuff, and remember, Reading is FUNdamental!

Close it up

Daily Tech News 35 September 2025

—Pixy Misa

• The Eternal September is finally over after 34 years as AOL shuts down its dialup service. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  Looking around and seeing the current state of the internet, I think they might have left it running a little too long.
  
  
  
• Speaking of which, how does my upgraded 500Mb internet feel?
  
  Exactly the same as before, on 100Mb, to be honest. Moving from ADSL (I got about 16Mb down and 2Mb up) to a nominal 100/40 connection was a huge upgrade. At least it was until I got hit by lightning and my modem exploded.
  
  Since I mostly look at (and work on) US-hosted sites, that trans-Pacific latency erases any obvious gains. The new plan is cheaper, though, and the next step down goes all the way to 50/20 and only saves $2.