Food service! Lots of entry-level jobs in the industry, and they are perfect for kids starting out in the job market, when they have literally no job skills and have to be taught to do everything valuable. Sure...it's easy to teach a kid with half a brain how to flip burgers, but the act of keeping a job is at least as important a lesson as the skill learned.

But crank that entry-level wage to a point at which it simply does not make financial sense to hire that well-meaning but skill-less kid, and businesses large and small will make due without. They will find alternatives, as economic law demands.

Short version? Democrats are stupid.

[Hat Tip: Jay Guevara]

That's from the rather impressive kitchen of a lurker who goes by the name of "Marty." Crunchy pork belly is rarely a bad thing, although "Marty" is not completely happy with this version. Sadly he didn't discard it onto my plate, so I might need to have a bit of a chat with him.

Pork belly is a grand food, and a great bang for the buck. Crunchy and rich and unctuous and absolutely delicious, and very affordable too. There are tons of recipes for it, and while some are better than others, it's one of those dishes that tastes pretty good even if the recipe is "eh," and the execution is crappy too.

Matzo Brei! Or Matzoh Brei!

Broken-up matzoh, eggs, onion powder, salt and pepper.

Yup. Complicated.

I like to get the matzoh nice and soaked, so the crunch comes from the exterior that is fried in butter.

And if you think that you are going to get away with putting syrup on it, You are nuts! The 11th Commandment is, "Thou Shalt Not Eat Matzoh Brei With Syrup!" It's cream cheese, sour cream, or butter. That's it.

Geoffrey Zakarian Explains Why Restaurant French Toast Tastes So Much Better Than Homemade

What he is actually saying is that some people make crap French Toast at home. Of course some people make great French Toast at home!

Unsaid is the reality that there is plenty of mediocre French Toast being pumped out by restaurants across America.

I hate these sorts of articles.

Now get out of my kitchen!

[Hat Tip: Misanthropic Humanitarian]

Before you laugh at this (like I did), realize that it actually tastes pretty good! I have a relative who is trying "gluten free," although to her credit she isn't a lunatic about it. She brought these over for the Seder, and of course I had to try them. They aren't Kosher for Passover according to the Askenazi tradition, but I'll give anything a try (especially since my great-grandmother was Sephardic).

And they were pretty damned good! Which irritates the hell out of me.

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

However, I will give dispensation to those who use maple syrup on Brussels Sprouts! I tried that and it worked nicely. I still prefer Agave, but still...

And yes, I used to demand fancy bourbon, but let's face it, $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.

PIC NOTE

I was going to use this picture last week, but then the picture of the One Ring showed up in my Inbox by chance and I could not pass that up. This week's pic is just one of those random pictures of libraries you can find all over the internet. This one stood out to me because there is NO WAY that I could stand having my library look like that. Horizontally arranged books just don't work for me at all. Yes, it's easier to read the spines because you don't have to tilt your head sideways. However, it's difficult to pull books from the bottom of the stack off the shelf and it's equally difficult to return them.

THE PURPOSE OF LORE AND CANON

Carl Benjamin, aka "Sargon of Akkad," went on a tear recently on the importance of lore and canon in preserving carefully crafted worlds, especially those that span multiple media with numerous creators. The people involved in crafting those worlds often rely on the lore and canon in order to keep any additional disruptive elements to a minimum so that the overall storyline is mostly consistent over time. It's a big challenge when you are dealing with a 40-year-old franchise that is based on a tabletop miniature wargame, but also has numerous spin-offs such as novels, video games, board games, at least one movie, and an upcoming television show (that may be stuck in development hell going forward). All of that needs to work together to satisfy the fans. They WANT the creators to be thoughtful, considerate custodians of the intellectual property.

As ace, Critical Drinker, and others have pointed out, the most recent controversy is the inclusion of women in the elite personal guard of the Emperor of Mankind. Up until now, Space Marines have been exclusively MEN. This especially true of the elite-of-the-elite, the Adeptus Custodes. There are units and factions within Warhammer 40K that are dominated by females, but the Space Marines have NEVER been among them. However, according to the recently updated Warhammer 40K Wiki, "The Custodes is an elite cadre of genetically-engineered transhuman male and female warriors who are even more potent in combat than the Adeptus Astartes." [Emphasis added -- PS]

This fundamentally breaks the lore in ways that will cause backwards ripples throughout the canon, as that change now has to be ret-conned into all previous media. Why have female Custodes never been featured in books and storylines before? How are they able to survive the incredibly grueling initiation process that kills most candidates? As this YouTuber points out, there are some changes that can be added to the lore with minimal disruption, but changes that affect the culture and society almost always cause great disruption to the story. Ursula K. Leguin--an early feminist icon in fantasy--wrestled with this idea when she returned to the Earthsea stories after a long hiatus. She ultimately decided that women in Earthsea could NOT be wizards, though there are plenty of women who have magical powers of their own. They just can't be called "wizards" and they cannot fulfill the same role in society. Wizarding was exclusively the domain of men.

Some authors are not all that concerned with their own canon and lore and just write whatever they feel like. H.P. Lovecraft allowed many, many authors to contribute to his Cthulhu Mythos, even when he might not have agreed with some of those changes. For instance, August Derleth added a category of godlike beings that was much more benevolent towards humanity than most of the Mythos, even protecting us at times from the callous disregard of Great Old Ones. Raymond E. Feist doesn't re-read his own books to keep his cosmology and history consistent throughout the Riftwar Saga, leading to odd discrepancies and contradictions from series to series.

\
(*sigh* My TBR pile grew again this week...See below)

LORE BREAKING -- WHEEL OF TIME EXAMPLE

NOTE: You may want to skip down to the comments section if you are not interested in this topic, as I intend to go into excruciating detail of one instance of critical lore breaking...

The following excerpt is the opening monologue of Season 1 Episode 1 of Amazon's Wheel of Time, which was first released in Fall 2021. The show is very loosely based on Robert Jordan's epic fantasy series--to the point where only some of the names are the same. The plot and character arcs have wildly diverged in the television series from those that are presented in the books. I've added emphasis to the statements that are contradictory to the source material. This information is presented to the casual viewers as canon exposition, but it's all a pack of lies and I'll demonstrate why in a moment.

The world is broken. Many, many years ago, men who were born with great power believed they could cage Darkness itself. The arrogance. When they failed, the seas boiled, mountains were swallowed up, cities burned, and the women of the Aes Sedai were left to pick up the pieces. These women remembered one thing above all else...the man who brought the Breaking of the World. And him they named Dragon. Now this man has been born again. We don't know where or to whom. If he was reborn as a girl or a boy. The only thing we know for certain is that this child is coming of age now, and we must find them...before the Dark does. -- Moiraine Damodred

Let's unpack the highlighted portions to examine WHY these statements are incorrect.

Many, many years ago, men who were born with great power believed they could cage Darkness itself

Three thousand years before the events of the main story, the War of Shadow tore the world apart because the Dark One had been freed from his eternal prison. Note that a WOMAN initiated his release, though she had help from others who sought greater power. It was up to a coalition of male and female channelers (magic-users) to attempt to put this evil genie back into the bottle. Unfortunately, only Lews Therin Telamon had a workable plan and could only find male channelers to assist him, as everyone else thought he was mad. So yes, it was MEN that attempted to "cage Darkness," but only because none of the female channelers could be persuaded to assist.

When they failed, the seas boiled, mountains were swallowed up, cities burned, and the women of the Aes Sedai were left to pick up the pieces<

Lews Therin Telamon didn't fail. He and his Hundred Companions (give or take) *succeeded* in sealing the Dark One back in his prison and used potent magical seals to patch over the breach in the Dark One's prison. Unfortunately, because only the male half of the True Source was used, this made the patch weaker than it should have been. The weakening of imperfect seals is the source of the conflict in the current Age. The Dark One was able to exact one last retaliatory strike before he was imprisoned again. The backlash from sealing the Bore tainted the entire male half of the True Source, causing all male channelers to go irrevocably insane. With their great power, they reshaped the world, causing the seas to boil and tearing down mountains over here while erecting even larger mountains over there. (Dragonmount is the site of Lews Therin's death, where he drilled a hole to the center of the planet with the One Power causing an enormous volcano to spew forth from the earth.) It wasn't their fault. Even Lews Therin succumbed to madness, killing everyone in his family--including his beloved wife and children--and earning the appellation "Kinslayer." Because the female channelers had not participated in the attempt to seal the Bore, their half of the True Source was untouched by the Dark One's taint. So yes, they were the only magic users sane enough to rebuild society.

And him they named Dragon

Lews Therin Telamon, the worldwide leader of all of the Aes Sedai (magic users), was already known as the Dragon during the War of Shadow. His banner was a serpentine, Oriental-style dragon on a field of white. Entire armies clashed with the armies of the Shadow under that banner. Because he was the most powerful channeler in the entire world and led the strike on the Dark One's stronghold at Shayol Ghul, his name was remembered well into the following Age, as he saved the world and broke it at the same time.

If he was reborn as a girl or a boy

This right here breaks the lore at a fundamental level. The world of the Wheel of Time is a strictly binary one when it comes to genders. There are men. There are women. Souls only come in those two flavors. Nothing in between. A certain percentage of female souls have the ability to wield the female half of the True Source. A certain percentage of male souls have the ability to wield the male half of the True Source. It *is* possible for a male soul to be implanted in a female body and vice versa, but that takes the intervention of the Dark One and very specific circumstances around one's death in order for that to happen. It becomes a plot point later in the books when the Dark One infiltrates the Aes Sedai with one of his remade Forsaken who can channel the male half of the True Source while wearing a female body (female channelers have a hard time detecting a man's channeling ability). The Dragon--in EVERY Age--is a man and will ALWAYS be a man, because he is the most powerful channeler of either gender in the entire world, in all the Ages that were and all the Ages that will be (time is circular in this series). It's simply not possible for the Dragon to be born as a girl. Period. The Creator would never allow it.

and we must find them...before the Dark does

Note the use of the word "them" in this context. Moiraine is using a gender-neutral pronoun to refer to the "child" in the previous sentence because in THIS bastardized lore, the Dragon can be either gender (contrary to the actual lore). Also note the use of the word "Dark" here. In the books, there is no such thing as "the Dark." Instead, the main antagonist is usually referred to as "the Dark One"--the most common appellation though he has a lot of other colorful names depending on one's culture, ethnicity, and species. If evil is referred to in more general terms, it's usually referred to as "the Shadow" in contrast to "the Light." This is somewhat of an interesting word choice, as a shadow relies on a light source in order to be cast, while darkness is the complete absence of light. It's implied in the story that the Creator (the Light) created the Dark One, and therefore could be the source of "the Shadow." The Creator (i.e., God) is also supposed to have sealed the Dark One in his prison at the beginning up time, and thus is more powerful than the Dark One. By referring to him as "Dark," then that implies equal or greater status with "Light."

As we can see in these examples, the television show just shat all over the source material in favor of its own nonsensical and inconsistent narrative. I counted a minimum of FIVE lore/canon breaks within just one paragraph of text that is spoken in less than two minutes. Even FJB would be hard-pressed to pack that many lies in that much time. The show does NOT get any better from there. And now the showrunners have to somehow find a way to finish their story in maybe one more season if they are lucky. (SPOILER: It will be a complete disaster, rivaling the finale of Game of Thrones in how much it disappoints its audience).

This desire by certain elements to *replace* existing lore instead of creating *new* lore is a direct manifestation of the evil that surrounds us. Both J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were adamant that evil cannot create. It can only mutilate, pervert, corrupt, and destroy what the Creator (i.e., God) has made.

Moral of the story: Lore and canon MATTER, people! Violate it at your own risk.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Loren D. Estleman's Vamp: A Valentino Mystery is a fun accompaniment to our own MP4's Theda Bara tales. Val is a modern-day L.A. movie palace owner/restorer who, in this outing, in addition to helping a friend restore a drive-in, is also trying to save a long-lost print of the 1917 epic Cleopatra.

It has a ton of great one-liners: "L.A. has no landmarks, only placeholders for the next Tim Horton's."

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 09:17 AM (3e3hy)

Comment: If you want a good snapshot of what life was like in Hollywood over a hundred years ago, Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing's Theda Bara stories are an excellent example. Interesting characters, lively dialog, and just nice slice-of-life prose to make you feel immersed in that time. Sounds like Estelman's story takes a similar approach, but uses a modern setting in addition to the older Hollywood.

A cousin gifted me with Athenry by Cahal Dunne, mainly because he met the author at a pub in Pittsburgh, but also because the novel is well written and tells the true story behind the Great Famine. The story is an homage to a song called "The Fields of Athenry," which tells the tale of a young Irishman who is sentenced to the Australian penal colony for stealing a bag of grain to feed his starving family. Set in 1840s Ireland, the novel instructs the reader on the English penal code that enforced the English conquest of Ireland. Catholics were prohibited from practicing their religion, owning or leasing property, entering a profession, owning weapons, voting, living in a town, all in an attempt to render the Irish to the level of slaves. The story is gripping and the level of brutality of the English toward the Irish was stunning to me. (My knowledge of Irish history is not detailed.) The odyssey of Liam O'Donoghue as told in the novel is entertaining and I found it difficult to put the book down. Morality trumps inhumanity, and the love of family sustains Liam through his travails. The book has haunted me from the first page and I want to read it again later.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 21, 2024 09:49 AM (U3L4U)

Comment: "The Fields of Athenry" (song) was written in 1979 by Pete St. John and recorded by Danny Doyle. It seemed to capture the spirit of Ireland at the time remaining on the Irish charts for 72 weeks, though never reaching #1. Numerous artists have covered this song over the decades since, such as The Dubliners, The Dropkick Murphys, and Michael freakin' Jackson. I listened to a few of the covers on iTunes, but I think I like the Dropkick Murphys the best. It has a nice tempo to it compared to most.

Since I'm watching Streets of Laredo, the six-hour miniseries based on that novel by Larry McMurtry, I picked up the book at the library to re-read. Since McMurtry co-wrote the teleplay, it follows the novel very closely, down to individual lines of dialogue. On this one I'm not noticing his quirk of shifting viewpoint from one character to another in the same scene, sometimes even in the same paragraph.

What LMcM does better than anybody I've read in the Western genre is to create (or use actual historical) villains. Serial killers, not to put too fine a point on it: savage creatures like Blue Duck the Comanche, Mox Mox the "man-burner," Ahumado the vicious Mexican who traps people in pits and cages, and Joey Garza the merciless, blond, blue-eyed Mexican gunman. His heroes are classics like Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, too, but his antagonists are pure evil and very memorable . . . as if Hannibal Lecter, Jame Gumb, and Francis Dolarhyde were transported to 1870s Texas.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 10:18 AM (omVj0)

Comment: It's good that the original author of the work apparently had enough creative control to keep the showrunners in line. We need more of that, I think, as so many adaptations are run off the rails by writers who have no clue what they are doing and deliberately disrespect the source material for their own political ideology. There's also an art to writing a good villain, one that is dangerous and menacing, but not so much that he becomes a caricature or a cartoonish super-villain. Drawing upon real-world examples for inspiration is a great way to add that villainous verisimilitude to your characters.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary.

Decipher by Stel Pavlou

Write down every conspiracy theory and nutty physics idea you can think of on slips of paper. Then put those slips of paper into a basket. Draw out anywhere between a dozen and a score of those slips of paper. Then craft a story around that. That's a good summary of the plot of Decipher, which is a veritable cornucopia of crazy conspiracy theories all jumbled up and mixed together in an entertaining Michael Crichton-esque tale that draws upon almost every Hollywood global disaster movie ever made. Here is just a sampling of what can be found in Decipher:

• Corrupt corporation seeking to exploit a newly found resource for fun and profit? Check.
• Equally corrupt CEO of said corporation attempting to grab the main phlebotinum in the story for profit? Check.
• Corrupt Vatican suppressing historical documented evidence about the upcoming end of the world? Check.
• Mysterious ruins created by an ancient race all linked together in a global network for an equally mysterious purpose? Check.
• Smart, sassy, sexy female scientist? Check.
• Cynical, world-weary anti-theist linguist who's only mission in life seems to be to disprove Christianity? Check.
• Somewhat optimistic physicist who knows a lot more than he's letting on? (Also directly inspired by Dr. Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park--Pavlou even plagiarizes a speech from him) Check.
• Unexplained solar storms that threaten the planet? Check.
• Jewish mysticism confirmed by the existence of golems? Check.
• Buckyball (Carbon-60) technology that can do whatever the plot demands? Check.
• Brink of war between the United States and another major power (in this case, China)? Check.
• The lost city of Atlantis rising again? Check.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Although it's not a great book by any means (quite a bit of formulaic writing in many places), it does hit all the right notes and somehow makes all of these conspiracy theories work together. Some of them are presented solely through exposition as the characters work out the details of the global apocalyptic threat they face. I won't spoil the ending, but it's quite inventive and creative. You *know* (more or less) how the end of the story will play out, but the final resolution throws in a couple of cool twists that are foreshadowed earlier in the book, but don't quite register until the characters have their "AHA!" moment at the end. Entertaining and fast-paced.

Shadow of the Leviathan Book 1 - The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

In typical Robert Jackson Bennett fashion, he drops you into the middle of a strange and bizarre world with little explanation (at first) about what is going on. Over the course of the first few chapters, he interleaves the strange worldbuilding in with the actual events of the story. In this case, he's created a Holmes and Watson mystery-solving duo, but also drawing upon Nero Wolfe to create the lead investigator. A man has been murdered in the most gruesome manner under seemingly impossible circumstances, with equally inscrutable motives. Figuring out what happened and who administered the fatal blow prove to be relatively simple. Now Ana and Din have determine the real culprit who hired the assassin and the true motives behind the murder. I think I've figured out why I enjoy Robert Jackson Bennett's stories so much. They are very similar to Brandon Sanderson's form of storytelling in many ways (with a lot more profanity). Bennett always has an exciting and satisfying conclusion, as well.

The Abyss Beyond Dreams by Peter F. Hamilton

This novel takes place within Hamilton's future history Commonwealth stories. It starts out a couple of hundred years before the events of the Void Trilogy (even though it was written several years later). Humans attempting to escape the galaxy to found a new extra-galactic colony are instead captured by the Void at the center of the Milky Way, where they have to learn to adapt to the strange new rules within the Void. Mental powers rule here instead of technology. They also have to defend themselves against a violent, shapeshifting race that seeks to dominate and replace the humans in the Void.

Three thousand Void years later, an infiltrator from the Commonwealth must unravel the secrets of the alien Fallers who are attempting to dominate the humans on Bienvenidos, as they may be they key to destroying the Void that threatens to overtake the external galaxy. To do that, he'll need to orchestrate a revolution to overthrow the current power structure.

WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK:

• The Essential Life by author unknown -- This is a bit of a mystery. This book showed up on my doorstep this week, completely out of the blue. It did include a packing slip/invoice showing that it was sent to me by a man in Michigan unknown to me via eBay. It's quite a lovely book, actually, with a lot of excellent pictures and jam-packed with information about essential oils. Any Morons in Michigan want to 'fess up? I don't mind the gift. It was quite thoughtful.

The library in which I work (but do not work for) had their annual book sale this week. Naturally, I could not resist. I walked away with the following selections for the low, low price of $7 total.

• A Passion for Books: A Book Lover's Treasury of Stories, Essays, Humor, Lore, and Lists on Collecting, Reading, Borrowing, Lending, Caring For, and Appreciating Books edited by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan with a foreword by Ray Bradbury. -- This is exactly what it says on the cover: a book BY bibliophiles FOR bibliophiles.
• The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith -- This is the sequel to his novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and follows the adventures of vampire Henry Sturges across the first part of the twentieth century through JFK's assassination.
• Edgar Allan Poe: The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales by Edgar Allan Poe -- For $1, why not have a selection of his classic stories? Poe was very influential in both the mystery and horror genres.
• Darwin's Children by Greg Bear -- I've only read a handful of Greg Bear's stories, but I've enjoyed the ones I've read. So I decided to add a few more to my collection. This one features super-advanced children that may be conspiring to eliminate the "old" human race.
• Vitals by Greg Bear -- Ah, the quest for immortality...It seldom works out well.
• Psychlone by Greg Bear -- What happens when radical climate events develop a mind of their own? Or something to that effect...The blurb on the back of this book is quite vague.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 04-21-24 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Disclaimer: No Morons were harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Don't drink the Amontillado!

Tech News

• Speaking of which, if you're bored you can watch the Ars commentariat tie itself into knots explaining why Germany's move from clean, safe, reliable nuclear power to the dirtiest of dirty coal - they burn lignite - is good for the environment. (Ars Technica)
  
  Or not. Actually, I'd recommend not. Though some of the comments are good:

  Not sure what these numbers mean. According to Wikipedia consumed energy in Germany was 76 percent fossil in 2023 (including a lot of lignite which is amongst the dirtiest coals). Also to note, over the years Germany has imported more and more energy from France (biggest nuclear park) to compensate for the closure of their own nuclear plants so in a way they have just outsourced their nuclear. And last, electricity prices in Germany are amongst the most expensive in Europe. All this sounds a little less shiny than the article?

  They could try burning Ars readers but they're probably too wet.
  
  
  
• The Eurocom 780W AC Power Adapter review. (AnandTech)
  
  780W is unremarkable for a computer power supply these days, though this has some nice features like running on mains power anywhere from 90 to 264 volts, and being able to sustain a 25% overload - right on 1000W of power draw - almost indefinitely.
  
  That's 20 volts out at 50 amps.
  
  Because this is a laptop power supply.
  
  
  
• Proxmox 8.2 is out. (Serve the Home)
  
  Proxmox VE is a pretty neat server virtualisation and management system based on a customised Ubuntu kernel. I've been meaning to set it up at home for a long time, but it's been a while since I had a standalone server that wasn't in use.
  
  
  
• Speaking of which, I've spent the weekend engaging in necromancy.
  
  Apart from the new Asus laptop (the one that refused to talk to the nice 2TB Team MP44 I bought for it) and the three cheap Beelink mini-PCs I bought to build a Linux cluster, I also had four old laptops sitting around.
  
  So I got everything assembled in what is nominally the music room (and in fact does contain an Akai midi keyboard) and I'm working through a long list of hardware upgrades that I already have the parts for, and an even longer list of software upgrades.
  
  At the end of it I'll have eight - probably nine, actually - working computers instead of just the one.
  
  It's all fun and games as usual. I couldn't remember the password on one of the laptops, so I stuck in the Windows 10 install drive and told it to reinstall.
  
  The Windows installer reported that it couldn't find the SSD.
  
  Fortunately I had another identical laptop that I could log in to, so I created a recovery drive from that, and with that I could reinstall Windows.
  
  Those two will soon have 64GB of RAM and 4TB of SSD each. The laptops and their upgrades have been sitting around waiting for me to have time to attend to them since February.
  
  Of 2022.
  
  
  
• The walls of Apple's garden are tumbling down. (The Verge)
  
  You do know that you could just not buy iPhones, right?
  
  
  
• Speaking of which, I also set up my Moto G14 today.
  
  Great screen.
  
  Works well.
  
  1080x2400 screen, 50 megapixel camera, two A75 plus six A55 cores, which is fine for me, though I'd avoid anything that was A55 only, and a headphone jack and microSD slot, which many phones at ten times the price don't have.
  
  Dirt cheap - I paid about $110 on sale for the 4GB / 128GB model.
  
  This is to replace the Oppo phone I've been using as my on-call pager because that one died of battery bloat.
  
  I'd recommend it but it's not available in the US.
  
  Also it talks when you boot it up, which I could do without.
  
  
  
• Tech gadgets are adding AI whether you like it or not. (Ars Technica)
  
  Actually, the case cited doesn't even involve adding AI. It's a new Logitech mouse with a dedicated AI button... Which pops up a menu on Windows.
  
  That's it.

The following is a fun and safe link. Trust me. Would I pull a Yoko on you?

I do not own a pair of crocs. But, I will admit to owning Fleetwood Mac's LP Rumors. It seems I'm not the only one.

How Fleetwood Mac Got Cool Again
Why do young people keep rediscovering Rumours? It’s in part because of a song that’s not even on the album.

Catchy music. Great vocals, lyrics people can relate to are only a couple of thoughts.

Do you enjoy the great outdoors? Do you enjoy hiking? Have some travel planned? The Best Hike in Every State

Alpine scrambles and beachfront strolls; multi-day singletrack adventures and quick urban escapes; soaring trees and rolling sand dunes—every state in the country has something to offer intrepid hikers. So we rounded up a bucket-list-worthy, best-of-the-best guide.

Isn't social media just grand? Ads for Explicit ‘AI Girlfriends’ Are Swarming Facebook and Instagram

WIRED found thousands of ads running on Meta’s social platforms promoting sexually explicit “AI girlfriend” apps. Some human sex workers say the platform unfairly polices their own posts more harshly.

Mis Hum:
I am saddened to report that Alex Hassilev, the last original member of the 1960s folk music group The Limeliters, passed away yesterday (4/21/24) at age 91. The Limeliters burst upon the music scene in the early 60s with their mix of harmony, comedy, and international music. The lead singer was tenor Glenn Yarbrough, and Lou Gottlieb provided a lot of the jokes. Their "Through Children's Eyes" album is a classic. Alex Hassilev was fluent in many languages and helped provide that flair to the repertoire. - Isophorone Blog

I'm not saying the next story involves a Genius Award or not. That being said, going into feed wild bears with food is certainly an invitation for mayhem.

ZOO HORROR Shocking moment zookeeper is pinned down by two pandas who chase her down inside enclosure during feeding time
Another zookeeper tried to help but the situation only worsened

The disguise in this story wouldn't pass as a Halloween costume. Genius Award Winner.

In addition to his mugshot, the Glades County Sheriff's Office also released a photo of the man as he was arrested -- showing his failed attempt at going incognito.
The photo above is what Joshua Kolotka looked like when he posed for his mugshot in Lakeport, Florida -- but it sure wasn't how he appeared when he was apprehended by police.

In a release from the Glades County Sheriff's Office, authorities claimed Kolotka tried his best to evade deputies by going incognito, wearing a wig and dress to avoid arrest.

It didn't work.

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Rest & Refreshment.

Notice: Posted with permission by the Ace Media Empire's hall monitors & cafeteria workers.

Ryan Brickson Cole Tews plays Jean Kayak, a furrier in the frontier days of the country, and in the movie's setup, we see that he is a great grower of apples—and a great purveyor of applejack, to which he finds himself in thrall. His drunkenness causes him to lose his factory and apple groves, to say nothing of his reputation, and he must find another way to survive in the perpetual winter of Wisconsin (or possibly Michigan).

He attempts to trap animals for food and fails miserably, but ultimately ends up teaming up with The Master Fur Trapper, who teaches him all the tricks. When The Master meets an untimely demise, he strikes out on his own, trading with The Merchant, who runs his shop exactly like one you might find in a computer role-playing game. A knife is one penny, a rope is two pennies, a pipe is three beavers, and so on.

Did I say "like" a video game? I mean...EXACTLY THE SAME AS.

In this way, our hero "levels up" and captures more and more pelts of various sorts.

But what he really wants is The Merchant's daughter, and The Merchant demands hundreds of beavers in order to purchase an engagement ring.

But while Jean Kayak has been struggling to get ahead in the wolf-eat-dog world of fur trapping, the beavers have been making their own, possibly sinister, plans. (Even in retrospect, I'm not sure the industrious beavers were exactly villainous. It's more a collision of world views.)

Will Jean Kayak survive the frontier? Will he get the girl? Will he be able to survive hundreds of beavers?

If the little clues didn't tip you off Hundreds of Beavers (which is fun to say and type) is a comedy, brought to you by the masterminds that made Lake Michigan Monster. Without a lot of money, and with a lot of resourcefulness and creativity, Tews and director/co-writer Mike Cheslik have created a new, old kind of comedy.

The lovely Miss Graves skins a beaver. (She's also a proficient pole dancer!)

Filmed in black-and-white (in part to hide the low-budget) and "silent" (in terms of having almost no dialogue), HoB uses the tropes and gag mechanics of the silent era and Looney Toons, then blends them with video game tropes, and non-stop, wall-to-wall gag which hit way more often than not.

I mean, by the time you're registering that a joke didn't quite hit, there have been two others that did. And, almost shockingly—because who remembers how to do comedy these days?—a lot of times, the joke that only got a little smile out of you comes back later in different forms, funnier each time it comes back.

Like The General or The Gold Rush (which it cannot help but evoke), or a Road Runner cartoon, the movie trains you in its comedic language. For example, there's a gag involving a wolf whistle, which inexplicably summons an enraged woodpecker. OK, kind of cute in context, but not hilarious. As the movie goes on, Jean Kayak finds himself repeatedly tormented by said woodpecker, but ultimately finds a way to exploit this mechanism to his advantage.

On trial for beaver crimes.

It's so ingrained that by the end of the movie, you're just laughing at the whistle itself. A month later when seeing a different film, I poked my head into the theater showing HoB, heard the whistle, and laughed without even seeing what was on screen. (And the theater was about 2/3rds full.)

My only complaint, if I had to make one, was that it was slightly too long, in particular a very video-game-y segment in the third act.

But this is a quibble. I haven't seen a new movie this funny in years and I don't expect to see another until these guys do a follow-up.

Made on a budget of $200,000—apparently the various costumes cost $10K each!—it has broken $300K at the box office, playing week-after-week—three months as of today, in fact—playing in about a dozen theaters nationwide. It's the sort of film you drag your friends to.

Tews is perfect, as he was in Lake Michigan Monster, and Wes Tanks (as The Master Fur Trapper) and Doug Mancheski (as The Trader) are great in their roles. A special shout-out to Olivia Graves as Kayak's love interest, who enjoys tormenting her suitor. This is a tricky role just because we're rooting for Tews and she's making his life hard, but in a charmingly ridiculous way.

Another point of interest is Luis Rico, who plays The Indian Fur Trapper, and whose part is laden with classic Amerind movie tropes. I'm not foolish enough to believe we've gotten past our cultural madness, but it was sure nice to see a bunch of "injun jokes" that people were laughing at, without a single dudgeon being raised on high.

If you're not fortunate enough to be living near one of the dozen theaters it's in, it is available for streaming on Amazon and Apple, and will be available for purchase in a few weeks.

This is also as close to a "general recommendation" movie as I get these days. You almost have to be anti-comedy to not be able to appreciate this. Heck, you could be anti-comedy and just appreciate the craftsmanship here. The writing—the sheer effort that must have gone into packing in hundreds of gags—is admirable just as a work of art.

Plus, it's a Christmas movie!

Other Films Of Note:

Chocolat (1988): Not the 2000 Johnny Depp/Juliet Binoche romance but a "slice of life" memoir about French Cameroon in the '50s. Beautifully shot with a competent (and good looking) cast, but not a lot to say for itself.

Late Night With The Devil: Breakout horror hit of the year, this "found footage" film stretches (and even breaks) the boundaries of the genre to provide a very compelling experience.

Remembering Gene Wilder: A fun documentary narrated by Wilder, and hitting the highlights of his career. A lot of smiles with the mandatory memento mori end.

Arcadian: Nicolas Cage indulges his agent, who wrote this thinly plotted horror which makes less and less sense the more you think about it.

Le Samourai (1967): Classic French noir about a hitman with a code, complete with made-up quote from the Bushido. Hard-boiled inspiration for every filmmaker dabbling in noir ever since.

The Teacher's Lounge:  Moral uncertainty plagues a German school, leading one teacher (a Pole) to an increasingly tenuous career position. Fine acting and buildup puts the writers into a corner they don't dare try to get out of in this Oscar-nominated film.

Chinatown (1974): The fiftieth anniversary of the Best Picture Oscar-winner that reminds you that Jack Nicholson used to put out some amazingly subtle performances before becoming a caricature of himself, and Roman Polanski could direct a great film, no matter how big a creep:

The Pianist (2002): We're in-between the 20th and 25th anniversary, making me wonder if this isn't part of a(nother) push to rehab Polanski by reminding us that, even as recently as 2002, he could direct a hell of a film. Adrien Brody's breakout role.

Woman in the Dunes (1964): The highest rated film I've seen in the past year (with an 8.5 on IMDB), this tells the story of an entomologist trapped in a pit with a woman for two-and-a-half hours. I don't think I "got" this one.

The Taste of Things: I loved this movie about a 19th century French gourmand and his lifelong chef/lover. The first hour-and-a-half is mostly cooking, but it slows down after that a little. Juliette Binoche looks rather good naked even at sixty.

Perfect Days: Wim Wenders gives us a story of a peaceful, happy toilet cleaner in Japan, whose life is touched by the chaos in others', but only just. A drama for people who don't like drama.

Amelie (2001): Jeunet's classic love-song to Paris is as charming as ever—a rare film where the heroine is a coward, or is overcoming her cowardice—and even more remarkable in its resemblance to A Christmas Story. That is to say, it was a nostalgic film at the time, and of a time that is so far gone, nary a trace remains.

With a little searching, you can find HoB posters for "Reservoir Dogs", "Sleepless In Seattle", "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and many others.

From By-Tor:

My neighbor has informed me that our racoon has returned. Must be late April.

I don't mind her and her soon to be born brood except they leave muddy racoon paw prints on my white trim I will have to pressure wash or repaint.

Three years running.

Charming.

Miley sent in a remarkable real-life video of a foal meeting her foster mom. Not an easy situation.

Thanks, Miley.

Tutti Fruitti has been featured before, but we are celebrating his comeback from a, what I am sure was a stroke, cough that was related to eating and drinking--cat dysphagia. Took him to the vet and spent a bunch of money to get less info than I already figured out; but ruled out an obstruction for the cough and refusal to eat or drink. So, just gently encouraged him to drink water and he slowly improved from there. At 16, I know that he does not have a long time left, but he is a fighter and worked his way back. I'm enjoying every day that I have with him.

Nan in AZ

What a beautiful cat! Glad you still have him.

Hi K.T.

Thanks so much for hosting the Pet Thread. I look forward to your commentary and seeing the Moron Pets every Saturday.

I'm attaching pics of my West Highland Terrorist, Bodie. He's 4 years old and doesn't he look cute? It's a damn good thing because he's a real pistol. He is stubborn, headstrong and hasn't met a dog that he won't go after. He's a little dog that thinks he's big. In other words full of Westitude. And we love him.

The first pic is Bodie and his favorite toy, the sneaky snake. Second pic is just chilling.

My nic is MeLurkYouLongTime.

We can tell that we would love Bodie, too. Even though he has Westitude.

Cats in the evening:

We have no idea what the draw is but in the late evening Sangria and Rooney camp out with the computers. They don't stay long, it's only one of the stops on their way through the house. The rest of the day and evening they fight over the chair when it's unoccupied.

Lirio100

My wife and I are empty nesters. We live in a house with many pets. Birds, cats and a dog. Everybody gets along fairly well as these pictures reflect.

The first is our lab Bella and her buddy Nola. We have raised Nola from a hatchling and Bella adopted her. They canoodle together and Bella is very gentle.

The next is our White Bellied Caique and Val. The cat tolerates this indignity somehow.

Love the site and this feature.

Regards,

DJ

Wow. Remarkable photos. And interesting stories!

We don't want to get too political here, but there is a post I haven't completely figured out on what the border crisis means for animals, some of which are being abandoned at the border.

Here are some links from our correspondent to get you started in becoming informed and in helping:

surfers for strays

Legal Insurrection

Author Mike LaChance

Matt Finn and Fox News

There are also smaller operations starting up. We will try to watch some of these. Thanks for the information, including that which we haven't gotten to yet.

What a wonderful collection of pet stories today. We have one left for next week.
Thank you for sharing your pets with us.

If you would like to send pet and/or animal stories, links, etc. for the Ace of Spades Pet Thread, the address is:

petmorons at protonmail dot com

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Until next Saturday, have a great week!

If you start feeling nostalgic, here a link to last week's Pet Thread, the Ace of Spades Pet Thread, April 20 Some special PetMoron stories and photos there.

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

I sent a picture last fall of my tiny fignomenal fig tree. The little discolored leaf is the last of the leaves that lasted over winter. Maybe three weeks ago it suddenly took off and looks pretty healthy now.

The second is my baby tomato, it's a little leggy because I've just started being able to set it outside in the sun recently. When it's warm enough to plant outside I'll bury it some. It's a GMO purple tomato (has two purple snapdragon genes) from Norfolk Healthy Produce. They passed USDA and FDA regulatory requirements last year and offered seeds for sale. It's an indeterminate cherry tomato. I just checked the website and they've closed sales for this year but plan on selling again in Nov/Dec. Supposedly the two genes are intended to increase the amount of anthocyanins in the fruit. The seeds were pretty expensive so I hope the price will come done then!

Lirio100

Love that little fig tree!

The plant is coming right along. Let us know how the tomatoes taste! This is what they look like:

Art

A Daily Dose of History, April 26

By the time he was in his 40's, John James Audubon was prosperous and world famous. But not before having to overcome lots of adversity.

Born Jean Jacques Audubon in the French colony of Sainte Domingue (now Haiti), he was the illegitimate child of a chambermaid and a French sea captain/plantation-owner. His mother died when he was only a few months old and at age 6 Jean was taken to France, where he was adopted and raised by his father's wife.

Jean's father had hoped the boy would become a naval officer, following in his footsteps, but Jean was a failure at military and naval training. So, to keep him from being conscripted into Napoleon's army, Jean's father acquired forged identity papers for the boy and sent him to America. On the way over Jean adopted the anglicized version of his name: John James Audubon.

In America, after surviving a bout of yellow fever, John met and fell in love with Lucy Bakewell, eventually marrying her.

John was a brilliant and gifted man, but he failed repeatedly in business. By 1819 he was bankrupt and in debtor's prison. Lucy supported the family by working as a teacher.

As we all know now, John's true calling was as an artist and a naturalist. For nearly 15 years he had traveled around America, collecting and painting birds, while trying in vain to establish himself professionally.

Finally, in 1826, when John was 41 years old, his wife encouraged (and paid for) him to go to Europe to try to find a publisher for his collection of drawings. And there he became a sensation. His work was immensely popular, he had audiences with royalty, and his book The Birds of America became a smash hit. He is remembered today as one the greatest naturalists and nature artists in history. . .

The photo is of his drawing "Marsh Wren," which is in the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Ah, Nature

Lots of these guys around today. Not very appetizing.

- fd

Google disagreed. Recommended that I respond that they were great!

Puttering

Flower arranging: Form, color, variety

Adventure

Recognize the flower?

Gardens of The Horde

A couple of weeks ago, we featured a photo of the front yard of a long time lurker in Washington State:

Thanks! That was fun!

You're welcome to stop by and visit if you ever find yourself in Kirkland. The picture I sent was the front yard. I recently added flower beds, patio, trees and pathways on my backyard hill.

More greatness on the way!

Here's a detail from the photo of the front yard, in case you don't remember:

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, the address is:

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.

Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, April 20

Any thoughts or questions?

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

Loretta Lynch.

Anyway, that was originally published on April 20.

Big rate increases were passed for PG&E customers, not only for electricity, but also for advertisements so PG&E could tell customers what a great thing it was that they were being charged for PG&E burying electrical cables.

Big increases for SOME PG&E Customers, that is:

April 19:

California Power Companies Proposing Income-Based Rates for Electric Bills

I recently noted that Los Angeles passed a "Mansion Tax" that had the elites in the area scrambling to sell their properties and contributing to the mass of "Left-ugees" now fleeing California.

The number of left-ugees will likely explode, fueled by the latest scheme now being proposed. Since California's energy rates are skyrocketing, power companies propose income-based pricing in response to an Assembly bill.

If you live in California, your electricity bill could soon be affected by how much money you earn, and your bill will start to look different by 2025.

California's three largest power companies - Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric - submitted a joint proposal to the Public Utilities Commission outlining a fixed rate restructuring that would be based on one's income.

Here are the numbers being put forth for consideration:

Put simply, the more you earn the more you pay for recurring charges (not related to energy usage) . . .

Anyway, on to April 26:

Who killed California utility bill legislation?

A bill to rein in a proposed monthly fee on California electric bills has been quietly shelved in the Assembly without receiving a single vote.

Assembly Bill 1999, written by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, was a response to the California Public Utilities Commission's proposal on fixed charges. The version to be voted on next month would let California's largest for-profit utility companies charge customers $24 per month -- with fees as low as $6 for lower-income customers -- as a kind of membership fee for the power grid.

In exchange, power providers would be required to lower the rate that customers pay for every unit of electricity consumed. Customers who draw relatively little from the grid -- including those with solar panels -- would likely face higher overall bills. Customers who buy more electricity from the utilities are more likely to see their bills decline.

Irwin's legislative rejoinder would have capped the set fees at $10 per month -- and just $5 for lower income customers.

But that effort appears to be on ice, though Rivas' office says that while the bill will not move forward in its current form, talks with Irwin on possible amendments are ongoing.

Bills that cost the state money, like AB 1999, have until today to make it out of their first policy committees. . .

See the political details at the link.

The income-based legislative wranglings above may have something to do with one solar company's sales people claiming that they are not a solar company, but rather an alternative power provider to PG&E offering lower rates, merely using your home as a place to put one of their little power plants and your wall as a place for one of their battery arrays. This is a desperate sales line which still requires the salesperson to get the mark's recent bills to see if they "qualify" as a location for that placement of a power plant on their roof.

This is related to the PG&E rate hikes. Geege Welborn wrote it last October:

CA Having the Darnedest Time With Electricity

The magic juice. It ebbs, it flows, sometimes it just dang shuts off.

Old timers in Southern California - like we were, having lived in Orange County during the golden 80s decade thru early 90s - love to tell the youngsters of today about the times they've never really experienced. Cheap water - our water bill ran about $12 every...TWO MONTHS. There was natural gas for stoves and the furnace (the one night out of a thousand winter night you might need it), and there was electricity...ALWAYS...at 6.5? kwhr. San Onofre, Diablo Canyon, the coal plant in Carlsbad - Southern California Edison had it humming along, and life was good.

The infrastructure hasn't kept up with the state's population needs itself, less mind the grandiose plans, mandates, and deadlines imposed on citizens and utilities alike. They're also hamstrung by regressive progressive policies as far as proper fire control for the semi-arid desert scrub most of them inhabit. Every year CA burns. Every year aging powerlines fall into scrub and brush that was never cleared or control burned off to minimize that very outcome.

And instead of using proper fire suppression techniques?

Every year it's lather, rinse, repeat. The aging lines and poles stay the same, and the power to customers gets turned off "just in case" when the Santa Anas start to blow.

Like now. . .

California really was a Golden State before all of this . . .

They sure financed some fancy, if useless, environmental experiments through the power companies (and by the state) instead of clearing brush.

Climate Change or Weather?

I missed this last year. But maybe there would have been more fires if California hadn't shut off the electricity when the wind blew.

I wonder what happened to all the firebugs, though?

𝙇𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙨𝙩 US burned area in 2023 this century

Did you see that reported anywhere?

It compares total burned area 2023, Jan 1-Aug 24,

with total burned area, Jan 1-Aug 24, in all other years since 2000https://t.co/lIy6dDiIaThttps://t.co/nQsB2V3X2Shttps://t.co/gmOEjotm7J pic.twitter.com/vnmnL6yGzK

— Bjorn Lomborg (@BjornLomborg) September 6, 2023

DRAMATIC - Lowest total burned area in the 21st Century!

Environmentalists care about environmentalists

Steven Hayward: Environmentalists vs. the Environment

Funny thing has happened on the way to the glorious "energy transition" to a net-zero economy: environmentalists keep getting in the way.

It is well understood that the maniacal drive to install massive wind and solar power projects, not to mention large new battery farms and "carbon-capture" facilities, all require substantial expansion and upgrading of the electricity grid. When Sen. Joe Manchin finally capitulated in 2022 to supporting President Joe Biden's blowout "green energy" subsidy bill (the so-called "Inflation Reduction Act"), it was supposed to be part of a deal in which regulatory and permitting reform would follow, not only to allow for a natural gas pipeline in West Virginia that is dear to Manchin, but other infrastructure projects, especially to enable new green energy supplies.

But the permitting reform legislation never passed Congress. Environmental fundamentalists, including 70 Democratic House members, opposed any permitting reform. The chief achievement of decades of environmental activism is the patchwork of laws at the national and state level, such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), that have empowered environmentalists to slow and sometimes block development of all kinds. While NEPA and its state-level versions have not stopped all development, they can delay or increase the cost of projects sufficiently that many projects are simply deterred from even being proposed. When one lawsuit fails, environmental lawyers are often ready at the courthouse steps to file a dozen more, and the cycle of delay repeats.

Environmentalists are loath to give up their superpower, even for the supposed "climate change" kryptonite of "green energy." . .

The Sierra Club is irritating to people in California for obstructing their access to undeveloped land for recreation and such. The details here are interesting.

The Sierra Club, for example, has spent six years blocking a proposed transmission line intended to import emission-free hydropower from Canada. The Sierra Club has also opposed proposed solar power projects in California's desert areas. (The silver lining here is that the Sierra Club is in deep financial trouble at the moment, with internal rifts and mass layoffs imminent, according to The New Republic.) The Washington Post editorial page took note of this perverse state of affairs in a recent editorial, "Environmentalism Could Stop the Clean-Energy Transition."

Heh.

There's more. Fun reading.

Weekend

The Week in Pictures, Steven Hayward

Music

With bonus Storytime:

He used to get up in the morning and sit at the window to drink his coffee, listen to the birds sing, and balance a sneaker on his head.

"I've got too much pride for somebody who's got so much to be humble about," he once said. "And trying to keep a stinking shoe from falling off the top of my head is a good way to get a little humility to start the day."

But I think he had plenty to be proud of.

Tex Ritter dubbed him "The Storyteller." Johnny Cash called him the best in the business. Kurt Vonnegut said "I'm glad that he writes songs instead of short stories or a lot of us would be out of work." Critics called him a Hillbilly Poet and the Countryfried Philosopher. The rest of us called the same thing his sainted momma called him -- Tom.

Tom T. Hall was to writing songs what George Jones was to singing them: natural, unassuming, peerless. Admittedly, Tom wasn't a great singer, but boy could he spin a yarn. He didn't so much write songs as translate life into lyrics. A Tom T. Hall tune was never an abstract meditation, never untethered and ephemeral. His melodies were concrete, incarnate creatures who first walked around in cracking leather boots upon this tired earth long before they ever crawled into our ears to rest. In a word, his songs were real.

His first hit, "A Week in a Country Jail" was drawn from his own experience of being arrested and held seven days for a speeding ticket while the judge, who had just lost his mother, apparently needed a full week to grieve before handling arraignments. "Harper Valley PTA," the chart-topper he wrote for Jeannie C. Reilly, was about a widow woman from his hometown in Kentucky. "The Ballad of Forty Dollars" was drawn from his time spent working as a gravedigger in his youth. "The Year that Clayton Delaney Died" was indeed biographical with only the names changed. And "Old Dogs, Children, and Watermelon Wine" was a retelling of a conversation he had in a barroom outside the Democratic National Convention. Such examples could be multiplied. . .

More at the link.

And here's That'sHow I Got to Memphis

Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.

This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.

Last week's thread, April 20, Demons in K-12

Comments are closed so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on a week-old thread. But don't try it anyway.

AoSHQ Weekly Prayer List

Please submit any prayer requests to me, “Annie’s Stew” at apaslo atsign hotmail dot com. Prayer requests are generally removed after four weeks unless we receive an update.

Prayer Requests:

3/2 Reforger asked for prayers for his Coworker “D”, a widowed mom of 4 who is having a rough time with daughter #1. D’s daughter had to be incarcerated. She went nuts, trashed her room, broke things, and even kicked a cop. She could use a lot of prayers.
4/20 Update – Coworker D’s daughter is going to go live with her dad. Mom is at wit’s end. They hope a change in scenery will provoke some positive changes, since nothing else is working.

2/29 – DaveT asks for prayers. We had prayed in the past for him, as he was trying to save his cats and his home from repossession (due to a relative who burdened the family home with debt). DaveT is over 65 and is not able to work much. The cats are elderly and one is blind, and the only family he has. Things had turned around and it looked like he was going to be fine last summer, but now a new judge is on the case and seems to want to kick DaveT and the cats out of the house. Please pray. If anyone wants to contribute, Annie’s Stew has the details of his GiveSendGo.
3/20 Update – The sham trial took place on 3/20. The judge would not allow DaveT to speak or give any evidence. He is still taking donations for a new appeal.
4/19 Update – DaveT sent word that he was in desperate need. One of the cats was dying and DaveT was not able to bear the loss, and he did not have a reason to live anymore.
4/25 Update – No new information has come from DaveT. He has not responded to emails, so we do not know his status or situation.

3/3 – Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism in Solidarity with the Struggle to maintain Moron standards asked for prayers as he is scared to death of some much-needed surgery. Pain, healing, iyiyi! Even the red tape involved in scheduling. Thank you all again!
4/10 Update – Recovering from diverticulitis surgery. It’s rough. Much pain, and there is talk of another surgery. He is miserable.

3/9 – Hadrian the Seventh asked for prayers for Her Majesty, who is having knee replacement surgery. He’d like prayers for a successful operation, but also an uneventful recovery. Her previous surgery in 2019 (on the other knee) was marked by great pain and the effect of the medication was terrible.
4/13 Update – Her Majesty is on a cane now and doing very well. The downside is that now she’s no longer bedridden, she’s going around the house finding things for me to do. She goes to physical therapy twice a week, which is exhausting, but she wants to drive the RV to Washington state in a couple of months for our National Specialty, so she’ll have to put in the work.

3/9 – Dr_No asked for prayers for his daughter, Megan. We had prayed for her in 2021, when she had cancer. Her cancer is still in remission, but she has blood clots in her lungs. She went to the local ER, where they said everything was normal. She sent a message to her PCP, to ask her to review the situation. She is still weak, and gets tired if a conversation lasts more than 1-2 sentences. Please pray that she be restored to full health. Thanks once again to the Horde for the help.
4/13 Update – The shingles have passed the most painful point (the first two weeks), and she’s now mostly pain-free. The colon cancer is still in remission. Thanks so much for sending words up for her recovery.

3/23 – Jewells would appreciate prayers for her niece, who is in the hospital for the second time in a week. She was diagnosed with pneumonia the first time, but still felt awful. She went back to ER, and they admitted her again. Her oxygen level was 76. She is the niece who is fighting cervical cancer.
4/13 Update – They suspended treatment for Jewells’ niece for 6 weeks and have her on oxygen. Her cancer is responding to the treatment, but at an awful price.

3/23 – Fenelon Spoke needs prayers for Jessie, their “retired” organist. Jessie had fallen. Nothing was broken, but it is a setback for her and she is in pain.
4/20 Update – Jessie is in less pain now.

3/28 – Reforger asked for prayers for his wife, who is applying for a promotion. The new job would triple her salary.
4/20 Update – Mrs. Reforger got the job.

3/30 – mindful webworker asked for prayers as he is going under the knife again for what will be a few hours’ surgery and maybe a week in the hospital. His surgeon used the word “mystery” three times while describing what they will be doing.
4/13 Update – After 3 intense hours, the surgeon packed out his pickaxe and jackhammer, weary but confident that he had removed all the cement-like crud blocking mindful webworker’s intestines. The next few months will be spent recovering and healing. After 9 inhospitable days, he is trying to adjust to home life. He’s asked MiladyJo to wake him every couple of hours to check his vital signs. Every day is a gift. Prayers for all in need.

4/1 – News from Washington Nearsider: His savings have expired and May's bills cannot yet be paid. Another custody hearing - to reevaluate the March 13 determination to give his ex full custody - has been scheduled for May 13th, so that's a date on the calendar towards which he has to work.
He has added one (1) client to his custom model aircraft list, and hopes to add several more, even though he can only work on one at a time. Having a known stream of income is better than not. You can contact Nearsider at washingtonnearsider at gee mail to learn about shipping and timelines or to discuss any details. Interested Morons can look at some small segment of his previous work by heading to this link: https://tinyurl.com/yzmucshu
On the job front, Nearsider had a promising interview, only to be told at the end that though his writing samples, resume, attitude, background, and presentation were all exceptional, his removal from federal service prevented any path forward. Nearsider explained the details leading up to his removal, and while the panel expressed their sympathies for his situation and their admiration at his courage, their position was unchanged. He suspects this employer was simply the first to be so direct, and that he's missed out on several other opportunities for the same reason.
Several contractors have contacted him in response to applications he's submitted and he's hoping at least one of them will be willing to focus on the writing, resume, attitude, background, and presentation vice the end of his federal career. As usual, more follows.
Since several people encouraged it, he has set up a GiveSendGo account. Please contact Annie for the details, if you wish to contribute.
4/24 Update – After receiving an overwhelming outpouring of support from the Horde, Washington Nearsider was able to pay the mortgage for May and June, and is less panicked about losing his house. He also received a promotion at Home Depot, so he is managing a department, which will also increase his pay at bit. He loves you all and is so grateful.

4/3 – Notsothoreau posted that Mrs. Salty (as in Mrs. NaClyDog) had a bad fall and broke four ribs. She tested positive for Covid, as well. Prayers for quick healing and that she is out of the hospital soon.
4/13 Update – Mrs. Salty is out of the hospital, recovering slowly. There is progress. She avoided the bogus Covid-19 Wuhan money grab in the hospital. She is a tad more independent. Occasionally she needs a non-skilled, uncoordinated, non-dancing or singing helper, whom TikTok would not show. They say thank you for all the prayers. They can testify to their effectiveness.

4/4 – J. J. Sefton could use prayers. Here was his posting:
“After suffering some sort of seizure back in February, while the initial MRI and spinal tap showed nothing, a subsequent MRI this past Friday evidently seems to indicate that I might have some sort of brain tumor/growth that would require immediate attention. As in surgery.
That said, on a positive note -- and I'm holding onto this bit of news as positive with all my might -- the medical neurology team and the surgical neurology team are apparently still reading the tea leaves to see what kind of surgery, if any, is required to deal with this. I am hoping against hope for that non-surgical option but am preparing myself as best as I can for whatever is to be.”

4/5 – Teej posted and asked for prayers for a Marine who is on hospice, with possibly two weeks left to live.

4/5 – Pipe asked for prayers for a dear friend who has lung cancer, who lives alone.

4/6 – MikeOxlong requested prayers for healing and that treatment goes well, He was diagnosed with stage 5 esophageal cancer that has spread to his lymph nodes and lungs. Traditional treatment doesn’t have a good answer, so he is taking non-traditional treatment in AZ.

4/6 – Grammie Winger posted that Rev had some tests done and he has a cracked sternum from their earlier car accident. They also found several nodules in his lungs, and an aortic aneurysm. Prayers appreciated.

4/6 – RedMindBlueState asked for prayers for an old and dear friend who just started chemo and is feeling it hard. And for the friend’s dog, who may need surgery soon.

4/6 – Paisley1333 gave an update. We had prayed for her trainer, who went through her third round of cancer in December. The trainer’s surgery was successful, and it appears they got all the cancer. While under the knife, she had a seizure (which she has daily), so the doctors got to experience that and changed her meds. This has been a huge help. So very good news and so grateful for all the prayers.

4/8 – FenelonSpoke asked for prayers for her husband. He was stubborn and didn’t go to the doctor for about 5 days and has shingles. He is in pain.
4/20 Update – FenSpouse is much better. He still has a little tingling but the pain from the shingles is much better.

4/10 – FortWorthMike updated the Horde. His MIL, who was going through cancer treatments, had miraculous results. The tumor is reduced so much, there is no sign of cancer. They won’t say cancer-free, but it’s just something to monitor now.

4/13 – NaughtyPine asked for prayers. There was a “psychic” who went on a murder-suicide rampage. A 9-year-old girl survived the attack, but her baby sister died in her arms. The surviving little girl needs prayers.

4/13 – Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd gave an update. His former son-in-law has died. It is something of a relief. He was an abusive, manipulative, drug-using alcoholic whose hobby was breaking into cars. He was well-known to law enforcement and the justice system. He had a remarkable capacity for wiping out wealth, either through outright theft or negligence. A.H. Lloyd’s daughter tried to leave him multiple times, but he was able to woo her back again and again. The last straw was when he used their tax refund for an Only Fans girl. The deceased is survived by his children, who he should have supported, but have been in A.H. Lloyd’s care for more than a year. Pray for the deceased if you like, but please pray for the children and their mother.

4/13 – Cybersmythe sent an update on his job search. He has received a formal offer of employment, for a job he thinks he wants. He appreciates all the kind thoughts and prayers.

4/13 – Nurse Ratched asked for prayers for her Marine, J, and his wife, M, who are having their wedding celebration on 4/13. They are sweet kids, respectful and kind to each other and would benefit greatly from the power of Horde prayers.

4/16 – Notsothoreau asked for prayers for a co-worker’s mentor and long time friend, DM, who has been diagnosed with throat cancer. Prayers for DM and also for his wife, that they would be strengthened and, God willing, that DM would be healed.

4/18 – Misanthropic Humanitarian asked for prayers, as he will be having his right knee replacement surgery on 5/6/24.

4/20 – AnchorPoint wanted to share an answered prayer, as well as a request. The answered prayer is: AnchorPoint’s dad passed away about 2 years ago. The estate was not going to be a windfall, but they hoped it would be enough to pay off their mortgage. After all the work was done and all the bills were paid, the final check was $72.38 off from the total mortgage payoff amount! The prayer request is: AnchorPoint’s relationship with one sister is bad. The sister has had a lot of trauma in her life and significant mental health issues and physical issues. AnchorPoint asks for prayers that their relationship would be restored.

4/20 – FenelonSpoke asked for prayers for her son. God willing, her son will graduate in May with a degree in horticulture. He has a paid internship with a multinational agricultural company in the PA Dutch area starting right after graduation. He needs to find a place to live.

4/20 – Defenestratus humbly requests prayers for a friend named Jourdan, a wonderful young woman with a 2-year-old daughter. Jourdan had gotten the good news that her breast cancer tumors had disappeared after chemo. But now she caught a nasty bug, and Jourdan has spent a week in the hospital getting blood transfusions.

4/20 - Miley, okravangelist asked for prayers for her brother. They think he is on the verge of a breakdown, stressing out over prepping. He flies off the handle and is freaking everyone else out. Miley could use prayers, too, since worrying about her brother is making her ill.

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.

Thank you Annie for your coordination of this important feature.

Tech News

• 90% of Java services have critical or severe security vulnerabilities... (JVM Weekly)
  
  ... Or security reporting is a pile of crap.
  
  This article explains why it's mostly the latter. Not entirely, but mostly.
  
  
  
• A long-dead worm is still active on at least 2.5 million PCs worldwide. (Ars Technica)
  
  The worm, created by China, was tied to a single specific IP address as its command-and-control hub.
  
  For reasons that remain unclear, whatever server was originally attached to that IP address was shut down. So security researchers bought the address, granting them complete control over every one of the infected systems.
  
  All they are doing so far is watching.
  
  All they are doing so far.
  
  
  
• China's annoying little brother North Korea is targeting developers with fake job interviews that involve downloading and running malware. (Bleeping Computer)
  
  Again.
  
  
  
• Leaving Rust game development. (Loglog)
  
  When you point out that a building is on fire, and the universal response is "That sounds like a you problem", it's time to get out of Dodge.
  
  Not that Rust is bad. Just that the people creating Rust are.
  
  
  
• The Second Circuit has upheld a New York law forcing ISPs to offer 25mbps broadband for $15. (Ars Technica)
  
  Cut the entire state off from the internet and let them eat each other.
  
  
  
• Columbia has a Nazi problem. (The Verge)

  "Why didn't anyone tell us that genocide had consequences", cried sophomore Adolfia Hertler. "We're not hurting anyone, we just want to kill Jews."

  Well, the article doesn't actually say that, but it should.
  
  
  
• Apple stopped increasing the base RAM in its desktop systems... In 2012. (WCCFTech)
  
  Back then, of course, you could upgrade the memory yourself.
  
  This is no longer the case, and Apple charges ten times retail price for its own upgrades.
  
  
  
• TSMC is bringing optical interconnect to multi-chip modules starting next year. (AnandTech)
  
  The first version will run at 1.6 terabits per second - 200 gigabytes per second, or about three times the speed of a full-size PCIe 5 slot - and will increase to 6.4 terabits per second the following year.

He's a swinger

Fido Friday: Trash talk

Helpful guide

If BTTF was made today

Memes: Bridging generations

Advertising from Guyana

Sophisticated advertising campaign

Elon's not gonna like this review

Objection. Witness is badgering the counsel

Ouch

Catcher's fault. Not just because of the throw, but the ump calls foul ball, she should have held onto the ball.

The Chinese are ahead of us

New ad campaign

Destiny refuses to be mocked

Rodent of unusual size

Infographic

Musical interlude

Well, that's definitely the right sponsor

$20 for 10 minutes with the Oompa-Loompa, same as downtown

Here's the reference, if you missed the story

Meanwhile, north of the border

What did you expect from a guy named Bum Farto?

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by something unexpected:

Out-fvcking-standing:

Another Great Moment in Mangineering (TM).

And in the closely related category of Mansportation: a Real Man transports a gigantic pig in the back of his half-truck.

The hot new trend in TikTok? Skeezy foreigners bragging about how they're scamming the welfare systems and charitable networks in western countries.

A tranny gets into a Dollar Store employee's grill about hysterical claims of "misgendering."

The transgender didn't read the Law of Pronouns carefully enough -- black guys don't play the pronoun game.

Every parent there needs an exhaustive Child Protective Services investigation.

A Little Lead for Your Pencils:

Not All Heroes Wear Capes: Wherever there is injustice, wherever tyrants menace -- there is only one group of heroes you can call upon to fight for you.

"Call the Philosophy Department!" -- a new rallying cry for our age.

Frankfurt School. Obviously.

She's a credit to her race. The philosophy race.

Matt Walsh makes the point that society can either 1, expect and demand that young men risk their lives to protect those who are weaker, but only if society rewards such actions, or 2, society can punish men for coming to others' defense, but in that case they must accept that young men are bowing out of the "Hero Trap."

If men rush to aid other people, they are taking a serious chance they will be killed. Now, that's one risk they might be willing to assume, if they will be afforded honor and respect for having done so.

But if they're going to be prosecuted and imprisoned for looking out for other people, then the weaker in society should start taking martial arts classes and buy guns.

Here's how the media is treating Kyle Rittenhouse:

Kyle Rittenhouse, deadly shooter, college speaker? A campus gun-rights tour sparks outrage

...

"He has used every moment to gloat and to make light of taking life," Paul Prediger said, speaking publicly for the first time about what happened in protest of a Rittenhouse speech last week at Kent State. "As if that were not enough, Kyle has embraced and been embraced by those who peddle hateful rhetoric, who believe in nationalism that excludes those who do not look like or think like them, and who have sought to amplify a troubling desire for violence against supposed political, cultural, and religious enemies."

The provocative choice of backing the Rittenhouse tour is par for the course for Turning Point and its local affiliates, which have hosted controversial figures like Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and Holocaust denier. But it has stirred up devastating pain and disdain in a man he almost killed.

"He has used every moment to gloat and to make light of taking life," Paul Prediger said, speaking publicly for the first time about what happened in protest of a Rittenhouse speech last week at Kent State. "As if that were not enough, Kyle has embraced and been embraced by those who peddle hateful rhetoric, who believe in nationalism that excludes those who do not look like or think like them, and who have sought to amplify a troubling desire for violence against supposed political, cultural, and religious enemies."

USA Today is really taking its time telling you who "Paul Prediger" is.

That's the new name that Gauge Grosskreutz is going under.

The man who pointed a gun at Kyle Rittenhouse's head intending to shoot him.

I don't notice USA Today finding any "outrage" in Gaige Grosskreutz.

Many paragraphs later, USAToday finally tells you that the man who they're quoting as an authority, "Paul Prediger," is actually Gaige Grosskreutz. Who obviously has a huge bias against Rittenhouse -- and that bias should mean that USAToday shouldn't be quoting him at all on this matter, nevermind letting him rant through most of the article before finally, after people have stopped reading, confessing that the authoritive source for this story once tried to murder Kyle Rittenhouse, and got his arm blown off for that attempted murder.

After Prediger -- formerly known as Gaige Grosskreutz -- criticized his speaking tour, Rittenhouse posted a video clip on X, formerly Twitter. It showed Prediger admitting he pointed a gun in Rittenhouse's direction before being shot. Rittenhouse did not include text in the post.

This is yet another example of the left pretending that all of society's ills are due to White Christian Straight Men. They can't castigate the black homeless men actually sucker-punching women because they're higher on the progressive stack, but they still have to Defend Wimmins and talk about the attacks, so they just pretend that MAGA is primarily a movement of the black, homeless, and mentally-ill.

This is like that stunt video of a woman walking down the street and being cat-called. Every man seen cat-calling her was black and Hispanic, but feminists pretended not to notice that and scolded White Incels about it for a year.

Or more recently, and more directly on-point: We watched the videos of mostly black (and some Hispanic) men sucker-punching Jews on the streets of New York, which Jake Tapper and other propagandists turned into a ritual denunciation of white MAGA voters and their antisemitism.

Semi-related: An obvious MAGA incel tells Columbia Administrators, at a disciplinary hearing, that they should excuse his crimes and just be grateful that he's "not murdering zionists."