Ace: aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info: maildrop62 at proton dot me
The felony-convicted husband of progressive "squad" lawmaker Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., slapped a phone out of a reporter's hands Monday inside a city hall building after they attempted to approach the congresswoman to ask her a question about alleged childcare fraud in Minnesota.
"Congresswoman Pressley, do you support --" the interviewer could be heard asking as he approached Pressley with his phone camera on record before Conan Harris, Pressley's husband who spent 10 years in prison on felony drug trafficking charges, smacked the phone out of the questioner's hand.
"Sir, you cannot take my phone out of my hand," the questioner could be heard saying, before the phone was picked back up and returned to focus. Harris spent 10 years in prison on a drug trafficking charge before marrying Pressley, who said she draws from his experience of reintegrating into regular society after leaving prison to help inform how she advocates for incarcerated, or previously incarcerated, individuals.
Massachusetts' leftwing grifter governor gave this guy $600 million to restore a courthouse.
That's not even the worst part. The worst part is that Massachusetts won't even own the courthouse they're giving this guy $600 million for -- instead, they've signed a 40 year lease to rent the building from him, bringing the total value of this grift to two fucking billion fucking dollars.
A company where the husband of Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., is a partner was selected for a nearly $2 billion deal to build a new courthouse in Springfield, Massachusetts -- a decision now being challenged in court by rejected bidders who allege conflicts of interest tainted the process.
Conan Harris, who has been married to the Massachusetts Democrat for more than a decade, is a partner with John Barros in CoJo Real Estate, which is part of the Liberty Junction team selected in early July for the 40-year courthouse lease, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs allege Barros' role as interim executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) created a conflict of interest because several members of that agency's board also serve on the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, the state agency that selected Liberty Junction.
Pressley, a member of the "Squad," was not accused of any wrongdoing by the plaintiffs, and there is no evidence she was involved in the bidding process to rebuild the aging Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse.
Records show the bidding process formally began June 30, 2025, when DCAMM released its request for proposals for the Springfield courthouse project.
The plaintiffs argued that when Barros became the head of the MCCA on Jan. 14, 2026, he did not disclose his participation in the courthouse bidding process to the State Ethics Commission.
The lawsuit also said the Liberty Junction proposal was not updated to indicate that Barros had been appointed to a leading role on the MCCA.
Massachusetts law generally bars state employees from having a direct or indirect financial interest in state contracts, unless they qualify for an exemption, such as by making required disclosures to the State Ethics Commission and not participating in the contracting agency's work.
Fox News Digital reached out to Barros and Harris for comment.
And now, a dead body is found at this guy's property.
Crime scene tape cordoned off a home owned by the husband of Rep. Ayanna Presley (D-MA) Saturday night as Boston homicide detectives investigated a dead body police found at the property.
A police spokesman told CBS News that officers were called to the house on Malta Street in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood at 1:52 p.m. "for a report to investigate a person."
When they arrived, they found the person deceased, the spokesman said.
Police have released no further details such as the cause or manner of death, but the homicide unit is now investigating the incident.
CBS reported late Saturday:
The two-story, seven bedroom house was built in 1910. Pressley and Harris do not live at the home. It's a rental property that's currently for sale. The asking price is $1.15 million.
Is this something? I doubt it. The criminal doesn't live at this address.
But these Power Communists sure do seem to own a lot of million-dollar properties, don't they?
THE MORNING RANT: “Yes” to Data Centers that Are Privately Funded, Without Taxpayer Subsidization
—Buck Throckmorton
I support the construction of privately funded data centers whose utilities are not taxpayer-subsidized. Investors in data center projects are welcome to bring to my state and county all the economic activity that comes with their construction and operation. I’m also excited that the data center era has finally caused tech bros to abandon their green-energy obsession. They understand, finally, that they can’t have energy-hungry plants without the abundant, reliable electricity that comes from natural gas.
But I do not support the construction of data centers for which tax abatements, incentive payments, and subsidized utilities must be paid by taxpayers.
In the raging battle between pro-data center and anti-data center forces, the two sides may not even be talking about the same thing. It is understandable that many of those who oppose data centers are skeptical, given the horrendous track record of corporate welfare, corporate cronyism, and taxpayer-funded industrial boondoggles they’ve been forced to pay for.
In my part of the country, the Republican governors of Tennessee and Georgia have repeatedly gambled taxpayer money on “venture communism” projects, redistributing money from taxpayers to favored industrial developers, especially when it’s for the next big thing (usually EVs and battery manufacturers.) As I’ve frequently documented, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has flushed away billions and billions of taxpayer dollars on failed EV-related endeavors. Republicans of the Chamber of Commerce persuasion applaud Governor Kemp’s naïve profligacy as being “pro-business.”
Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee is also addicted to wasting taxpayer money. This includes Ford’s mothballed, never-used EV plant near Memphis, for which Tennessee taxpayers contributed a billion dollars. Just a few weeks ago, Governor Lee announced a $30 million payment to Starbucks for relocating from Seattle to Nashville. Starbucks was fleeing Seattle anyhow, and would have come to Tennessee for nothing, but Governor Lee felt it very important to take a boatload of taxpayer money and give it to a left-wing corporation as a “thank you.” Starbucks sneers at Tennessee values. Now its executives (they/them) can also sneer at us for being easy marks.
Data centers are the new “next big thing,” and it is rational for exhausted taxpayers to expect they’ll again be asked to subsidize the capex and utility costs for these projects.
There shouldn’t be a binary choice between either banning economic progress, like New York has done with data centers, or subsidizing it, like Republican governors reflexively do.
My understanding is that most data centers are building their own natural gas power plants, with diesel generator backup. Millions of dollars are flowing to local contractors doing the grading, construction, electrical, etc. The data center buildout, combined with Trump’s reshoring efforts, are creating an industrial explosion in this country. It is similar to what politicians would call “stimulus spending,” but it’s privately funded.
However, those of us supporting data center construction need to be careful about insulting opponents as being anti-progress. Taxpayers have a legitimate fear of their elected officials betraying them in favor of promoters hustling the next big thing.
And finally, because much of the data center buildout is to support growing AI use, it doesn’t help for AI promoters to crow about all the people AI will put out of work. I genuinely believe that AI will be disruptive, eliminating some jobs while creating many more. But if AI is being sold as a way to eliminate labor expense and put people out of work, that will motivate people to oppose the data centers that fuel AI.
The blue-collar jobs and industrial development resulting from data center construction are what MAGA Republicans have been fighting for. Let’s take the win – so long as the developers are not being subsidized by local taxpayers.
The original yacht America was built in 1851 to compete in the Hundred Guinea Cup, the only American entry against fourteen British vessels. When the race was over, Queen Victoria asked, "Who is in first place?" and was told that America had won. When she asked, "Then who is in second?" the American boat had such a strong lead that the reply was: "Madam, there is no second." After this, the race became known as the America's Cup.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer appears to have let out a ghastly flatulence this week on the floor of the chamber while criticizing President Donald Trump over the war in Iran.
The lettuce now being recalled by Taylor Farms in California has also hatched a number of lawsuits filed in federal court against Taco Bell, which allegedly used the shredded lettuce contaminated with a parasite called cyclospora.
No deaths have been reported from the outbreak.
Of course, like most any negative condition that makes headlines and impacts Americans, the problem was caused by Trump, according to a Democrat lawmaker and another who is running for Congress.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) posted a video Saturday on social media claiming the “worst outbreak in U.S. history” was caused by the president “taking a wrecking ball” to “our public health infrastructure,” even though the actual source of the outbreak has been traced to Mexico.
Mamdani’s belief that, as a minor municipal functionary, he wields some imaginary international power to subvert American sovereignty just shows the delusions of his ideology.
His authority extends to fixing potholes and collecting garbage, neither of which he does competently. But his delusions of grandeur are shared by the misfits, ignoramuses, and foreign interlopers who make up his rancid branch of the Democrat Party — the DSA.
The Democratic Socialists of America know nothing, have built nothing and don’t understand the country they live in, yet they imagine they have the moral authority to tear it down.
Their aim is to import foreign conflicts and alien ideologies that are the antithesis of America’s founding principles. . . Leftists are motivated by envy and a “poisonous resentment” that makes them hostile to everything that has made America successful, as Rubio said last week when opening a State Department conference on combating left-wing violence, something his Cuban emigre family knows a thing or two about. . . But that is the mission of the DSA. To use the Democratic Party as their Trojan horse to foment a communist revolution in America.
Democratic Senate contenders are dramatically out-raising their Republican peers, according to Federal Election Commission data — with Georgia’s Jon Ossoff and James Talarico in Texas leading the pack.
Eight of the top 10 Senate candidate fundraiser this year are Democrats, whose top contestants have raked in $574 million, compared to the Republicans’ $336 million, per the FEC.
Incumbent Sen. Ossoff (D-Ga.) is the biggest fundraiser on both sides, having raked in a jaw-dropping $77 million as of June 30, and has a staggering $42.5 million in cash on hand. . . . Democrats are considered likely to retake the House in the Nov. 3 elections, due to polls and the historical trend of the party in power in the White House losing seats in the midterms.
But the Senate is a tougher call. Based on polls and incumbents, Republicans have an easier path to hold the upper chamber, but Democrats are running neck and neck with them in key races.
Democrats are generally eying Maine, Ohio, North Carolina and Alaska in particular as their easiest path to retaking the Senate.
But to win the upper chamber, they have to defend vulnerable incumbents, including Ossoff, who has proven to be a financial juggernaut.
The rule, known as “public charge,” appeared in the Federal Register on Thursday. It will be formally published July 20 and take effect Sept. 18. Under the policy, green card applicants must demonstrate they will not become a burden on American taxpayers. New Trump Policy Prioritizes Financially Independent Green Card Applicants
The sustained increase in daily arrests also coincides with President Trump’s defense and subsequent reinstatement of traffic stops. “We CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP,” posted the President on Truth Social earlier this week. ICE Arrests Hit Record Average of 1,400 a Day This Month.
THE IRAN CONFLICT, MOU/"PEACE DEAL" (aftermath??)
Iran rapidly responded, saying two US bases in Kuwait were targeted in response to more than a week of intensifying attacks — which Tehran said included strikes on an airport, a railway station and bridges. U.S. Launches Strikes to ‘Punish’ Iran After Troops Killed
On one hand, we are winning the war with Iran. On the other hand, the Vice President seems to be at odds with the administration. Strange Things Are Happening
Instead of hitting them where it really hurts -- by empowering the Iranian people to overthrow the regime -- we are fighting the "old" war. Iran's Warning Shot
ISRAEL vs IRAN & GAZA/HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH . . . AND LEFTISTS. . . The U.N... AND HISTORY
As Republicans expose fraud in the tens of billions in Medicaid and other welfare programs, Democrats’ response is to . . . duck. They made it glaringly obvious last week as Sen. Rand Paul chaired a Senate Homeland Security Committee meeting: Nearly all the panel’s Dem members were total no-shows; only Sen. Gary Peters attended at all, and only long enough to ask a few questions before heading for the door. Democrats damn themselves with no-shows at hearing on fraud
The fast-food drive-thru was not born in California. But the idea was perfected by California cultural icon In-N-Out, which is fitting because the double-double chain has become the main villain in Culver City’s effort to ban drive-thrus. Another Piece of California Culture Threatened By Prohibitionists
The Pennsylvania Democrat called Mamdani a “clown,” noting that the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity was from a court the United States did not recognize. ‘Sit Down’: Fetterman Says Mamdani a ‘Clown’ to Threaten Netanyahu Arrest
FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH
Why the media forgot the 50th anniversary of Israel’s triumphant rescue. Entebbe Oversight
This survey of the nation’s greatest companies is both nonsensical and evidence of the problems that plague our mainstream media. America’s Top Companies?
David Harsanyi: The panic surrounding data centers is highly reminiscent of the panic surrounding hydraulic fracturing. And like the fracking ban in New York, also based on junk science and scaremongering — not to mention, initially a “moratorium” — the policy will backfire. Data-center debate has one winning argument: sheer panic — and it will backfire
Amazon Leo intends to start its low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet service later this year, having now already launched nearly 400 satellites. Such broadband-capable satellites operate roughly 350 to 500 miles above the Earth’s surface. This altitude allows the satellites to deliver faster internet speeds while also making their launches more cost efficient. Amazon’s ‘LEO’ Satellite Network Will Soon Be Up And Running As Federal Funds Flow
The new Democratic Socialists in America refer to the common good, or communist good, all the time. But what do they mean? Is There Really a Common Good?
RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, DEMOCRAT-LEFT WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS, JUNK SCIENCE, LYSENKOISM
President Trump’s efforts to dismantle parts of the Biden junta's climate-policy framework have exposed just how much money and institutional power had become attached to it. Who Really Funds the Climate Agenda?
The move signals increased pressure from the federal government to ensure states take election integrity seriously. By linking grant funding to security measures, DHS can ensure voter rolls are accurate. This decision could provide an incentive to reduce vulnerabilities and restore public confidence in the democratic process. Trump Admin Warns States Must Scrub Voter Rolls to Get Federal Grants.
Given the massive amount of fraud that Trump revealed (and that slipped by most people), it’s questionable whether we’ve actually had any elections recently. Will We Have an Election This Year?
Democrats are considered likely to retake the House in the Nov. 3 elections, due to polls and the historical trend of the party in power in the White House losing seats in the midterms. But the Senate is a tougher call. Based on polls and incumbents, Republicans have an easier path to hold the upper chamber, but Democrats are running neck and neck with them in key races. Senate Dems rake in jaw-dropping cash — with Ossoff and Talarico leading the pack
“The call to prayer should not be heard over Danish rooftops. It has no place in Denmark, and you shouldn’t be in any doubt whether you’ve ended up in a suburb of Islamabad when you walk around Denmark.” – Morten Bodskov, Social Democrats Denmark Bans Burkas in Schools to Boost Migrant Integration.
But Brits hoping for a fresh start, perhaps even a bit of vision and principle to steer us through these troubled times, are bound to be disappointed. Like Keir Starmer, whose premiership was defined by so many policy u-turns he might as well have been doing donuts, Burnham is the walking, talking embodiment of the Groucho Marx line: “These are my principles. If you don’t like them, well, I have others.” The UK’s incoming prime minister, Andy Burnham, is a far-left human windsock
The discovery is of significance, as it proves finally — more than two decades after the first detection of an exoplanet — that rocky exoplanets outside our solar system can have an atmosphere. There is also evidence that this loss of helium might be seasonal in nature. Evidence of an atmosphere detected for the first time on a rocky terrestrial exoplanet
In a spectacular success, the Indian private rocket startup Skyroot today completed the first launch of its smallsat rocket Vikram-1, placing several payloads into orbit. This is the first private Indian rocket ever launched. Indian’s private rocket startup Skyroot completes a perfect first launch
FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY
Along with architectural historian Vincent Scully (Yale) and urban theorist Colin Rowe (Cornell), the European architect and theorist Leon Krier is widely recognized as a foundational intellectual inspiration behind the American New Urbanism movement. The Modernist Anti-City And New Urbanism
Roger Kimball: Modern art stopped challenging convention long ago. Now it challenges only common sense—and rewards the people willing to applaud the loudest absurdities. ‘Art’ and the Pathology of our Age
ALSO: The Morning Report cross-posts at CutJibNewsletter.com usually within an hour or so of posting here, if you want to continue the conversation all day.
One small problem is that is has 2.4 trillion parameters, meaning you'll need a graphics card with 4.8 terabytes of VRAM to run it efficiently, and not many end users have the necessary hardware.
A replacement chip has been reverse-engineered and is now available. It's built on an ancient 130nm node, but that's magic compared to the 4 micron node used in the original Z80.
It runs at 50MHz and the chip itself measures a quarter of a millimeter on a side.
Not that he cares about customers. But while SK Hynix is pulling in record revenues and profits, every other tech company in the chaebol is in the doldrums due to exorbitant memory costs.
Howdy Hordelings! Welcome to the Sunday ONT. Glad you could stop by! Open thread, as always. Fashion and music, as always. Anything exciting in your world tonight?
Engineers at Tornyol, an American startup backed by Y Combinator, have been working on an AI-powered micro-drone that could bring down the cost of mosquito eradication by 100 times. Swarms of these tiny drones could potentially hunt and shoot down mosquitoes in urban spaces, instead of using chemicals or other more expensive and hazardous population control solutions.
On July 14, Alex Toussaint, one of the founders of Tornyol, posted a video showing the company’s “first air-to-air kill”. In it, a small drone can be seen pursuing and ultimately shooting down a moth in a control test area. Obviously, a moth is not a mosquito, and the test area was very small, but this is apparently a very big step toward developing a drone capable of identifying and annihilating insects in mid-air.
Some cool stuff along with some whelm. at least it's a single webpage and not a click-through thing.
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'Ette Couture (Courtesy of Piper)
It's that time of the week - when we turn the ONT over to our good friend Piper for a bit. Here's this week's fashion pr0n.
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Is It Real Couture or Piper? The Ultimate Fashion Eye Test!
I’ve mixed real runway couture with AI generated looks based solely on my prompts. Your mission: guess before the big reveal. Ready? Let’s play!
Round 1: The Aliens Bring It
Real or Piper?
Round 2: The Open Kimono
Real or Piper?
Round 3: The Golden Bird Cage
Real or Piper?
Round 4: The Sleek Black Strapless Gown
Real or Piper?
Round 5: The Epic Black Princess Ball Gown
Real or Piper?
Round 1: The Aliens Bring It
✅ REAL COUTURE
Rahul Mishra went full space-opera for this one. Inspired by Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot and some ancient Hindu scripture, models basically beamed onto the runway like they’d just hitchhiked from another galaxy. Sparkling structural capes? Sagan’s voice narrating? Peak couture theater.
Round 2: The Open Kimono
🤖 PIPER
This dramatic, flowing piece channels our friend Saijo if he suddenly decided to crash the couture calendar. Zero atelier hours, maximum drama.
Round 3: The Golden Bird Cage
✅ REAL COUTURE
Maria Grazia Chiuri at Dior pulled from legendary silhouettes like the Trapèze (thanks, Saint Laurent 1958 ) and the Cigale (1952), then updated them with modern fabrics. Basically, she took vintage icons, gave them a glow-up, and turned them into golden bird-cage-level fabulous.
Round 4: The Sleek Black Strapless Gown
✅ REAL COUTURE
Straight from a 2025 Paris Haute Couture Week runway—this is elegant Armani Privé doing what it does best: making simple black look like a million bucks (and probably costing close to that).
Round 5: The Epic Black Princess Ball Gown
🤖 PIPER
This dramatic black stunner with the bold corset top comes from my Dystopian Sparkle collection.
How did you score?
• 5/5 correct? You’re a certified fashion detective. Get yourself a drink on Doof.
• 3–4? Solid eye, but Grok and I are getting scary good at this.
• Under 3? Welcome to 2026, where the line between real and generated is deliciously blurry.
Tell us your score and your favorite look, or confess to cheating.
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Thanks, Piper!
Don't forget to check out Piper's X page. Seriously - I suggest this every week. If you followed Piper on X, you'd have already seen this awesomeness!
I am literally never this lucky. Ever. I would be laughing so hard if this happened to me. https://t.co/rx5Hw2583g
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 Post-Vacation Edition? The week at the beach sure did go by quickly. Made it home yesterday with everyone I left with, so all good. I'll do my best to try thinking about working on my backlog of email this week. Promise!
With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?
In order to practice shooting fundamentals, you kinda need a gun. How do you decide which one is right for you? Guns come in a lot of shapes and sizes and of varying manufacturing quality, and one size or type definitely does not fit all. This guy ranks a bunch of specific models for reliability, which is high in the hierarchy of good things to look for. Longish, so you may want to save and watch later.
What do you think? What are your criteria when selecting a handgun besides reliability?
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S&W Revolver Frame Sizes
What do these letters mean?!
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Used Revolver Inspection
Used guns can be a great value. Do you know what to look for in a used revolver?
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This Old Gun
Another look at the Colt Detective Special.
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Our Pal The Atom
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Highway Patrol!
This week's episode: The Chase!
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The Amazing Colossal Man!
Truly a giant terror!
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Here are some different online cigar vendors. You will find they not only carry different brands and different lines from those brands, but also varying selections of vitolas (sizes/shapes) of given lines. It's good to have options, especially if you're looking for a specific cigar.
A note about sources. The brick & mortar/online divide exists with cigars, as with guns, and most consumer products, with respect to price. As with guns - since both are "persecuted industries", basically - I make a conscious effort to source at least some of my cigars from my local store(s). It's a small thing, but the brick & mortar segment for both guns and tobacco are precious, and worth supporting where you can. And if you're lucky enough to have a good cigar store/lounge available, they're often a good social event with many dangerous people of the sort who own scary gunz, or read smart military blogs like this one. -rhomboid
Anyone have others to include? Perhaps a small local roller who makes a cigar you like? Send me your recommendation and a link to the site!
Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!
That's it for this week - have you been to the range?
It is glaringly obvious that we do not discuss bacon nearly enough on these august pages. And not just the luscious, unctuous, rich, smoky deliciousness of the best part of the pig! No, we should also chat about cooking it!
All of you microwave aficionados may now go to another room...the grownups are talking.
My preferred technique is to start the bacon (thick-cut if possible) in a cold oven set to 375 degrees convection. Then after about 15 minutes, take them out and flip the strips. Another 10-15 minutes should do nicely for very crispy, which was what I was shooting for today!
Cleaning the pan is another issue for another day.
On July 17, 2026, Taylor Farms initiated a recall of all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico. The recall includes iceberg lettuce sold at retail stores and restaurants. It also includes other recalled products distributed to food service customers. A complete list of those products is included in the recall notice.
Maybe buying produce from 3rd World sh*tholes isn't such a good idea. We already import 3rd world workers to pick and process the stuff in our fields...why do we also have to buy their (literal) sh*t?
I cannot wait for the time when robotic picking and processing decreases the number of primitives handling our food, and an administration that sees domestic food production as a national security imperative. Do I care whether we overspend on government support for farmers? No, I do not. We already piss away billions of dollars on stupid price supports and all sorts of other wasteful programs. Maybe subsidizing domestic production is a good idea!
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This is from commenter and pellet grill maven "Gunslinger."
Those ribs look great, and they were the impetus for my little chat last week with the butcher shop supervisor at my go-to market. He will save me a couple of uncut beef rib racks the next time they go on sale! Yippee!
But on to Gunslinger's cook!
That’s a large cookie sheet, or jelly roll pan, as my Mom would pedantically call it. Mustard for the binder, and kosher salt, garlic salt, and coarse-ground pepper is all.
Started the cook about 4pm at 235 degrees. Let it cook until 7, then spritzed it with beef broth every hour until I hit the sack at 10.
Got up at 5:30, put the temp probe in, and started spritzing it again each hour. It was 174 degrees when I started with the probe. Monitored it constantly. There were many temp stalls all throughout the day. 2 degree rises in 2 or 3 hours. These stalls are normal, but sheesh!
It got to be 5:30 Sunday evening, but only 198 degrees internal temp, but had to eat! Work night and all…
It turned out wonderfully, with no indication that it should have continued to 205 degrees, my ideal internal temp.
They look spectacular. I think beef ribs, when done well, are at the top of the beef pyramid. Well, maybe they share the top with a couple of other cuts, but you get the point!
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Sourdough Discard Crackers for the win! Yup, they are tasty, and easy, and very forgiving. The only problem is that I have modified my sourdough bread process so that I no longer have discard. When I make crackers I have to make discard first. So it isn't really "discard," it's more like "excard?" Or maybe I will stay in my lane and avoid creating new words.
Anyway, they are fun to make, fun to eat, and are strangely satisfying to put out for guests. "Why yes, those are homemade crackers!"
As much as I love British cooking, and I think it is very, very, underrated, sometimes I see recipes on British cooking websites and I scratch my head and think, "Guys, are you serious? Do you know your reputation?"
Here's one of them. It's not that it sounds horrible; it's that it is more in tune with a college junior in his first apartment that he shares with three friends. Yes, it is food. Yes, it is filling. But do you really need to publicize it? Sausage and baked bean casserole
Hell, they even use canned baked beans!
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[Hat Tip: dhmosquito]
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The garlic is harvested! And it looks...well...sigh. Send all of your excellent home-grown garlic to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.
Rumor has it that the Bourbon Bubble is bursting. I have seen no evidence of decreasing prices, but maybe the bursting started somewhere else! 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!
Broken golf tees. How does that happen? You approach the tee box with your driver. You hear that voice in your head - "tee it high, and let it fly!" But how high is too high? There's water or some other hazard right in front of you. If you tee the ball too low, you'll top it and it'll go right in there! So you tee it up a little higher to make sure you hit the ball up in the air. But you teed it up too high, you hit the bottom of the ball, which means you also made contact with the tee, so the tee broke. No problem -- snap the bottom part off, toss it somewhere (be courteous and don't leave it on the ground at the tee box!), then put the top part of the tee into your pocket to use on a Par 3 or a short Par 4 when you're using a 3W or 5W. But you break several more tees before you get a chance to use one of the handful of salvaged stubbies that you kept. So you end up with a collection that looks something like this.
Useable for sure. But they're ugly! So what to do if you have OCD and don't want jagged stubby tees?
Grab that little pencil sharpener in your junk drawer, and make them look better!
I had a plethora of broken tees in my golf bag. After just a few minutes with the pencil sharpener (smaller opening), I had this lovely collection of stubby tees!
Fast forward a few days. Playing the back 9 at a local course. The Par 3 12th arrives. I had this ready to go!
Perfect height for the 7W I was about to swing - just gently enough to land in front of the green then roll up near the hole for a tap-in birdie.
At least that's the way things played out in my head as I took 2 practice swings. What really happened was a nice 75% backswing, followed by a rushed downswing and a too-soon head lift at impact so I topped the ball and it ended up about halfway between the tee box and the green.
Oh well - at least my stubby tee looked good!
[Please do not share this idea with bluebell - these sharpened tees could very easily be used as a shiv!]
Physical Deportation Is The First Step, And Cutting Illegals Off From Our Society Is The Next Step!
—CBD
Going after violent illegals is an absolutely necessary first step in cleansing our country of the scourge of uncontrolled illegal immigration. Traffic stops, chasing them on foot, or if necessary breaking down doors at 3:00AM and dragging them to a waiting flight to Sh*tcanistan is something that the American people will support.
But the huge numbers of illegals in our country make physical deportation a long and complex process. Luckily, there are other ways! As I wrote a few days ago, going after their employers, starting with the biggest companies will make huge inroads into the illegal population by denying them the ability to steal Americans' identities and undercut their price for labor.
And there is more! Lax enforcement of existing laws, and banks that chased their business have allowed illegals to enter our financial systems, with credit cards, bank accounts, auto and home loans, etc.
Will the administration end that? It sure sounds like they are beginning to take it seriously, or at least paying some attention!
"President Trump signed an executive order a few weeks ago saying that we are not going to allow illegal aliens to use banking services in this country," Miller said.
"Illegal aliens have credit cards, they have bank accounts and they're paid with direct deposit. So, illegal aliens fully participate in the commercial systems, the financial systems of America. Shutting that down is a massive engine for deportation."
Miller was likely referring to an executive order Trump signed on May 19 that directed banks and federal regulators to increase scrutiny of accounts and credit applications involving immigrants without legal status or work authorization.
The order did not explicitly instruct banks to deny credit cards or bank accounts to illegal immigrants, but compliance with it could make it more difficult for them to participate in the financial system.
Federal agencies have already begun acting on Trump's executive order.
Executive orders are a stopgap measure. But it is a start. The real teeth will come if the various banking regulators demand that banks positively identify all account holders, and verify that their identification is not fraudulent or stolen. As I mentioned on Thursday, "E-Verify" needs to be improved, because we are our own worst enemy. But forcing the issue and making financial institutions take seriously the identification regulations would go a long way toward pushing illegals back to their home countries. If they can't easily open bank accounts or cash checks or buy cars or get an account with the electric company, their lives will become much more difficult.
And that is the goal! We have made their lives effortless for too long. It is time to push them back into the shadows, and make every interaction with the legal financial world a risk.
Sunday Morning Book Thread 7-19-2026 [Sabrina Chase]
—Open Blogger
Welcome to the Book Thread, Guest Poster edition! I will be your host as we explore all sorts of book-related topics. All usual Book Thread rules are incorporated by reference (pets, beverage, clothing covering the lower limbs, etc.) with the special Sabrina Chase exemption for those stylish persons preferring kilts. Now let us proceed to today's topic, which is ...
We are all about the contents of books here at the Book Thread, but a high-quality binding is the literary cherry on top. The photo above is one of the old books in my library, a first edition of the Hurst "Burnt Leather Classics" version of the works of Robert Burns, printed in 1904. (It took a bit of internet research to find out the date, as the fancy version had no published date inside.) Not only does it have gilt lettering on the cover, the edges of the pages are all gilt as well. In addition, the cover is soft leather, delicately embossed with daffodils, and slightly padded so it is very comfortable to hold. There used to be a silk bookmark ribbon bound in, but that fell to the ravages of time. A lot of thought clearly went into this design, to not only look good and to be functional but also elevate the book even more. (Apparently it was TOO fancy/expensive to produce, even for the luxury holiday gift market it was intended for, and in 1905 the standards were *koff* lowered and the gilt page edges and cover lettering vanished. But that made it possible for me to figure out my copy was one of the elite!)
Now sometimes the attempts to pretty-up a book went a little far, what with all the enamel and gems and whatnot. Who wants to curl up with a lumpy book that weighs 15 pounds? And won't play nice with the other books on the shelf?
Meanwhile, OpenAI's head of strategic futures Dean Ball said that Kimi is "a very good model" whose performance probably can't be "explained away by distillation or anything like that," adding that he's "personally surprised the Chinese state continues to allow the open sourcing of models this good, given potential risks."
In fact, it stomps all over AMD's existing 12 core laptop chip. It's not even close. It comes in as 33% faster than the equivalent Zen 5 chip in multi-core tests, and 35% faster single-core.
Since I'm writing this on a Zen 3 system and the latest hardware I have is Zen 4, it looks like a pretty substantial jump.
Musical Interlude
Disclaimer: You're never too old to rock and roll.
Saturday Night Club ONT - July 18, 2026 [Disco & Dino]
—Open Blogger
Welcome to Club ONT - a collaboration of The Disco and The Dino. We built this place for you so you can have some fun. Come in in, grab a drink or 3. Keep it light and friendly. Jerks need not enter the premises (the moose out front is keeping track and you do NOT want to disappoint the moose).
[Top photo: the bar at Fraunces Tavern, New York City. The oldest surviving building in New York.]
The teacher gave her fifth grade class an assignment: Get their parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it.
The next day, the kids came back and, one by one, began to tell their stories. There were all the regular types of stuff: Spilled milk and pennies saved. But then the teacher realized, that only Janie was left.
"Janie, do you have a story to share?"
"Yes ma'am. My daddy told me a story about my Mommy. She was a Marine pilot in Desert Storm, and her plane got hit. She had to bail out over enemy territory, and all she had was a flask of whiskey, a pistol, and a survival knife.
She drank the whiskey on the way down so the bottle wouldn't break, and then she parachuted right into the middle of 20 Iraqi troops.
She shot 15 of them with the pistol, until she ran out of bullets, killed four more with the knife, till the blade broke, and then she killed the last Iraqi with her bare hands."
"Good Heavens," said the horrified teacher. "What did your Daddy tell you was the moral to this horrible story?"
"Don't mess with Mommy when she's been drinking."
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*****
Drink of the Night
Tonight we drew the 7 of spades from our deck of playing card cocktails
A Houston woman said she is done practicing pole dancing at home after a mishap led to two apartments being flooded.
Asha Gilbert was filming her pole dancing practice July 6 at her west Houston apartment when the pole came loose from the ceiling and struck a fire sprinkler.
Gilbert said she had only installed the pole three days earlier.
"It wasn't even a thought that it could possibly hit the sprinkler," Gilbert said. "We were more worried about it hitting a wall."
She said her furniture was ruined and she had to move to another unit due to the damage. Gilbert said her downstairs neighbor was understanding about the water damage.
"I explained everything, and she was very, very cool and understanding, and I appreciated that," Gilbert said.
She said she will not be pole dancing at home anymore.
Animal control officers are trying to find the owner of an emu on the loose in Mississippi's Pearl River County.
A witness captured video of the flightless Australian bird wandering this week near Pea Ridge Road.
Pearl River County Animal Control confirmed Wednesday that the emu remained on the loose, and its origins were unknown.
Officials are asking anyone with information on the emu's owner or current whereabouts to contact local authorities.
Any among the Horde missing your Emu?
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Club ONT Department of Oklahoma Geography
There is a Disney, Oklahoma? Who knew?
According to the town website:
Disney is situated in northeastern Mayes County at the east end of Pensacola Dam on State Highway 28. The town is named after former Oklahoma U.S. Congressman Wesley E. Disney and has no affiliation with The Walt Disney Company or Walt Disney.
Disney is renowned worldwide for its vehicle rock climbing, off-road trails, and adventure activities. Within the city limits are five recreation areas of Cherokee State Park, offering off-road rock climbing, trails, and mudding for off-road vehicles. Visitors can also enjoy camping, swimming, picnicking, boating, fishing, skiing, and kayaking. Many off-road event attendees also spend time fishing, boating, or kayaking on the water.
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Club ONT Movie Night: X-15 Documentary
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Club ONT Jukebox
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Top 10ish Comments of the Week
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Club ONT is brought to you by: Club approved attire
My apologies for bringing the real world into this thread, but this made me laugh, and it is excellent on so many levels. Not least of which is poking marvelous fun at the Woke bullsh*t that oozes out of so many organizations that are designed for non-political pursuits.
Anyway, behind the graphic is a great American Rock And Roll song. Even Duncanthrax will like it...I think.
Love them or hate them; The Rolling Stones are an amazingly impressive band. They have been successful for more than 60 years, have made a ton of money, didn't implode because of "creative differences," and at least one of them is immortal, which is sort of cool in a scary way.
She's A Rainbow is a bit different for them (at least to my ear), although one of the reasons for their success has been their openness to changing their music to suit the fashion of the time. "Some Girls," I'm looking at you!
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Carl Perkins' version of Blue Suede Shoes is far better than the more popular Elvis Presley version.
Fight Me!
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Is Watermelon In Easter Hay good Zappa? Bad Zappa? Weird Zappa? Mainstream Pop Zappa? I have no idea...maybe Misanthropic Humanitarian can tell us!
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The Band is a great rock band, and here is proof of that: Atlantic City, with the additional delicious reality that Springsteen sucks in comparison. His version of this song is sh*t compared to The Band's original.
Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. For this week, the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) is into Heavy Metal. It spun and spun and landed on a metal working theme for this Hobby Thread.
Top photo: The first 52 cars bearing the Porsche name were built in a small sawmill near Gmünd, Austria. They were hand hammered aluminum on wooden forms. The example in this photo is the 8th oldest Porsche in existence and still runs.
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Let's talk Heavy Metal! Much of hobbying, building, and bodging generally involves either joining things together or cutting things apart. If you join or separate metal, you get to use hammers and fire. Sounds good, right?
Many home hobbyists are not welders or metalworkers. Some are and either learned in school metal shop or under the wing of a mentor. Some work with metal as a profession and transfer those skills to hobbying. Wood is cheaper than metal but it is also softer and less durable. Nobody builds engines out of wood.
Metalworking can involve shaping, forging, welding, casting, punching, milling, bending, extruding, rolling, and more.
Are you wise in the ways of metal? What skills do you have? How do you use them? How did you learn? What would you like to learn or try?
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What are you hobbying?
The thread is not limited to to the theme. Anything (legal) you are hobbying is welcome. Even if the theme does not speak to you, you might learn something or be entertained. If not, find something else or offer something else relating to hobbying. If all of that fails, just check in and say hello.
As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Leave politics and religion to threads elsewhere (unless your hobby is building or restoring churches). Pants are optional. As always, puns are welcome and encouraged.
Play nice and do not be rude. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.
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Welding basics:
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Metal crafts (the pipe wrench T-Rex at the beginning is awesome) - BTW, watch because there are some fun pieces, but mute the sound to avoid the AI narration:
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This is a great example of a video that pulls you into a rabbit hole you didn't know existed and then makes you care about it. "What makes this anvil so special?" (I also did not know that some people collect anvils. No reason why not - just never occurred to me before.)
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SuperfastMatt gets two entries in the content today. If you're into 3D printing, watch this video. You might be thinking "doesn't 3D printing involve plastic, not metal?" Watch and learn.
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Yes, the title says V12 epoxy table, but the video also has plenty of metal work. But V12 epoxy table should be enough to get your attention.
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A master coppersmith at work - lots and lots of little hammer taps:
Where did that copper come from?
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Forging axes by hand in Sweden (not so much a hobby as it is an industrial documentary, but fascinating to watch):
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Inheritance Machining is a YouTube channel that specifically focuses on machining metal. The scripts are very well written and presented and the videos well produced. No overdone clickbait bells and whistles. I struggled to pick a representative video but eventually landed on this one because it compares and contrasts different tools to accomplish the same objective.
Watch this for the backstory and shop tour - it is a good story told well and an enjoyable watch even if you're not into machining:
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Are you wise in the ways of custom metal cutting and fabrication? Do you like factory tours? This video is for you. Very impressive.
This is not a commercial or endorsement but SendCutSend operates an online platform for instant quoting and ordering. Customers upload CAD files, get immediate pricing, then customize with services like bending or finishing. Parts ship within days with no no minimum order quantities.
The company targets makers, hobbyists, small businesses, startups, and large enterprises by removing traditional manufacturing barriers like long lead times, high minimums, and outsourcing.
They operate several facilities across the US and Canada.
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This is way beyond hobbying, but watch this if you want to see the future of metal working. It is called Roboforming from a company called Machina Labs.
Both SendCutSend and Machina Labs are trying to solve the impediments to metal working - customization and scale. In the past, the fixed costs of tool and die making meant zero iteration and a high minimum production volume to make the cost worthwhile. Cost effective customization, with scale when needed? 3-D printing is another closely related technology that is changing the equation. Interesting times...
Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did a small scale theme. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.
Notable comment from last week:
Bonus content based on last week's theme: this mixes woodworking, epoxy, electrical and a touch of 3D printing. Way too small and fiddly for my dino fingers and patience but quite an impressive result.
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Words of wisdom:
"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).
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Reminder: if you put links in the comments, use a URL shortener and describe what you're linking to. Failing to do either or both makes you barrel-eligible. Don't make people click to find out what you're linking.
A metal thread without an Iron Maiden link? Surely not. Here you go. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Or just email to say hello. Do mighty things.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University researchers are part of a team looking at reducing bird collision risks with wind turbines by painting a single blade of the turbine black.
Wind energy has a significant role during a time of climate change, rising energy demands and a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, but it poses risks to birds and bats due to collision fatalities. Previous studies estimate that hundreds of thousands of birds and bats die each year as a result of collisions with wind turbine blades.
The Oregon State researchers, working with federal, industry and nonprofit partners, and funded in part by the Oregon Legislature, are building on recent research in Norway that found a nearly 72% decline in bird collisions with turbine blades when one blade was painted black.
Well, at least they're trying to help. But what about the bats?
How about just taking down the turbines and trying something else?
A company in Mexico rescued an orange stray cat and decided to hire him.
They named him Engineer Miauricio and gave him the title of Emotional Support Director. His responsibilities are smiling at coworkers, gently meowing and walking around the office. pic.twitter.com/fDuJOJmHnX
This is Gemma. She’s a rescue dog from Texas who will only listen to her human if they speak in a southern accent. 13/10 a true southern belle pic.twitter.com/x185tpGqyI
This guy explains to a crowd of cattle how hes not able to get the well going to give them water but fortunately, someone is coming in an hour to give them water pic.twitter.com/UnyYQs7RLP
Bruno at the creek. He's such a good boy. He just finished his treatment for Lymphoma and is in remission.
- fd
Yay for Bruno! Thanks for the great photo of your good boy.
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Cat and Box
Lirio
Perfect photo of Cat in Box. Endearing.
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Still the cutest
Eris Enthroned
Lily, ready for love!
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Hi KT,
I'm sending some of my favorite photos of Bingley in honor of his 8th birthday, which I celebrate on July 18.
In October 2018, I was working in a large Midwestern university library. One day, a kitten found his way into the ceiling of the Main Library basement. Library staff heard his pitiful cries, climbed up and rescued him, and took him to the shelter to treat a tail injury. They circulated his picture around the library. When it got to my department, my coworkers decided I was the chosen one, as everyone else already had multiple cats and I just had one.
After he healed from a partial tail amputation, I brought him home. It took maybe 24 hours for my older cat to decide the new guy was all right, and in another few days the older cat had appointed himself Bingley's mentor in all things, especially the fine art of grooming. Until I lost my older kitty to cancer in 2022, the two of them were inseparable. Bing is the biggest snuggle bug I've ever known, 14 pounds of floof and love. He is a Very Good Kitty.
Thanks for the pet thread!
My nic is "screaming in digital"
Thanks for the great photos of your photogenic guy! Save that last photo for later. It's special, too!
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Thank you for sharing your pets and animal photos and stories with us today. We hit the jackpot with kitties this week, and will have some more photos to show, especially if you send yours, too!
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.
Happy Wednesday, KT! I have an actual sunflower blooming! This is at the top of my 11 foot tall plant. This one started as a volunteer from last year's seeds so I think it will have the same smaller multi-colored blooms.
On the inside, my orchid is loving the AC. Update on the spider plants - they have been going to town. They really do look like fireworks! Thanks for last week's pictures.
Wow! Such fun! I don't remember seeing your orchids before.
And here's another sunflower (not 11 feet tall) with a visitor:
I’ve done very little work today, unlike the bees 🐝 This evening continuing the relaxing day with some drinks in the summerhouse. You can join us if you like, but unfortunately there’s only enough room for 2 chairs!! Have a great evening 🥂cheers! pic.twitter.com/tMEmsmNTOh
Pictured above is a hobbit hole in Hobbitenago, Guatemala. It features not only trails with Lord of the Rings kinds of things but also attractions like panoramas featuring volcanoes.
The volcanoes are close enough to be something of a concern. But in the original Shire which inspired this park, they did not have to think about Artificial Intelligence and related electronic complications to life.
This week, I had another odd Social Media Experience. FB sent me a message that one of my friends had a new post. I seldom check this friend's page, and the post turned out to be a slightly snarky article in BlazeMedia by Owen Anderson proposing a thought experiment: What if the commies were right after all? What if the rich folk were the dangerous, permanent oppressors of the world?
He proposed an alternative:
The left condemns concentrated wealth while demanding concentrated political power, the only kind backed by guns, prisons, and law.
He discussed some of his own experiences with leftists and made some suggestions for countering their influence.
Normally, I would not have paid much attention to this piece. But one of my friend's friends, I'll call her "young teacher friend" seemed upset and begged her to learn what democratic socialists believed, "from primary sources".
I looked at Young Teacher Friend's FB page, and it included almost no personal information - just run-of-the-mill memes for leftist causes and a single post - an essay supporting protests by students, including elementary school students. Though she acknowledged the authority of school districts to enforce mandatory school attendance.
My friend expressed surprise that the Blaze piece had shown up on her FB page. I have never seen her post anything political before. And this piece was certainly not her style. How did it get there? Why was I notified of this post? Was Young Teacher Friend also notified? Was the algorithm trying to start a fight?
Anyway, I took it as an opening, and posted the new DSA platform on my friend's page as Young Teacher Friend had suggested (can't get a more primary source than that). I admit that Young Teacher Friend is not the primary intended audience here:
DSA program and platform, July 2026
“DSA has written this program for ending capitalist oligarchy and creating a real democracy. Some of these demands may be won under our current system, but we know complete victory will require building a new society from the ground up. We push these demands to their furthest extent today, so we can fight for their fullest realization in a socialist future. Join us.”
- -
“For the working class to govern, we need a new political system. End political corruption and legalized bribery: get rid of lobbyists, dark money, and Citizens United, and publicly finance all elections. Abolish the Electoral College. Replace the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.
Replace the two-party system with a multi-party democracy. Expand the House of Representatives, implement proportional representation and ranked choice voting in all elections, and abolish the Senate.”
On the surface it does seem as if the young are fine. Real median incomes are higher than they were for their parents at the same age, unemployment has spent most of the past decade at historic lows, and purchasing power has risen roughly 63 percent since 1973. Televisions, clothing, food, and air travel are cheaper than ever.
And yet this generation is also not marrying, not buying homes, not having children, and seem pretty miserable. I think we’re clearly in the midst of a tremendous measurement failure.
My argument is that previous generations received an enormous stock of social capital: trusted neighbors, functional public schools, a productive courtship culture, predictable career arcs, and a public square in which children could roam and adults could be relied upon. That stock, once given for free, has now been substantially liquidated.
(emphasis mine). So, maybe it really does "take a village". Not just a village that consists of government programs?
What actually got cheaper over the past fifty years? Electronics, entertainment, fast fashion, processed food, toys, screens of every kind. And what got more expensive, usually by many multiples? Housing, education, childcare, healthcare, insurance.
Absurdly, both of these movements register in the statistics as progress: one shows up as asset appreciation and the other as consumer surplus. But the lived reality for families feels like a pincer.
This is my favorite scene in The Lord of the Rings movies.
The four hobbits are riding home to the Shire, having come through hell and back. Frodo has saved the world at terrible personal cost. Pippin is now a knight, wearing his mail and tunic bearing the White Tree of Gondor. Merry is still dressed as an Esquire of Rohan.
All of them are in outlandish clothes, and laden with exotic treasures of dwarves, elves, and men. They have been utterly transformed by their journey.
But Everard Proudfoot (a contrivance of the film) has not been transformed by their journey. He spent the last year in the Shire, with its ordinary rhythms and expectations, and he thinks they are fucking weird.
It’s a big change from the books of course, where Saruman has brought the conflict home, and the hobbits have to drum him out.
I like both versions of the story — but what I like about the scene in the movie is that Everard Proudfoot represents the totality of their victory. They truly saved the Shire — completely intact, exactly as they left it.
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If we win the way we hope to win, all the people who think we are weird and disreputable will have no reason to change their minds. (In fact — as in the film — the way we win may confirm all their suspicions.)
But imagine trying to get Everard Proudfoot to vote to save the world.
A few weeks ago, my wife got her hair done by the Median Utah Voter.
Lately I’ve been using the term “median voter” instead of the n-word (normie) — but in this case I mean it literally.
White, married, middle-class, homeowner, “some college”, late fifties. She lives in a safe neighborhood, where she still sees most of her neighbors at church.
She couldn’t afford her house if she had to buy it now, but she doesn’t have to buy it now. Her husband is closing in on retirement; they saved responsibly, she mostly just cuts hair to have something to do.
She’s not political, except in the ambient sense that she watches the TV news sometimes, and feels bad about the things she’s supposed to feel bad about. She doesn’t like to see people being nasty to each other.
She voted for Trump in 2020 and 2024 (though probably not in 2016), because she’s a Conservative, but she doesn’t like him personally — or at least, she doesn’t like “the way he talks about people.”
When she sees Trump (and Trump surrogates) being harsh and insulting on TV, she thinks about how she tries to treat people — the kind of people she meets in her real life, in her safe neighborhood.
The Mexican guy who fixed her water heater was polite and efficient, and gave her a good price. She did a service project for a refugee charity last Christmas, and seeing those families smile as they got their care packages made her feel really good.
Nothing (in her real life) justifies being Nasty, or Hurting People.
You’re not going to convince this woman of The Big Picture.
There’s no bar graph you can show her that will convince her that her neighborhood is dangerous (it isn’t), or that the contractor who installed her water heater is a threat (he isn’t), or that the refugees at the charity are about to make a fire with her Beautiful Oak Door — they aren’t (at least, not any time soon).
She lives in the real world; she Touches Grass. She isn’t going to care about any of the stuff you care about until she sees it right in front of her physically, and by then it will be way, way too late.
Of course, her moral attention can be redirected parasocially, but not by you — not in the totalizing way that activates a person politically. She’s not going to update her worldview — which, again, is very much wrapped up in her moral attitude toward dozens of real relationships in her real life — because you showed her a meme, or a statistic, or even a lurid atrocity video.
Read the entire essay for more nuance and information about "Median Voter", but the "X" post gets to the nitty-gritty:
“Do you want your grandchildren to be foreigners in their own country?” In political conversations with older people with kids, no other point has shaken them awake quite like this one.
— Theseus' Star Destroyer (@theseus365) July 17, 2026
From the end of the Old Testament:
Malachi's prophecy is literally true
If the hearts of the fathers are not turned to their children & vice versa, nothing will change until the earth is smitten with a curse, & the barbarians are literally, physically at the door
From the essay:
If the Median Voters - - the cozy Everard Proudfoots of the world - - understand themselves as atomized individuals, they will never take action until the earth is smitten with a curse, and the barbarians are literally, physically at their doorstep.
(Again, the individualist frame was inculcated with the express purpose of lowering these defenses.)
The only way to make them see what is coming - - what is, in fact, already happening - - is to turn their hearts to their children.
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Weekend
Congratulations, Duncan. You, as much anyone I know -- more-- were dealt a crappy hand as a working artist, kicked aside by the system, wandered in the wilderness, and are turning it all around in a passionate, winning, meaningful fashion. This is going to be great. https://t.co/dabAX4Nupd
Let’s see: Gulf War III is back in full swing, Mitch McConnell has become Schrodinger’s senator, but the biggest stories in America right now are a buffalo trying out to be an NFL placekicker, and Taco Bell deciding that a life-imitating-art menu is the best life after all. Too bad about the Whirled Cup soccer thing, but losing to . . . Belgium? Maybe we can appeal to the Whirled Court. Oh, wait. . .
Music
The Shire
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Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.
"It's a system built on envy of those who have more than the self-anointed "best and brightest".
And again, here's another quote from F.L. Lucas. I think this guy has potential.
“Thence it is possible to arrive by easy stages at the happy notion, not uncommon among 'intellectuals', that taste consists of distaste, and that the loftiest of pleasures is that of feeling displeased; and thus to end by enjoying almost nothing in literature but one's own opinions, while oneself incapable of writing a living sentence.”
Posted by: Archimedes at July 11, 2026 11:32 AM
Comments are closed so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on a week-old thread. But don't try it anyway.
The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival
—Misanthropic Humanitarian
[Meme H/T: Dr._No]
Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. Between the heat, humidity and smoke, the Frozen Tundra is looking like a thawed bog. Anyway before we enter the Prayer Revival just a few housekeeping matters to go over. (Rulz for those of you in Ely)
1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind, be nice. Generosity has its bounds.
3) If I've told you once I've told you 82 bazillion times. No running with sharp objects.
4) Have a great weekend!
Please submit any prayer requests to me, “Annie’s Stew” at apaslo at-sign hotmail dot com. Prayer requests are generally removed after four weeks unless we receive an update.
Prayer Requests:
5/20 – D gave an update on his wife Susan and her continued battle with cancer. Her cancer markers are still headed in the right direction. She is on a new antibiotic, and it is causing some side effects, but it is keeping her out of another surgery, so that is a win. Thanks again to everyone for their prayers. May 1 marked one year since they found out about the cancer, and Susan is doing so well.
6/24 Update – Everything is going well. The chemo seems to be working, but it’s very hard. The prayers help, so please keep praying for them.
5/23 – I used to have a Different Nic could use some prayers as he waits for the results of a biopsy of a mass on his prostate.
6/23 Update – The latest update is that he has stage 2, “unfavorable intermediate”, which he notes is an awful name, but what it means is, it is in the middle, but bad enough that they want to treat it. It’s more aggressive than previously thought. He is at the point where he has to decide on treatment options, which means choosing which set of pretty unfortunate side effects he prefers.
7/6 Update – He has gotten a second opinion, and selected the option for treatment, which should begin next week.
6/18 – buzzion asked for prayers for a friend named Christina, who has struggled with drug addiction and is in jail again. Buzzion prays that this really is rock bottom and a true wake-up call for her – even if it requires her to stay in jail.
6/29 Update – Christina’s family bonded her out of jail and she has checked into a rehab facility. Please pray that she gets the help she needs.
7/11 Update – Thank you to everyone for your prayers. Christina is doing well in rehab. Please pray that she continues through this and keeps working through it even after getting out of her program.
6/20 – bluebell gave an update on grammie Winger. Grammie had some major surgery related to her cancer in March and is pretty much housebound. She said she isn’t keeping up on news since her diagnosis; she doesn’t have the energy. She said she thinks of her grey-box friends often with fondness. Please keep praying for her. Your prayers are a source of great comfort to her.
6/27 Update – grammie winger requested bluebell to let the Horde know that she is hospitalized again, with sepsis, and cannot eat or walk. She is very tired and cannot speak for long. She is being fed by tube. They don’t know how long she will be hospitalized or where she will go after (rehab, hospice, etc.). Bluebell has a mailing address for grammie, so please contact bluebell to send a card or note to grammie winger. Please pray for her, that her suffering will be eased, and pray for her family, who are suffering along with her.
7/4 – grammie winger posted her thanks for the sweet, sweet cards and letters. She said she treasured each and every one of the Horde reprobates. She can’t express the love she has as she sits there in the cancer hospital.
6/21 – B posted a request for prayers. He said that, due to his own shortcomings, and a moment of madness 6 years ago, B has been estranged from his two sons (age 41 and 36). He has tried to reach out and apologize to them over the past 6 years, to no avail. B asked the Horde to pray for their hearts to open, to allow him to properly apologize, and try to be the father he should have been. The boys are losing their mother to early-onset Alzheimers, and B needs them to know that he’s a better person today than he was then, and he can be counted on.
6/27 – Tom Servo posted prayers of thanks to God that his 38 year-old daughter, who was released from a psych hospital this week after a particularly bad breakdown. She has 2 children, which she does not have custody of, but she still sees, and they are wonderful. She has received more professional care, and it appears to have helped quite a bit. She has new medication and a new commitment to living in a way that will keep her from making a return trip to the hospital.
6/27 – George V sent his thanks to the Horde for their prayers. We had prayed for his wife in May, when she had a heart valve replacement, and there were indications of problems in her lymph nodes. She received the biopsy results, and both came back negative for cancer! Thank God for his goodness!
6/27 – “A” sent thanks for the prayers for a family friend, who is at home recovering with the family and doing much better. “A” has an additional request for long-time friends (J and S) who are in the midst of intense family problems and requesting healing, peace, repentance, and restoration in the family.
7/2 – Publius asked for prayers for his 96 year old mother, who had emergency surgery when a massive hematoma on her leg ruptured, and they couldn’t stop the bleeding due to her being on blood thinners. Things were not looking good, but Publius posted later she received blood thinner reverser medication, and was fully conscious and alert after surgery.
7/10 Update – Publius’ mother was moved to a nursing home for post-acute therapy. At this point, she is very weak but is coming back physically. But her mind is in La La Land.
7/13 Update – Publius’ mother has experienced an absolute miracle. She has come back, fully conscious and cogent. The Lord Almighty has decided her time is not complete.
7/3 – San Franpsycho posted that Mrs. F. was admitted to the hospital from the ER visit, and asks for prayers for a complete and immediate recovery for her. She was conscious enough to phone him late last night, and it was a great relief that she was awake even for a short period. She continues with IV fluids and atb. Further steps and hopefully improvement await the results of lab tests. The caring concern shown by so many morons has been a great relief. Thank you.
7/5 Update – Mrs. F. remains hospitalized while being treated for salmonella poisoning. She has had some improvement, but is on Day 5 of not being able to keep down any nourishment.
7/11 Update – Mrs. F. came home on 7/7, and has finished her oral antibiotics. They are very grateful for the prayers for healing.
7/4 – Duke Lowell humbly asked for prayers for the nurses who will have to put up with him, when he goes in for (hopefully the last) surgery related to the events of last September.
7/4 – AH Lloyd requested prayers for his aunt, who was in a shattering collision on 6/29. She was hit by a semi at full speed through an intersection. She lost a lot of blood, but is out of ICU now.
7/4 – Random Dave posted the good news that the past week of interviews went very well. He also had a prayer request for his grand-niece, who has not been growing properly. She’s about 5 or 6. The growth plates are fine but has not grown in over a year. They have found an intestinal or bowel blockage and may need surgery.
7/4 – Dr. No sent his thanks for the prayer list and the Horde’s prayers that helped his daughter in her recoveries from (a) cancer and (b) knee replacement surgery. She’s doing fine now.
7/7 – Weak Geek asked for prayers for the survivors of RG and KG, a couple in their 90s who were pillars of their church for decades. They were knifed to death on 7/3 by their grandson. The entire congregation is stunned. Please pray for them too, and the pastor, trying to help deal with the tragedy.
7/11 – Mis Hum asked for prayers for Some Rat. He has some serious health issues at this time.
7/11 – Fen requested prayers for comfort and strength for “C” and her mother. “C” is in her 30s and her father died after a several months long struggle with cancer.
7/11 – P, a long time lurker would appreciate prayers. He says he should have asked for prayers last year, when his stage 4 prostate cancer was first diagnosed, but he was too busy freaking out. A year and nine months later, he is still on hormone therapy and his PSA spiked recently. It’s back up to 92. He is supposed to start a drug trial soon. He knows from experience that prayer helps, and would greatly appreciate if anyone could include him in their prayers.
7/13 – Captain Obvious posted that he could use some prayers, as he was experiencing some kind of cardiac arrhythmia.
7/15 – Captain JS’ daughter needs prayers for his/her daughter. Early on 7/15, she experienced complete heart failure. She is in the ICU on a heart/lung machine. They will operate to see what is happening. Captain JS sends thanks in advance for the prayers and has faith in their power.
7/15 Update – Thanks to all who responded to Captain JS’ request for prayers. The daughter is still unconscious but is still alive. The doctors suspect a blockage to the left side of her heart. They are planning to take pictures and then insert a stent.
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.
Speculation is that it's a unit conversion error in the cost estimation tool, but all we know for sure is that people who barely use the service are being alerted to cost estimates in the billions of dollars, and for businesses that have active applications the predicted bills run into the trillions.
AWS say they are looking into it.
📣 Service Update: AWS Billing Console
We are investigating issues with Cost Explorer reflecting inaccurate estimated billing data.
1.4nm is the node after the 2nm node that we are expecting to see late this year, so it won't reach production until at least 2028. A 90% yield this early is a good sign.
That seems unlikely, because that amount would require four 64GB DDR5 modules, and nobody is putting four SODIMM slots in consumer equipment.
I have ten DDR5 SODIMMs. Believe me, I've looked.
Research
The Eighth Law already requires that every admissible alteration of the noetic field (and, by extension, every macroscopic world-line that couples to that field) lie along a null geodesic of the full 6D manifold that satisfies the 2T-gauge conditions. Ordinary 3+1 orbital motion is the projection of such a higher-dimensional geodesic. Spin-orbit locking therefore cannot be a purely 3-spatial mechanical equilibrium; it must also be consistent with the hidden and components of the geodesic. In practice this appears observationally as an additional, apparently arbitrary ceiling on how tightly a world can remain synchronized: once the integrated "geodesic resistance" exceeds a threshold set by the unknown couplings , and the noetic tensor, further dissipative evolution is forbidden even if ordinary tidal torque remains. The result is that perfect, permanent 1:1 locking may be rarer or more fragile than in 3+1 physics, and residual libration or slow drift in the relative orientation of the permanent day/night hemispheres can persist.
This actually makes complete sense given the context, and solves the problem, but even so gives me a headache.
All I wanted to do was make the sky blue.
I've also been tinkering with Fable as well as Grok, and while it's impressive, I don't trust it. It heaped effusive praise on what I consider one of the weakest points of the plot of the story I'm working on.
FDA is providing an update regarding the sample of lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms de Mexico which was reported positive on July 18, 2026. Due to the complexity in detection of Cyclospora, FDA laboratory experts re-reviewed the sample results and have concluded that the finding does not represent true amplification and should be considered a false positive. Information about the sample has been removed from the July 18, 2026, update below. FDA has notified Taylor Farms and continues working with the firm to ensure product implicated in this outbreak has been removed from the market. FDA and state partners continue to collect and analyze product samples. As of July 19, 2026, there are no confirmed positive sample results for product testing for Cyclospora.
Podcast: Trump Slaps Mullin down; he wants the auto stops to continue, we need employment enforcement at our big corporations, The gerontocracy in the Senate, the Iranian junta is true to form, but Trump responds forcefully, and more!
Forgotten 80s Mystery Click: Northern Lights Division
Our topic today is music That's right, like
'Cause my brother and I are now experts in the field, eh
Yeah, right, 'cause we're a band now
Uh, yeah, so Except for him, I'm a band
Aw, how can you do that?
You're making me look bad
You're such a Hosehead
CNBC ranks Tennessee as dead last in its “Worst States to Live” analysis. The specific reason is that cross-dressing men in TN are denied access to children and women’s private spaces. Texas finished 49th. The “worst” states were all red states. [Buck]
In response to someone asking why the video tape doesn't show Tyler Robinson's face (PS, it does, but it's crappy video so it's blurry):
Candace Owens
@RealCandaceO
Because as I demonstrated on my show, there were MANY young men that all woke up and decided to dress in Maroon shirts and light shorts on the day of the Charlie's assassination.
The footage can be any one of these young men and in my opinion is likely multiple of them.
If Tyler Robinson's defense would like to contact me-- I'd be happy to supply them the folder of the maroon boys that I began archiving when I noticed the bizarre fashion trend.
I have thus far ID'd two of them, but will focus on IDing the rest of them when I am back on air.
I have maintained that the Feds had multiple decoy maroon boys on the ground that day. Without a clear image, they certainly cannot declare it is Tyler Robinson which is why all the Zionist influencers are hoping they can simply hypnotize the public into trusting blurry images and videos.
For such an "open and shut case" they have thus far provided ZERO evidence of anything outside of a criminal government conspiracy, the likes of which hasn't been seen since the JFK assassination.
More "fedslop" that Cavernous Nostrils is too smart to be taken in by:
Blake Neff
@BlakeSNeff
BREAKING: Lance Twiggs says that Robinson admitted to him in-person on Sept. 11 that the message he had sent the night before (presumably, messages sent while he was trying to retrieve his rifle the night of Sept 10) was true. He says Robinson told him "He wishes he hadn't done it."
Fenix Ammunition
@FenixAmmunition
Photos of the ammunition recovered from Tyler Robinson.
Remington headstamp on the case and despite the somewhat low resolution on the photo you can see the somewhat blunted nature of the projectile's tip.
This is a Remington Cor-Lokt soft point round. It's SPECIFICALLY designed to deform, slow down, and prevent an exit wound. Available at literally every single gun store and sporting goods store that sells ammunition.
In fact, 16 out of the 17 .30-06 varieties manufactured by Remington use some type of expanding, deforming, or fragmenting bullet. Only ONE of their products uses a full metal jacket projectile that could/would be expected to leave an exit wound.
Here's a clip of them sitting in my desk.
This has been the most easily debunked claim of their entire web of lies and it's really mind blowing considering this is exactly what you would choose for an assassination.
But yeah, definitely keep getting all your information from the DEI hire and the Portland pizza boy. I'm sure they know more about this than I do.
Post here, showing Tyler Robinson's ammunition, matching this guy's own box. And it is an expanding-tip hollow-point round.
Boy these Internet Experts (TM) sure do get a lot of things wrong.
Lost 70s Mystery Click And a song with another song as an intro, too: Be it sight, sound, smell, or touch
There's something
Inside that we need so much
The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound
Or the strength of an oak with roots deep in the ground
The wonder of flowers to be covered and then to burst up
Thru tarmac, to the sun again
Boy do they look like absolute dorks.
Lost 70s Mystery Click Doing alright
A little jiving on a Saturday night
And come what may
Gonna dance the day away
Jenny was sweet
She always smiled for the people she'd meet
On trouble and strife
She had another way of looking at life
Podcast: Is Kentucky's long nightmare over? Maine's resident Nazi might be out, NATO making progress, or is it a fake, Le Pen in France might have a shot, Democrats are simply pinch-faced scolds who hate America, but is our youth going to revitalize the country...and more!
