Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
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
While watching a University of Kentucky basketball game recently (#CatsBy90!), I noticed that there is now a watermark in the shape of the state of Kentucky on the floor at Rupp Arena.
This is new for 2024 at the legendary college basketball arena. Something that caught my eye was an attention to detail that falls into the “If you know, you know” category. At the bottom left of the watermark, there is a circle which is disconnected from the rest of the watermark.
This sparse and serene landscape is as remote as an island, and to get here you have to mean it. "Kentucky Bend," or “New Madrid Bend,” is encircled on the north, east, and west by a snaking hairpin turn of the Mississippi River, while the southern portion is joined to the state of Tennessee. It’s literally an exclave of Kentucky, 30 square miles of land completely cut off from the rest of the state, all formed by a combination of surveyor mishaps and raging earthquakes.
Jutting out into the middle of the Mississippi River, the tiny community on the Kentucky Bend consists of a smattering of houses, cotton fields, and a lone cemetery. Yet this little spit of land has fascinated outsiders for well over a century.
The Mississippi River, central America’s preeminent determiner of East-West boundaries, was useless in marking ownership when it came to the Kentucky Bend. Missouri and Tennessee fought over the Bend until the mid-1800’s, when Tennessee finally relinquished its claim to Kentucky, which came out on top thanks to latitudinal jurisdiction.
Read the two linked articles for more information. Quite fascinating.
Tonight’s ONT brought to you by Christmas gift ideas
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Now she dismisses the case only because Jack Smith requests it. And he's only requesting it because DOJ policy says you can't prosecute a sitting president.
"As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant, Donald J. Trump, will be inaugurated as President on January 20, 2025," Smith's motion said. "It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President. But the Department and the country have never faced the circumstance here, where a federal indictment against a private citizen has been returned by a grand jury and a criminal prosecution is already underway when the defendant is elected President."
"Confronted with this unprecedented situation, the Special Counsel's Office consulted with the Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), whose interpretation of constitutional questions such as those raised here is binding on Department prosecutors. After careful consideration, the Department has determined that OLC's prior opinions concerning the Constitution's prohibition on federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting President apply to this situation and that as a result this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated," said the motion.
"That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government's proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind," the motion said.
Chutkan dismissed the charges without prejudice, so that a later vindictive prosecutor can revive the politically-motivated case.
Trump will pardon himself, but vindictive prosecutors will bring charges anyway, just to make him go to court where they will argue that a president can't pardon himself. (He can -- there are no restrictions on the power.)
New study finds DEI initiatives creating 'hostile attribution bias'
Using materials from within the DEI movement, the study measured 'explicit bias'
By Jasmine Baehr
Fox News
New research from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) and Rutgers University reveals that some diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training methods may cause psychological harm.
The study, released on Monday, shows significant increases in hostility and punitive attitudes among participants exposed to DEI pedagogy covering subjects like race, religion and caste.
This hostile attribution bias may contribute to increased intergroup hostility and authoritarian behavior in the long run, according to study co-author and NCRI Chief Science Officer Joel Finkelstein.
"What we did was we took a lot of these ideas that were found to still be very prominent in a lot of these DEI lectures and interventions and training," said Finkelstein in an interview with Fox News Digital. "And we said, 'Well, how is this going to affect people?' What we found is that when people are exposed to this ideology, what happens is they become hostile without any indication that anything racist has happened."
...
As DEI programs have become a major area of investment in recent years, their actual effectiveness remains a topic of debate, with NCRI's study suggesting they may exacerbate tensions rather than alleviate them. The study measured "explicit bias, social distancing, demonization, and authoritarian tendencies" with both the DEI materials and control materials.
Their study included sharing anti-racist DEI materials from thought leaders like Ibram X. Kendi and "White Fragility" author Robin DiAngelo with participants involved. Specifically, the NCRI focused on materials which emphasized awareness of and opposition to "systemic oppression," popularized by texts such as Kendi's "How to Be an Antiracist."
Those exposed to anti-racist materials were linked to heightened perceptions of racial bias in the study. Participants were also more likely to support punitive measures against perceived offenders of so-called "microaggressions," even in the absence of evidence.
You don't say. You don't say.
"And when people are supposed to see anti-racist material in the ideology, it looks like what happens is that they become more likely to punish for any evidence of wrongdoing," said Finkelstein. "That includes protesting people, calling for dismissal, demanding public apologies, receiving people calling for their relocation. These punitive measures are, in some cases, costing people their jobs."
Wow. Five years into this vicious racist madness and academics are finally actually looking into it.
Take your time, though, "Experts." Take your time.
These results suggest that anti-Islamophobia training inspired by ISPU materials may cause individuals to assume unfair treent of Muslim people, even when no evidence of bias or unfairness is present. This effect highlights a broader issue: DEI narratives that focus heavily on victimization and systemic oppression can foster unwarranted distrust and suspicions of institutions and alter subjective assessments of events.
I'm learning so much of what I already knew.
Here comes a big shock:
One key takeaway from Finkelstein in the NCRI study is that the authoritarianism that comes from hostile attribution bias looks different in the 21st century.
According to Finkelstein, those who are likely to carry hostilities are "people who are higher in what's called left-wing authoritarianism. This is now a steady phenomenon. We the people have been studying right-wing authoritarianism since World War II. It's really only in the past 10 or 15 years that people have started saying, 'Wait a minute, this is on the left, too."
You don't say? Really?
...
When reached for comment, Kendi slammed both Fox News and the study, calling it "pseudoscience."
As opposed to Henry "Ibram Kendi" Rogers' true racist science.
The report says that when people were exposed to Robin D'Angelo's and Henry Rogers' racially-incendiary claims, they were much, much more likely to claim that they were experiencing "microaggressions" based on nothing at all. They compared groups primed by reading these "anti-racist" books to normal, uninfected people. The uninfected people were chill. The "anti-racist" people saw racism everywhere, claimed non-violent people were committing "literal violence," and assumed that anyone evaluating them must be white. (That is, they assumed that anyone whose race they could not see but held a grudge against must be white.)
Nate Silver Wonders Why Taylor Lorenz Won't Post Her Age or Birthdate (and She Actually Posts Her Age)
—Ace
For those of you who don't know why we're always picking on her: Because she's constantly doxing and defaming people and calling for cancellations and then crying on TV when anyone sends "hate" her way.
She hides her age because she wheedles her way in to "interviews" with teenagers and wants to pretend she's a generation younger than she really is. Apparently her family owns important internet archives and all biographical information about her has been scrubbed. You know, like she's some kind of super-spy.
The sad fact is that men like u will NEVER engage with me directly, because it would reveal that this entire character you�ve built me into in order to farm outrage online is a lie.
The infantile woman who outed LibsofTikTok's name and place of business is complaining about someone "directing online hate" towards her.
White lefties have been in a bubble of privilege so long and subscribe to a political philosophy -- or, more accurately, a political cope -- that says they are owed even more privileges.
They melt down and scream when they don't get the privileges they believe they're entitled to, so many people have coddled them these past ten years and granted these privileges, thinking, wrongly, that it was easier to give baby their ba-ba than to stand up to them.
They were wrong. Giving in to these entitled terrorists' demands only encouraged, get this, more terrorism, and has led to more and more extravagant demands of privilege and deference.
But people are now pushing back. And the coddled, privileged lefties are melting down even more crazily now, because they've become so accustomed to getting their own way when they crime, scream, and stamp their feet.
But this 71-year-old woman, whose car was hit by an uninsured Millennial who then fled the scene, isn't having it.
Uninsured Kamala voter hits a car and then has an emotional breakdown when asked for her insurance. pic.twitter.com/IO5aDSQVlK
And obviously these adult children have never been disciplined before.
Google AI's summary:
An extinction burst is a temporary increase in the intensity, duration, or frequency of an unwanted behavior that occurs when a reward or reinforcement is taken away. It's a part of the extinction process, which is used to reduce or stop behaviors that were previously rewarded.
Here are some examples of extinction bursts:
Withholding screen time
When a parent withholds screen time until a child completes their homework, the child may experience an extinction burst.
Withholding praise
When a parent stops praising a child for a particular behavior, the child may experience an extinction burst.
Withholding a desired outcome
When a toddler stops crying to get their way, they may escalate to a tantrum to get the desired outcome.
Extinction bursts can be a sign that an intervention is working, but they can also be aversive and unintentionally reinforce the behavior. When an extinction burst occurs, it's important to not react with fear and to pay as little attention to the behavior as possible.
As Halperin said, we're headed for the greatest mental health crisis in American history. We're going to see a huge escalation in nervous breakdowns and bursts of leftwing violence as we tell them "no."
For some, this will be an extinction burst, and they will begin comporting themselves to the New Rules.
For others: They'll pick up a gun or axe and kill their families or maybe themselves.
President-elect Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, has issued a stark warning to sanctuary cities, stating their officials could face federal charges for obstructing immigration enforcement. The warning comes as Trump prepares to reinstate strict immigration policies and mass deportations.
Key Details:
Homan said federal law supersedes local sanctuary laws, and refusing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could result in charges for obstruction and harboring illegal immigrants.
Homan plans to work with the next Attorney General, likely Pam Bondi, to determine if sanctuary city policies violate federal law.
Trump and Homan aim to prioritize deportations of individuals accused or convicted of crimes, with additional measures to cut federal funding for sanctuary jurisdictions.
Diving Deeper:
President-elect Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, has signaled a hardline approach to sanctuary cities, warning local officials they could face prosecution for defying federal immigration laws. Speaking to Just the News, Homan emphasized that impeding federal enforcement or knowingly harboring illegal immigrants could result in criminal charges.
"Federal law trumps state and local law every time," Homan said, referring to sanctuary policies in cities like Los Angeles, which recently reaffirmed its status as a sanctuary city. He noted that refusing to transfer illegal immigrants in custody to ICE may constitute harboring, a violation of federal law.
Homan plans to seek an official opinion from the next Attorney General--Pam Bondi is currently the nominee--on whether such refusals warrant legal action. He is also advocating for broader measures, such as withholding federal funds from jurisdictions that adopt sanctuary policies.
"We've got to pull federal funding," Homan stated, arguing that sanctuary policies undermine public safety. He warned mayors and governors that failing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement could jeopardize community safety and violate federal statutes.
Homan also addressed broader concerns, including the Biden administration's handling of unaccompanied minors and the loss of track of 30,000 migrant children. He pledged to prioritize efforts to locate these children, acknowledging the challenges but vowing to combat human trafficking and forced labor.
Looking ahead, Homan expressed hope that Mexico's government would cooperate in reinstating Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy, which requires asylum seekers to await processing south of the U.S. border. However, he warned, "If [Mexico's president] doesn't, then you know President Trump's one bad-ass president."
This may be a bluff, a bit of saber-rattling.
We already know the public rejected the lawfare against Trump. Now, if Trump begins using legal process against #Resistance figures (who are legitimately breaking the law), we'll see if the public is against all use of prosecutorial power to settle political disputes, or only plainly rancid and corrupt uses of the power, as we saw in the five Trump prosecutions.
I think the public might just reject all attempts to prosecute political actors over political disputes, but we'll have to see.
There is little question, though, that these Sanctuary jurisdictions should have federal monies stripped from them, as Homan suggests. The federal government is paying blue cities a lot of money supposedly for "law enforcement;" if they won't enforce the law, that money should stop.
Obviously, the Biden tactic of using all federal funds (especially FEMA emergency funding) as a slush fund to send to blue cities to pay for illegals will end, immediately. If any of these Sanctuary zones want to continue giving illegals free health care and rent subsidies, they can steal that money from their own citizens/taxpayers for that purpose, and see if how their voters like it. It's always easier to tax someone far away to pay for something unpopular. Having to tax your own voters will be a heavier lift.
And, of course, if these cities and states declare themselves Sanctuary zones, then we all know where all the remaining illegals must be sent.
Meawhile, lefties and left-leaning corporate libertarians are warning Americans -- who have not seen much in wage gains for 40 years because of "outsourcing" most manufacturing to the third world while the US simultaneously imported a third-world workforce to do all the jobs in the US that couldn't be "outsourced" -- that the maids and gardeners they don't actually earn enough money to employ will now be more expensive.
Although she can't go that route, can she? She can't speak extemporaneously and her brain rebels against her taking any actual position (except for being ecstatically pro-abortion).
If she does "find her voice" and start spouting out her hard left positions again, everyone will know she was a filthy liar when she ran in 2024.
So maybe she does have no other choice but to make a doomed run at another office.
Kamala Harris has been lying low since her defeat in the presidential race, unwinding with family and senior aides in Hawaii before heading back to the nation's capital.
But privately, the vice president has been instructing advisers and allies to keep her options open -- whether for a possible 2028 presidential run, or even to run for governor in her home state of California in two years. As Harris has repeated in phone calls, "I am staying in the fight."
She is expected to explore those and other possible paths forward with family members over the winter holiday season, according to five people in the Harris inner circle, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics. Her deliberations follow an extraordinary four months in which Harris went from President Joe Biden's running mate to the top of the ticket, reenergizing Democrats before ultimately crashing on election night.
"She doesn't have to decide if she wants to run for something again in the next six months," said one former Harris campaign aide. "The natural thing to do would be to set up some type of entity that would give her the opportunity to travel and give speeches and preserve her political relationships."
Oh she wants to start a Global Clinton Initiative-like grift that poses as a charity but actually exists to pay her a salary, pay for her staff, pay travel including car and chaufeur and pay for a ritzy complex of offices in a major city.
I don't think people will pay for that, though. She has no political future and therefore no one is interested in paying her for future political favors she cannot deliver on.
Most immediately, Harris and her advisers are working to define how and when she will speak out against Donald Trump and reassert her own role in the Democratic Party. Closing out her term as vice president, she's set to preside over certifying the November election she lost to Trump, and then appear at the once-and-future president's inauguration on Jan. 20.
"There will be a desire to hear her voice, and there won't be a vacuum for long," a person close to Harris said.
Is there? Is there such a desire?
At the same time, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, will have a long checklist to plow through before they leave the Naval Observatory for good.
They have to decide whether they'll take up permanent residence at their home in Los Angeles, or establish a base elsewhere. No matter where Harris and her family live, some around her have expressed concerns about safety, as her Secret Service protection expires six months after stepping away.
Everyone fears that without the Secret Service, Slugger Emhoff will start punching her.
Following her meteoric rise in Washington and California, there are internal questions about standing up a federal committee to raise money. It will be the first time in two decades that the former senator and career prosecutor will be out of public office. That means she'll be standing up a personal office and nurturing her massive online presence without the organizing principle of day-to-day governing.
...
But others close to Harris believe that the current news cycle and speed at which the Democratic Party might start making decisions will force Harris, who tends to deliberate for long periods, to make some early decisions.
She ran for president without settling on a position profile. So this could take a while.
In interviews with Harris aides and confidants, as well as Democratic luminaries, there's broad acknowledgment that Harris represents an "X factor" in the next Democratic primary.
She will not be a factor of any letter. She already got zero primary votes in a primary, and that was before people knew she could not run a campaign or win a presidential election.
The good news for Harris, according to her allies, is that her standing in the party increased the longer that she ran her short campaign, which is rare in electoral politics. Her allies believe that the toxicity that surrounded John Kerry or Hillary Clinton after their losses is unlikely to taint Harris' political future in the same way.
What?
They point to her running a race as a more moderate candidate (a break from her 2019 primary run) as a boon to whatever choice she ends up making as the party seems poised to do its own writ large move to the center.
"She proved a lot of skeptics wrong as a political athlete. And her standing with the public is as good as any Democrats with the name I.D. that she has," a Harris ally told POLITICO.
Okay sure.
A snap poll of the 2028 field found Harris at 41 percent, a significant lead over the others: Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, Tim Walz, Pete Buttigieg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Gretchen Whitmer, JB Pritzker, Andy Beshear and several others who all were in single digits.
I mean, this does point out something important: We can goof on Harris's chances for being the nominee again, but... who else do they have?
But Harris' advantages are not unique. Similar surveys taken in the two months after the 2016 campaign, for example, found Clinton with a large lead for 2020, with majorities of Democrats saying they wanted her to run in the next cycle.
"I can't conceivably imagine the party turning to her a second time," said one Democratic strategist granted anonymity to speak candidly.
If she opts not to run in 2028, the earliest clues about her political future could come around whether she runs to succeed Newsom in California, a prospect POLITICO first reported in May. Her office pushed back strongly at the time. Yet the mere idea of her running again in California has frozen the field and kept some fundraisers on the sidelines.
While there's disagreement among people who know Harris well about what office she should run for, there's emerging consensus that she probably can't do both -- compete for governor and then turn around and start a presidential campaign a few weeks later.
The calendar alone would make that difficult, with the 2028 primary gearing up immediately after the midterm elections. Harris confidants also point to the demands on a governor's time, and the expectation of the electorate that she would stay home and dig into the state's mounting challenges around the high cost of living, homelessness and crime.
"It's a real job," is how one of the people close to her put it, contending they were at first dismissive of the idea she might do it, but now feel like it's possible.
Has she ever had a real job? The prospect must be daunting for her.
...
"She is not someone who makes rash decisions. She takes, sometimes, a painfully long time to make decisions. So I would pretty much guarantee you she has no idea what her next move is," said Brian Brokaw, a former Harris aide who has remained close to her circle.
"Could she run for governor? Yes. Do I think she wants to run for governor? Probably not. Could she win? Definitely. Would she like the job? I don't know. Could she run for president again? Yes," Brokaw said. "Would she have a whole bunch of skepticism from the outset, because she has run in a full-length Democratic primary where [in 2019] she didn't even make it long enough to be in the Iowa caucus, and then she was the nominee this year?"
I saw someone speculate that this nonsense article was pushed to Politico so that Harris can continue fundraising to pay off her $18 million debt.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) called for a sweeping dismissal of Department of Justice employees who played roles in prosecuting President-elect Donald Trump. In a pointed interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Schmitt condemned the indictments as political attacks orchestrated to undermine Trump's campaign and presidency.
"You saw all these cases resurrected. They all fell apart under the weight of the law," Schmitt said, asserting that the DOJ's actions represent a systemic abuse of power. He stressed the need for accountability, arguing that removing special prosecutor Jack Smith alone would be insufficient.
"I think accountability means, first and foremost, the people involved with this should be fired immediately," Schmitt said. He alleged the DOJ's actions were designed to remove Trump from the ballot and tarnish his political career, labeling such efforts as undemocratic and harmful to the nation's judicial integrity.
Schmitt also criticized the DOJ for undermining its core mission of addressing crime, stating, "Getting it back to crime fighting is important, but there has to be accountability for these kinds of abuses."
Schmitt applauded Trump's attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, who has vowed to combat what Republicans describe as the "weaponization" of federal agencies. Schmitt himself had been considered for the attorney general post in Trump's administration.
Alan Dershowitz asks the question, should the Trump prosecutors be themselves prosecuted?
I thought he would cuck out but his answer is actually "yes." I'd forgotten that the left used lots of lawfare against Trump and his lawyers. But Dershowitz hasn't forgotten that.
He points out that Fani Willis and Sweetdick committed perjury -- and always say "No one is above the law." Well, that includes them, he notes.
As for "Tish" James and Alvin Bragg, he doesn't think they can be charged with any crime, but he does think that they should be disbarred for abuse of office and malicious prosecution. Good luck getting the leftwing NY State Bar to take any action, though.
He doesn't think there's any basis for prosecuting Jack Smith, unfortunately.
THE MORNING RANT: Celebrating My Five-year Anniversary as a Contributor/Co-Blogger at this Great Blog, plus Other Topics
—Buck Throckmorton
Happy Thanksgiving week! This week marks the five-year anniversary of me being a contributor to the amazing online community that is the Ace of Spades HQ.
Since then, and as a result, I have had several more writing opportunities open up to me, including at The Blaze, for whom I am currently a contributing writer. I have also developed some great relationships with people involved in politics and policy, and I have established friendships with quite a few of Ace’s readers. There are not words that can express how much I appreciate the support and mentorship I have received from the co-bloggers. And of course, I am profoundly grateful to Ace for allowing me a forum on the very best political blog around. I’m also very grateful for all of the feedback, tips, and suggestions I receive from readers of the blog. Above all else, my loving wife has embraced and supported my time-consuming writing venture. I am dearly blessed to have her as my partner in life.
As much as I enjoy being published at other sites, I don’t plan on uprooting from this wonderful site any time soon - so long as you will have me. Among my many blessings, the Ace of Spades community is a significant one.
Thank you again.
*****
A primary focus of my writing has been the climate hoax and all its various tentacles, including the green energy scam, net zero / decarbonization, ESG, government subsidization of green businesses, etc. (I might have also done a piece or two about electric vehicles, and periodically mentioned my affinity for music that includes an upright bass.)
Ultimately, the climate scam overlaps pretty much all of the left’s agenda, from the radical gender crusade to corporate woke capital.
In fact, at the current UN Climate Conference, they are focusing on “gender responsive climate action.”
St. Greta of The Sustainable Organic Church of the Carbon Apocalypse is now wearing a keffiyeh in support of the Palestinians who attacked Israel and committed mass murder against Jews.
The absolute nonsense of it all becomes clearer when you realize that if you oppose the transgender agenda, then you are a climate denier. If you support Israel’s right to self-defense, then you are a climate denier.
As I watch the climate cult become more deeply entwined with the most radical activists on the left, I have never been more proud to be a “climate denier.”
*****
Somewhat related, Matt Gaetz’s nomination to be Attorney General and his subsequent withdrawal has been the topic of much discussion among conservatives.
While I appreciate how Gaetz has generally battled for the MAGA agenda, and especially for dethroning House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for betraying the conservatives who helped McCarthy obtain that position, I still don’t trust Gaetz.
Matt Gaetz is an outspoken believer in the climate hoax, stating as recently as 2020 that “Climate Change is real. Climate change is urgent.”
I don’t trust any climate cultist to be heading the Justice Department, where “climate deniers” like me might need to fear being the target of “climate justice” because “climate change is urgent.”
*****
My latest piece at The Blaze takes a look at the reasons Big Oil is opposed to Donald Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the anti-petroleum Paris Climate Agreement. This piece is behind a paywall, but if you have a Blaze subscription, I’d be honored if you’d give it a read.
My latest piece at The Blaze discusses how Exxon & Big Oil are *opposed* to Trump’s intention to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agmt, because Big Oil intends to prosper from govt anti-carbon subsidies. https://t.co/S2Nw1sAOVA
Finally, as we gather this week to give thanks for the blessings our Creator has bestowed upon us in this favored land, here is a traditional Thanksgiving hymn to hum while you prepare for the feast. (And, yes there is an upright bass in the orchestra!)
WE GATHER TOGETHER
We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His name, He forgets not His own.
Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning:
Thou Lord was at our side - the glory be Thine!
We all do extol Thee, Thou leader in battle,
and pray that Thou still our defender wilt be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
At the risk of skewering an icon of 20th century Americana, I find this piece to be insulting in its assumptions, and not-so-subtly contemptuous of traditional America...and American Exceptionalism.
Our founders fought and died to protect and guarantee our God-given natural rights from the depredations of government. But the expansion of those rights into needs and desires and wants trivializes our true rights and creates the conditions for exactly what we have today...a huge and unaccountable government that is intrusive and demanding while it purports to satisfy those needs and desires and wants.
I'm not calling Norman Rockwell a crypto-communist, but this is a rare misstep in a long career that is marked by his respect for and celebration of America.
Good morning kids. Hope you all had a nice, restful weekend, as we are now in the run-up to the Thanksgiving holiday. Sorry to have to be the bringer of dyspepsia, but hey, it's my job! So let us dive right in to the deep end.
Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett said Sunday on ABC News that there should be no peace for President-elect Donald Trump since he “signed up” for office again, warning that he should be working “every single day” to lower prices and keep Americans safe.
Well this parasitic nematode on the civil society in a way is right. Donald Trump should spend every waking hour doing everything he can to reverse and dismantle everything that Jasmine Crockett's Party has done to this country going back at least to Woodrow Wilson if not all the way back to Aaron Burr.
Until my dying day: Everything wrong with this country, all the pain, misery, suffering, destruction, dislocation and utter waste of blood, treasure and human potential is the fault of or made infinitely worse by the policies and actions of the anti-AMERICAN Left and its epicenter, the Democrat Party. It should have been completely dismantled and abolished in 1865 were it not for the fact that one of its own assassinated Abraham Lincoln. While the sentiment behind the words "with malice towards none" is indeed noble, quite frankly, a cursory look at even the last decade or so of our history has put me in a less than charitable state of mind.
In my view, 2024 was perhaps not so much an embracing of Donald Trump as it was a rejection of Democrat leftism, given what average Americans have suffered through economically, societally and in terms of having any sense of safety and security completely stripped away courtesy of a completely erased border, crime that was already out of control thanks to the decriminalization of crime that insane fiends like Crockett and her ilk inflicted on us going back years now, predating the emergence of Trump on the political scene.
Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for Attorney General now that Matt Gaetz has withdrawn, is an interesting choice. On the one hand, she seems like a conservative attack dog and comes out of Ron DeSantis’s Florida, which argues that she’s solid. On the other hand, a lot of RINOs are awfully pleased that she’s been named, which is always worrisome.
One other worrisome thing is how Bondi handled the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin case back in 2012 as Florida’s AG twelve years ago. Sundance, at Conservative Treehouse, has written a detailed analysis about Bondi’s decision to force George Zimmerman’s case to trial, and what Sundance says is worth thinking about. He describes the facts and the risk that the Swamp now has a hold on her.
The undisputed facts were that Martin, who was black, attacked Zimmerman, slammed him onto the sidewalk, and started to bash Zimmerman’s head against the pavement, a potentially deadly act. Zimmerman, fearing for his life, was able to free his gun and shoot Martin, killing him. . .
. . . Apparently acting at attorney Benjamin Crump’s behest, Bondi told then-Governor Rick Scott to appoint a special prosecutor, forcing out the responding officer, the chief of police, and the local prosecutor. The special prosecutor, Angela Corey, was Bondi’s campaign manager. Corey charged Zimmerman with second-degree homicide and convinced the judge to hold Zimmerman in jail until the trial.
Per Sundance, Bondi’s friend and colleagues built a false case against Zimmerman. She knew what they were doing and approved or perhaps even directed it as AG. Law enforcement at the local level and the local prosecutor were not consulted until the case came to trial. Likewise, the two Zimmerman supporting witnesses were not consulted until the trial.
Human nature dictates that race relations and the tribal nature of people to begin with will always create tensions and animosities, even in pre-Obama America where America despite isolated incidents here and there was truly on the way to becoming in-fact post-racial. The problem for Democrat leftists is that a truly post racial America would denude them of their political power. And so, every time a colored person of color died at the hands of a white person, especially a police officer. Forget for a second that George Zimmerman was a Latino. Hence the invention, or cribbing from the Nuremberg Laws, to label him as a White Hispanic, so as to preserve the racalist mythologies and ability to claim the moral high ground.
Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson cast doubt Sunday on NBC News about President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans, after suggesting that presidential executive orders should be banned.
During Trump’s campaign, the former president vowed to shut down the U.S. southern border and conduct a large-scale deportation operation. On “Meet the Press,” NBC host Kristen Welker questioned Johnson about Trump’s plan, noting how he planned to continue rolling out his goals for the border after signing executive orders.
Directing an agency to do its constitutionally-mandated duty should be banned? How many Hawaiian judges are on SCOTUS? Any agent at any level who refuses to round up and ship out foreign invaders should be fired, imprisoned and have pensions revoked.
It's not that America is a lawless nation, or we have a two-tiered justice system, Shit like this just makes us a naked tyranny. If it is allowed to go on this way.
Have a great day.
ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
Miranda Devine: So now we know that the cop who shot dead unarmed Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, 36, during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot was rewarded with a promotion and a $36,000 bonus.
There were no ill consequences for his rash actions that day. Instead, Capt. Michael Byrd, 56, was held up as a hero of democracy, despite the fact that he had a lengthy disciplinary record that includes leaving his loaded handgun in a public bathroom in the Capitol Visitor Center, “improperly” firing his gun at a car near his home while off-duty and abusing a Maryland cop who tried to stop him entering a high school football field as a “racist a–hole,” again while off duty, according to a letter released last week by the GOP-led House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight. Tragic Ashli Babbitt and the buried Jan. 6 truth
Clarice Feldman: After Hamas raped, tortured, burned, kidnapped, and murdered innocent Israelis on October 7, it is astonishing to see how so much of the world has blamed the victims. It’s a Mad Mad Mad World
Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, the assistant rabbi to the growing Jewish community in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, was confirmed dead Sunday morning, apparently murdered by three Iranian agents from Uzbekistan who fled to Turkey. The Chabad organization confirmed his death and asked people to do a good deed — a “mitzvah” — in his memory. Rabbi Confirmed Murdered in UAE; Netanyahu: ‘Antisemitic Terrorism’
The Met said that the incident, which took place just steps away from the British parliament, is being treated as “an isolated incident” and that it is currently “not being treated as terrorism”. The incident has seen renewed criticism of London Mayor Sadiq Khan over his handling of crime in the British capital. Reform UK Member of Parliament Rupert Lowe remarked: “London feels like an increasingly unsafe place. Stabbings, rapes, thefts – all just accepted as normal now. It’s not normal. We must demand better. “I don’t know how Sadiq Khan sleeps at night.” Four Arrested After Attack on Westminster Bridge Leaves Man in Critical Condition
CIVIL WAR 2.0: J-6 FBI FALSE FLAG "RIOT" & AFTERMATH, LEFTIST PERSECUTIONS, DEMOCRAT PUTSCH, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION
“I said that they would probably try to put Trump in jail and Joe Biden was deteriorating at a geometric rate, would probably be la-la land, and then there would be calls to make her president. Then she would be acculturated for 60 days and then the Left would, that would give the left time enough,” Hanson said. Victor Davis Hanson Warns Dems Still Have A Way To Put Kamala In The White House
Because Trump will continue to face threats from Iran throughout his time in the Oval Office, the Secret Service director will no doubt have an elevated role in the Trump administration. Trump Takes His Time With Secret Service Director Choice
Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson cast doubt Sunday on NBC News about President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans, after suggesting that presidential executive orders should be banned. Directing an agency to do its Constitutional, and legal function should be banned? Fuck Johnson in the heart with a steak knife - jjs) Fmr Homeland Security Sec Doubts Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan, Teases Ban On Executive Orders
What do Massachusetts, New York, and Colorado have in common? According to the nonprofit Global Refuge, they're all considered "sanctuary states." Unfortunately, something else they all have in common is that some of the migrants they're harboring have been arrested for attacking women, children, and dogs in recent weeks. Multiple Migrants Arrested in 'Sanctuary States' for Attacking Women, Children, & Dogs
Victor Davis Hanson: Democrat leaders are facing backlash over the Biden administration's handling of illegal immigration, leading to a surge in crime, strained services, and a Trump victory focused on border security. The Immorality of Illegal Immigration
The discussion of a potential Musk bid for MSNBC (msnsdap) is catching fire on his social media network, X (formerly Twitter), after a post by President-elect Donald J. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., suggesting Musk purchase the tanking network. “Hey [Elon Musk] I have the funniest idea ever!!!” he wrote on Friday, prompting Musk to respond: “How much does it cost?” Elon Says It’s ‘Likely’ He Buys Tanking MSNBC.
If you didn’t think the callous partisans at MSNBC could stoop any lower, they were just pressured to change a headline they'd published that sympathized with a murderous rapist. Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan gang member, crossed into the U.S. illegally in 2022. Reportedly with the help of our taxpayer money, the Biden junta flew him to Georgia, where he later hunted down 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley while she was out for a morning jog. Ibarra then attempted to rape Riley before bludgeoning her to death with a rock. Police say the attack was so brutal, Riley’s skull was left “disfigured” from the trauma, as MRCTV previously reported. 'Laken Riley's Killer Never Had A Chance': MSNSDAP Changes Headline Appearing to Sympathize with Illegal Alien Murderer
I'll stipulate that RFK Jr. may not be the best candidate for HHS that ever was. But making the argument that Rachel Levine, a doctor who wears a skirt and claims men can be women, and Xavier Becerra, an attorney, are better is downright crazy talk.
American households and businesses are much more serene and hopeful this time around. Polling released by Pew Research on Friday shows that 70 percent of Americans are very or somewhat confident that the transition to the Trump administration will go smoothly. Similarly, a majority of Americans say they have a positive evaluation of Trump’s post-election conduct. . . If the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory on Election Day feels joyous and tranquil, you are not alone. Breitbart Business Digest: The Trump Economic Boom Is Already Beginning
In the race to achieve Energiewende (“energy transition”), Germans forgot about dunkelflaute (wind drought/dark calm). (Feed Swalwell beans and drop him over Leipzig! - jjs) 12-Day Wind Drought Has German Utility Executives on Edge
In short, the prosecution case offered up plenty of evidence that Penny acted rationally and bravely in a harrowing situation. And the defense started off with a bang. On Thursday, forensic pathologist Dr. Satish Chundru testified that Penny’s chokehold wasn’t what killed Neely, but instead “the combined effects of sickle-cell crisis, the schizophrenia, the struggle and restraint, and the synthetic marijuana.” The house-of-cards case against Daniel Penny is falling apart
The case for incarceration (Meh, build more gallows - jjs) Build More Prisons
DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST AND RINO SCANDALS, MESHUGAS, CHUTZPOCRISY
Allan Lichtman has returned to Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, roughly 24 hours after announcing he was “done” with the social media platform. The historian, best known for the ’13 Keys to the White House’ model he uses to predict U.S. election winners, had become a figure of much ridicule after he inaccurately predicted a Kamala Harris victory on November 25, becoming visibly distraught as he watched the results come in live. Allan ’13 Keys’ Lichtman Crawls Back to X One Day After Leaving.
Duckworth said, “Well, I think she’s compromised. I think by going to Syria and basically um, backing you know, a brutal dictator there. I mean Russian controlled media called her a Russian asset. So I do think that we have a real deep concern whether or not she’s a compromised person.” Duckworth [fuckworthless]: Tulsi Gabbard Is ‘Compromised’ — ‘She Will Not Have America’s Best Interests at Heart’ (From the party of slavery, Jim Crow and concentration camps for the Nisei - jjs)
Following the 2024 election, American public sentiment toward President-elect Donald J. Trump has brightened significantly compared to previous elections. A Pew Research Center survey released on Friday highlights that 53 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s agenda for his upcoming term, compared to 46 percent disapproving. Majority of Americans Back Trump’s Second Term Plans: Pew Research.
In one corner, at the tender age of 40, is JD Vance. He’s a military veteran who was deployed in Iraq, graduated from Yale, has three children, and had a meteoric rise to the top of the ranks of the GOP. In the other corner, at the tender age of 46, is Ron DeSantis. He’s a military veteran who was deployed in Iraq, graduated from Yale, has three children, and had a meteoric rise to the top of the ranks of the GOP. But despite their surface-level similarities, the two are starkly different people. The Looming MAGA War Between JD Vance and Ron DeSantis: The First Move Is Coming
Democrat Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett said Sunday on ABC News that there should be no peace for President-elect Donald Trump since he “signed up” for office again, warning that he should be working “every single day” to lower prices and keep Americans safe. [I agree: work every single day to destroy her party and bring us back to a time before Woodrow Wilson if not Aaron Burr - jjs] ‘Should Not Be Any Peace’: Dem Rep Says Trump Should Be Working ‘Every Single Day’
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday she has contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and the House of Representatives speaker if she herself is killed, in a brazen public threat that she warned was not a joke. The Philippine vice president publicly threatens to have the president assassinated
With Trump’s electrifying victory, Elon Musk’s promise to cut $2 trillion in federal spending takes center stage. But can it be done? The Trump-Musk Road to Prosperity
HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked on the front lines in New York City treating thousands of Americans and helped patients in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s Historic Operation Warp Speed that saved hundreds of millions of lives.” (Ugh, a QUackpot - jjs) Trump Nominates Pro-Mask Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for Surgeon General
FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY
Tyson then asked if Helmuth still has her job and Maher responded that it’s not because of the claims on sports and asked Tyson if he sees a problem with claiming that society is the reason why there are differences between male and female athletes. Tyson responded that women might have an advantage in long-distance swimming, which Maher conceded, before remarking that Tyson is “part of the problem.” Neil deGrasse Tyson While Refusing to Say Inherent Gender Differences Exist in Sports: ‘Let’s Talk About Science’
CULTURE WARS, NATIONAL SUICIDE
While the commercial is clearly meant to illustrate the safety features of Volvo’s newest model, the underlying message is clear: children are a blessing, life is incredibly precious and worth protecting, and your family will forever be your greatest joy. Volvo's New Ad Is Tear-jerkingly Pro-Life, and We're Here For It
Academics and government officials privilege “indigeneity” ideology at the expense of genuine research. Anthropology in Retreat
Kudos to Josh Harris and the NFL Washington Commanders ownership group for agreeing to no longer erase the iconic Blackfoot chief logo from the team’s history, including video archives. It’s a healthy step away from the Stalinesque drive to blot out any and all record of the past that’s inconvenient to the ideologues who dominate our cultural institutions. Team ownership yielded to cancel culture in 2020, dropping the Redskins name and memory-holing the franchise’s iconic symbol. Un-erasing Redskins history: One small defeat for America’s woke Stalinists
The legacy of the assassination is a basic distrust in the government and American institutions in general that didn't exist prior to the assassination which came to the fore in the aftermath of the event. The assassination of JFK has been eating away at America's core beliefs for 61 years now and the nation has never come to grips with it. Donald Trump promised during his campaign for president that if elected, he would declassify all remaining government records on the assassination and release them. The Impact of JFK's Assassination is Still Reverberating 61 Years Later
Harpo Marx never spoke on screen, yet generations of Americans laughed at, cried with, and enthusiastically applauded him for his comedic genius and musical brilliance. But even amidst the fame and glory of a lengthy career on stage and screen, the Jewish Marx had to contend always with the dark specter of anti-Semitism, leading him to fight for equal rights for all persecuted individuals and for the re-creation of the state of Israel. Harpo Marx, Comedian, Musician, and Fighter for Jewish Rights
NOTE: The opinions expressed in the links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.
ALSO: The Morning Report is cross-posted at CutJibNewsletter.com if you want to continue the conversation all day.
Over the last 50 years, advancements in peripherals have allowed websites to stab users. A number of industries have popped up to provide SaaS (Stabbings as a Service). Some users have expressed discomfort when a knife is plunged into their chest, and this header allows those users to express their personal preferences.
A user preference can, of course, be ignored by bad actors. However, most stabbings are not done by malicious actors, they are simply law-abiding companies which will gladly stop stabbing you if you ask. This standard provides a method for a user to easily opt-out of all stabbings, except those mandated by law, and ones that the company wants to do anyways.
Seems entirely fair. Who could possibly object to this?
Syntax
The header has only one form, Do-Not-Stab: 1. This is because the lack of a header indicates a clear preference that the user wants to be stabbed.
Understandable.
Defaults
A user-agent MUST NOT adopt Do-Not-Stab: 1 as the default preference. If a user-agent were to do this, web services SHOULD ignore the preference and stab the user anyways.
This is of course a parody of... Well, pretty much everything the big tech companies do these days.
Like solving Sudoku with a database query. Or plotting the Mandelbrot set... With a database query.
Yes, we seem to have run out of tech news.
Disclaimer: As it turns out, I did not accidentally throw out the fruit cake. I was cleaning the kitchen yesterday and there was some fruit loaf sitting on the counter - or so I thought - and I realised that it had to be stale since I haven't bought fruit loaf for two or three weeks. So I threw it out. Then later on I went to get a slice of fruit cake and there wasn't any because I had thrown it out. Though I couldn't understand how I had done that since they don't look that much alike. And this was a problem because gluten-free fruit cake is available for about three weeks of the year and the window has already closed, so there wouldn't be any more until October next year. But then I was in the kitchen today and I found the fruit cake and it turns out that I did in fact throw out stale fruit loaf which is available year-round. So I had some.
Here in Maryland, people are obsessed with the state flag. It’s EVERYWHERE. The MD flag comprises the arms of the Calvert and Crossland families. The combination of symmetry and contrast works very well. There is a specific “official” direction the flag should be oriented (black square in the top left corner). Get that wrong, and many Marylanders will lose their ever-loving mind. Being as objective as possible, I do think it is the best of all of the state flags.
2 – Arizona
This flag is quite visually appealing. It first caught my eye back in the late 80s when the NFL Cardinals used to have it on the sleeve of their jerseys. Digging deeper, I found some really interesting things about the Arizona Flag.
The state flag consists of alternating red and yellow rays that represent the 13 original colonies and the western setting sun. The red and yellow are based on the colors of the Spanish flag that Coronado carried into the region. The bottom half of the flag is the same color blue found in the U. S. flag. The copper star identifies Arizona as the largest copper producing state in the union.
3 – South Carolina
The indigo blue flag of The Palmetto State of course features a palmetto tree. And a crescent. The color and the crescent tie back to Revolutionary War times. A very early version of the flag, designed by Colonel William Moultrie, had the word LIBERTY inside the crescent. It did not have the palmetto. The blue was the color of the SC militia’s uniforms, and the crescent was a part of the insignia on their caps. The palmetto was added during Civil War times, signifying the importance of the palmetto trees as defense against British cannons.
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See all 50 state flags here. For whatever reason, New Mexico’s flag is often rated very high in these types of lists. I think it’s just kinda “whelming”. Some state flags are honestly just downright boring. Where does your state’s flag rate on the boring to cool scale? I guess you hoseheads from up in the Great White North can chime in on flags up in your neck of the woods if you don’t want to feel left out!
A remarkable tale of animal heroism unfolded when a 10-year-old Basset Hound ran away from her neglectful home and saved tens of other animals. The dog, now aptly named Hero, escaped wearing an ID tag that led animal control officers to a house with 38 animals in dire need of rescue.
Hero sparked a rescue effort that saved 36 dogs, a chicken, and a cat from a life of neglect and suffering. The shelter staff recognised the dogs’ incredible bravery when naming her:
Tonight’s ONT brought to you by a different perspective
Your feedback may or may not be very important to me. Follow AoS_Doof on X @doof2112 or do the email thing – doof2112 at proton dot me. Humor usually results in expedited responses. No guarantees or warranties implied.
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 almost Thanksgiving? Are all y'all almost thankful? Weasel are thankful for all y'all!
As we all know, the true meaning of Thanksgiving is to a) celebrate the defeat of the Indians and the subsequent occupation of the North American continent, and 2) standing in line at 3am for the opportunity to buy a plasma TV for 99 cents. Are you planning a traditional celebration? More importantly, do you have any shooting stuff you're planning to buy? If so, please share your list in the comments below!
With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?
En route to a sailing trip I spent a few days in Miami. Gee, what might be one item of interest in that town? Cigars! So I visited a small company in Little Havana (future review), and took Uber through the horrendous rush-hour traffic out to Perdomo Cigars HQ, near the executive airport. Got there late but they let me hang out, burn a cigar, and had a nice chat with (I think) Nick Perdomo's son as they closed up. Bought a bunch of their sticks, 2 are reviewed below. Highly recommend visiting Perdomo when in the area. Nice lounge in front, and the humidor has their entire line.
The Habano Bourbon Barrel Aged Sun Grown (at left in photo) is a nice looking medium/dark brown stick. The Nicaraguan tobaccos in it are all aged 6 years - the wrapper is aged an additional 10 months in ex-bourbon barrels. Construction on all Perdomos seems flawless, the burn even. This stick is one of the best I've had in a long time - a mellow medium, with a rich sweetness that must be the bourbon barrel aging coming through. Ample smoke. Will be getting more of these.
The cigar on the right of the photo, the Double Aged 12 Year Vintage Maduro, has Nicaraguan tobaccos aged 10 years, then 2 more years in ex-bourbon barrels. To me there was less of the unique sweetness of the Habano Sun Grown, I got more earth, even leather, and less distinct flavors. Still a nice smoke, and I'll be trying it again. The Habano BB Aged Sun Grown is available online for $8, the 12-Year Vintage Maduro for $10.
Excellent, rhomboid! Thank you!
******
Here are some different online cigar vendors. You will find they not only carry different brands and different lines from those brands, but also varying selections of vitolas (sizes/shapes) of given lines. It's good to have options, especially if you're looking for a specific cigar.
A note about sources. The brick & mortar/online divide exists with cigars, as with guns, and most consumer products, with respect to price. As with guns - since both are "persecuted industries", basically - I make a conscious effort to source at least some of my cigars from my local store(s). It's a small thing, but the brick & mortar segment for both guns and tobacco are precious, and worth supporting where you can. And if you're lucky enough to have a good cigar store/lounge available, they're often a good social event with many dangerous people of the sort who own scary gunz, or read smart military blogs like this one. -rhomboid
Anyone have others to include? Perhaps a small local roller who makes a cigar you like? Send me your recommendation and a link to the site!
Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!
That's it for this week - have you been to the range?
Food Thread: Weird But Good, Or Just Weird...It's All Fun On Thanksgiving
—CBD
I think a lot of the fun of the Thanksgiving table (besides one-upping your smarmy 2nd cousin) is the seemingly endless selection of side dishes that people conjure. Do an internet search for "Thanksgiving Sides," or even check The Joy Of Cooking, and you will be swamped with straightforward or weird dishes. Hell some of the straightforward ones are weird. Cranberry Sauce? That horrid green bean and canned crispy onion dish?
And you people make fun of Haggis?
Anyway, my favorite one is a simple squash soup with crispy crostini (I think that's redundant) smeared with some goat cheese. I have been making it for years, although I have delegated it recently to one of the brats. It's my carefully honed recipe of course, because the idea of giving up all control over what happens in my kitchen is mad...MAD I SAY! (I have posted it and other recipes before).
But there are lots of little tweaks to things like mashed potatoes that can make them special without a huge commitment in time and money. Sure, fly in some fresh truffles from Perigord! But you can also make garlic mashed potatoes that are absolutely delicious! And those roasted Brussels Sprouts that are a fixture at your table? Add bacon and Parmesan cheese for a delicious change.
And for those of you with refined tastes, an oyster stuffing is hard to beat. You troglodytes can eat "dressing" if you want, but all red-blooded Americans know that it is called "stuffing." And if oysters are a bit too weird for you, good old sausage stuffing is hard to top for deliciousness. I use corn bread, but plain old day old bread will work. And if you really want to do it up right, bake the loaf yourself! Hell, I wonder how sourdough bread will work for stuffing? Has anyone ever used it?
As fun and tasty and different the Thanksgiving meal can be, it is just a bonus. The real treat should be the relaxed and happy time you spend with your friends and relatives. That has always been my policy, and I find the idea that the meal is more important than the company to be a bit dismissive of our humanity.
That doesn't mean that you should pull out the crappy bourbon...we are not savages!
So tell The Bureau of Labor Statistics and their political masters to stick it where the sun don't shine.
******
From commenter (Lurker?) "Tyler"
Got a kick out of the Negroni meme on the food thread.
Speaking of the aforementioned cocktail, I did have a pretty amazing Negroni recently which the post reminded me of... at a great local seafood restaurant (in Omaha of all places)... they used the standard Campari and sweet vermouth combo but had a gin that was aged in a Sauvignon Blanc barrel... the gin smoothed the whole cocktail out and almost required a lemon peel to bring out the "bite" of the drink.
Of course "Tyler" sort of glossed over the fact that I think Negronis are repulsive. However, I will forgive him because he is a Sous Vider, and he does short ribs that look delicious!
******
[Hat Tip: Iris]
I am no longer going to adhere to any sort of rule of polite behavior about politics. I won't bring it up when we have company, but if it is a topic, I will not pull any punches.
Or...you know...half the pie after everyone has gone to sleep.
******
[Hat Tip: Misanthropic Humanitarian]
******
From commenter "Robert." Oh lord, it does sound like fun. But I don't have a 6" Springform pan. Why would anyone have a pan that small? I guess I will have to double or triple the recipe to fit my smallest Springform.
Addendum I have neglected some important safety advice, but commenter "Joe Kidd" has taken up the slack:
meal prep hydration is a too often overlooked Thanksgiving safety element, so keep a chilled six pack or Vino Verde within easy reach. Maybe even designate a spotter or two to make sure you are regularly restoring those vital fluids that quickly dissipate in a hot kitchen.
What the hell happened to all the vegetables? And send me garlic that isn't grown in heavy metals and human waste in China, well-marbled hanger steaks and elk chops to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.
Who are those poor deluded souls We know who shake their Manhattans! These are the same people who drink fine bourbon with coke, and probably shake red wine with ice too.
$1,200 for a bottle of bourbon is just stupid, insulting, and a ghastly affront to most people's palates and wallets. I think the sweet spot is $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.
The problem...or the solution...is to buy lots of bourbon, take tasting notes, and eventually arrive at your favorites! It should take forty of fifty years, but it is worth it!
Saddle Soap is good stuff, and not just as a garnish!
If any of you Morons clean and polish your own shoes and other leather stuff, it is a wonderful thing, but...the damned stuff always shrinks that way. It starts out fat and happy and filling the tin, but soon it shrinks like a bitter and shriveled witch.
My options are:
1) Burn the house down and buy a new can.
b. Drop the old can into an active volcano and buy a new can.
iii. Make an explosive out of the soap and use it to blow up the house, and then buy a new can.
D. Suck it up and use the old stuff.
Choice D is just silly, but I do need some advice...
This post was going to be a simple request to hit Ace's tip jar to keep him in shelving supplies and jerky-making equipment. And maybe even buy a copy or three of The Deplorable Gourmet, 100% of whose profits go to two carefully vetted charities! But as usual, it morphed into something else...
By most measures Americans are among the most generous people in the world. The data available are a bit weird, sometimes reporting Indonesia, Kenya and Ukraine at or near the top, so they are perhaps suspect. Draw your own conclusions!
But it is undeniable that America is deeply invested in the welfare of those among us who need help, and it is a testament to American Exceptionalism that we give freely and often to the vast number of charitable endeavors that purport to help those in need. And anecdotally? We help strangers far more than most other countries. From stopping to help fix a tire, to lifting some heavy groceries into a harried mother's car, we like to help!
Inevitably however, that generosity is seen as a vulnerability, and some charitable organizations are nothing more than a vehicle to funnel money to venal and acquisitive freeloaders.
Charity Watch seems to be doing good work in ferreting out the bad apples, and even the charities that do good work but aren't efficient, wasting too much of their donor's money on non-charitable expenses.
These Nonprofits Pay Some Executives Up to $8.1 Million in Compensation
Sure...that is clickbait, and a pretty good one too! Does Memorial Sloan Kettering really need to pay its president $8,104,960? Their revenue for that year was $6.6 billion! Maybe...maybe not. But it is certainly an impressive number!
I think many Americans, including this humble writer, prefer to think of their charitable contributions as going directly to the scientist in his lab, or the volunteer buying supplies for a food pantry helping flood victims. That is a romantic view, and one that I suspect most of us do not really believe. Any organization of a certain size needs professional managers to create and maintain the process that takes the donated funds and converts it to effective behavior, whether that is scientific research or delivering food or helping with the medical bills.
It's when the charity seems to have crossed over that line between "Nonprofit" and "Profit" that it becomes distasteful. There is a saying about the missionaries who went to Hawaii: "They went to the islands to do good, and they did right well!"
Does Sloan Kettering do good work? Of course! Is it as efficient as it could be, and are salaries in line with other equally competent but less famous medical centers? That's a tough one. I have donated to them in the past, and I might in the future, but it is not reflexive...as Ronald Reagan famously said, "Trust, but verify!"
None of this means that we should give less. I would rather give, with the understanding that some of my money is going to be wasted, and maybe even stolen (Clinton Foundation anyone?), than not give.
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 11-24-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
—Open Blogger
Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...
So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?
I am very thankful for each and every one of you Morons that stops by this scruffy corner of a smart, military blog to comment on books and reading. It's been a truly wonderful experience these past couple years.
HOW TIKTOK RUINED BOOKS
The YouTuber above raises some interesting points about how social media has changed the ways in which people read books. According to his research, people on TikTok can feel enormous social pressure to conform to the latest trends in book reading in order to conform to the current zeitgeist. So you see many, many TikTok videos that cover the same book again and again and again. I think you can see this to a lesser extent among BookTubers who always seem to talk about the same books that have been published in recent years.
The idea that BookTokkers feel compelled to buy tens of books per month is disturbing, as it means the industry is cultivating hording behavior among readers. Now, I like to collect books as much as the next person, and I have hundreds of books in my TBR pile. But in recent years, the vast majority of those books have been from library books sales or used bookstores as much as anything. I also find it a bit weird that people will buy books just so they can produce a "book haul" video. I see a bunch of these in my YouTube feed as well, but I generally ignore them because I don't care. I'll post a picture of my own book hauls on this here website (see below!) but that's as far as it goes.
It will be interesting to see how the changes wrought by social media on reading habits plays out in the next few years. AI-written books are certainly going to become a thing. I remember last year after the Maui wildfire, I suddenly saw a book written about the wildfire that was published on Amazon only a few days after the start of the wildfire. Investigating the author revealed "he" was writing a book a month, which seems very unlikely. My conclusion was someone was experimenting with AI-produced books to push the boundaries of AI's capabilities in that area. Oh, and all of the books had several 5-star ratings on Amazon, of course.
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READ WHAT YOU OWN CHALLENGE
Last week we talked about "gamification" in reading. One gamification strategy is the read-what-you-own challenge, where the goal is to read a set number of books before you buy any more. Dutch Greybeard accepted this challenge and now shares the results. Although he didn't quite meet his original goal of reading 50 books before buying any new ones, he did accomplish a deeper goal of reflecting on his reading habits and motivations. Before the challenge, he was buying dozens of books a month, but didn't know when--or if--he'd ever get around to reading them. Now, he has a much better understanding of how much he reads in a given year. He also sees the wisdom is putting off books that you may NOT actually read, but only purchased because of the FOMO--the fear of missing out. Everyone else was reading these books, so he felt like he was falling behind if he didn't at least own them himself with the intent to read them.
After going through this experience, Dutch Greybeard can now pace himself better and moderate his reading habits. Much of what he talks about is touched upon in the first video I posted above about TikTok ruining reading. Dutch Greybeard was trying to keep up with the cool kids instead of focusing in on his own motivations for reading good books. Sounds like he will have more enriching reading experiences going forward.
BOOKS BY MORONS
"Max Cossack" has a new book out in his Wilder Bunch series:
High Jingo begins with a young couple in love "spelunking" in a cave that isn't really a cave, but an abandoned mineshaft, a relic of a Gold Rush that wasn't really a "rush" but more of a Gold Kerfuffle that never materialized. The couple is assisted by a beer-loving husky dog which eschews the normal protocols of an archaeological dig and willy-nilly unearths an artifact with Hebrew letters on it. And the reader thinks, "This is not your every-day story!"
And that reader is correct. Once again, three generations of the Wilder Bunch take us on an historical, occasionally hysterical, adventure. The story is as old as pogroms in Eastern Europe and as new as Jewish students being abused by pro-terrorist elements paying full tuition even at 4th rate diploma mills. A ripping yarn, full of love, courage and righteous anger, it careens from Medieval Hungary to Israel to a small rural town in Minnesota and up the road to St. Paul. As the old movie line goes, "Fasten your seatbelts; You're in for a bumpy ride."
Available in eBook or Paperback or Audiobook at Amazon.com
Or only in paperback directly from the author on the author's own store, VWAM Books
PLUS: There is a 15% discount at VWAM Books for ACE people, good for all Max Cossack novels and all Ammo Grrrll collections as well. Just enter ACEDISCOUNT (one word, all CAPS) at checkout.
PROPER USE OF BOOKMARKS
Biden's Dog sent me an email recently asking me if he was the only one who used a bookmark to not only mark the page where he last stopped, but also indicated where on the page he stopped. He uses a simple post-it-note with arrows indicating his place on that page.
Me, I'll stick with repurposing land cards from Magic: The Gathering as I have thousands of them. They are also cheap (about $0.10 from your local game store) and sturdy enough to last through several books.
MORON RECOMMENDATIONS
I continue to dip into George MacDonald (in this case The Princess and the Goblin) and GK Chesterton. They were both prolific so I'll be doing this for years. Chesterton for his insight, wit and humor and superb writing which is a pleasure of its own. MacDonald for his ability to create worlds and characters that a small child can follow and enjoy but also appeal to adults. His imagination is as creative as any in literature and his ability to express that imagination is beyond my ability to praise sufficiently. It is easy to understand his influence on Lewis, Tolkien and others. If Shakespeare had written prose he might have approached MacDonald's level. Think of A Midsummer Night's Dream as a novel.
I find it interesting that there seem to be a lot of new editions of MacDonald's works. Apparently, there is a demand.
Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2024 09:26 AM (yTvNw)
Comment: As a lover of fantasy literature, I really, really need to read some George MacDonald. I keep hearing how he influenced great authors like Tolkien and Lewis. I like to read the stories that inspired others. I think it's great that there's an apparent demand--makes the author more accessible to modern readers.
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Persuasion by Jane Austen is my latest foray into early 19th century English society. The story is a good one, featuring the middle child of a titled spendthrift widower who has no male heirs but does have an ego as big as Dallas (as we say). This middle child was nearly engaged but family objected to the young naval officer who proposed so the relationship was called off. Fortunately, love abides and the young couple meets after several years apart and each discovers their feelings have not changed. Boy gets girl in the end. The society is tightly structured and I found myself wondering how these people were able to endure it.
Posted by: Legally Sufficient at November 17, 2024 10:32 AM (rxCpr)
Comment: Jane Austen seems to have timeless appeal. I read Mansfield Park in college and was pleasantly surprised at how engaging the story was for me. As I get older, perhaps I shall revisit Austen's other works...
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Last week I read for escapism and Christopher Taylor's Life Unworthy delivered. It opens with a scene from a Nazi death camp. The soldiers assigned to operate the gas chamber sense that something did not go right with their last group execution. When they open the door to the chamber, they're attacked and killed by a werewolf which escapes into Nazi-occupied Warsaw. This beast is then hunted by the Nazis, a doctor who wants to learn how to reproduce the beast, and a spiritualist whose motives are a mystery for most of the book. The man who has been cursed, is doing his best to keep the beast inside him under control while running from the Nazis and then becomes involved with a young Gypsy widow. Lots of interesting characters whose stories are woven together to create a very entertaining story.
Posted by: KatieFloyd at November 17, 2024 11:01 AM (FkuFp)
Comment: As usual, I like to highlight recommendations of Moron-authored books. Christopher R. Taylor took a long hiatus from the blog, but he's been posting regularly now, and it's good to have him back. I, too, enjoyed Life Unworthy. It gave us a sympathetic, if cursed, protagonist who knows he contains a terrible rage inside him, but he uses it for good by killing Nazis. Who can argue with that?
More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)
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WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK:
Well, I went to my local library's book sale this week. I saw several folks I know, as usual. And I made out like a bandit, as usual.
Star Wars - Han Solor at Stars' End by Brian Daley - This is one of the earliest novels in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, before there *was* such a thing as an EU.
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Third Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
The Jesus Incident by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom
The City by Dean Koontz
Demon Seed by Dean Koontz
Midnight by Dean Koontz
Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz
Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz
Saint Odd by Dean Koontz
The Forbidden Door by Dean Koontz
Seize the Night by Dean Koontz
Strange Highways edited by Dean Koontz
Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston
Blasphemy by Douglas Preston
The Majipoor Chronicles by Robert Silverberg
The Unwilling Warlord by Lawrence Watt-Evans
Lords of the Sky by Angus Wells
This Is Not a Game by Walter Jon Williams
The Select by F. Paul Wilson
A Dictionary of Euphemisms & Other Doubletalk: Being a Compilation of Linguistic Fig Leaves and Verbal Flourishes for Artful Uses of the English Language by Hugh Rawson
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.
Saga of the Forgotten Warrior Book 4 - Tower of Silence by Larry Correia
As Correia reveals details about his world, we find out that there's a lot of hidden backstory, but Larry is pretty good about slowly doling out the exposition over time. We can now see that the history between humans and demons is vast and complicated. Much of what the humans believe has turned out to be lies and misinformation as the current ruling caste uses its power to remain in power. To acknowledge the claims of the casteless as the true heirs of the hero Ramorowan would overthrow society, though it's already teetering on the brink.
Saga of the Forgotten Warrior Book 5 - Graveyard of Demons by Larry Correia
Now that the demons believe the casteless have all been eliminated through the Great Extermination orchestrated by Grand Inquisitor Ormand, they are launching a major offensive operation against the humans, striking at the very heart of civilization deep in the middle of the continent, as far away from the hellish oceans as possible. Meanwhile, Ormand seeks to claim godhood by finding the source of the demons' power. Ashok and his allies continue to fight both the demons and the oppressive society that has led to the slaughter of countless innocents.
Weirdly, this series reminds me of both the Wizardry and Might and Magic computer games. I wonder if Larry every played those...
The Last King of Osten Ard Book 4 - The Navigator's Children by Tad Williams
One thing I really like about Tad Williams' epic series is that he always includes a synopsis of the previous books in the series so I don't feel like I have to re-read them in order to know what's going on. This means I can dive right into his last book in the series and feel like I'm all caught up. This books reveals the hidden history of the Tinukeda'ya, the mysterious changelings that traveled to Osten Ard countless aeons ago enslaved to the Sithi and Norns, who were all one people back then. The Norn Queen Utuk'ku wages war on both the mortals and Sithi to reach the Valley of Mists, where she hopes to accomplish her ultimate act of vengeance.
True to form, Williams provides plenty of exposition in the final book in the series, explaining just exactly what's been going on throughout the entire series up until this point. He still leaves plenty of mysteries for the characters, though, as there is so much background knowledge required, the main human characters are often befuddled and confused by events far beyond their understanding.
Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.
Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. It's a lot easier to hunt for books than it is for deer.
The example cited - the only example cited - is of Musk suggesting that Director of Climate Diversification at the International Development Finance Corporation was a "fake job".
Now, "climate diversification" in this sense means recommending alternative crops to grow to make the food supply more robust against short and long term changes in weather.
Which is a task that could easily by filled by a fairly small book.
And in this case, it involves making those recommendations to other countries.
So, never mind "individual workers".
USAID, its 10,000 employees, and its $50 billion budget: Afuera!
The so-called "misinformation bill" would have set up the government as the arbiter of truth, and anything untrue would have become illegal speech. The bill did not specify how this was supposed to work; it just legislated it into reality.
And now it's dead for the current session of Parliament, and the left-wing Labor government is likely to be out of power before Parliament votes on any new legislation.
Still moving forward is the government's Won't Somebody Think of the Children Act, which bans minors under the age of 16 from using social networks, though again it never specifies how this is supposed to be achieved. This has the support of the nominally conservative Liberal Party and is likely to pass in some form, even though it is obviously completely unworkable.
That's the same party that previously wanted to ban encryption, claiming that Australia's laws superseded mathematics, so this betrayal of conservative principles comes as no surprise.
Not only does it use the new, more compact modules, it uses LPDDR5X memory rather than regular DDR5.
This reduces power (LP = low power) and also runs faster at 7500MHz.
This is particularly welcome as AMD's Zen 5 laptop chips don't support regular DDR5, so without these modules, laptops based on those chips would not have any path for memory upgrades.
I don't remember if I wrote about this - the story is from six months ago - but yes, LPDDR6 is on its way. (Hot Hardware)
LPDDR6 promises initial transfer rates of 10.6GHz and eventually 14.4GHz, which is not dramatically faster than the best LPDDR5X chips available now.
Except that the bus is also 50% wider, and instead of fetching 8 words at a time it fetches 12.
Which makes 288 bits, which is not very useful for 64-bit computers, so the extra 32 bits at the end is used for very strong ECC (DECDED guaranteed).
Which makes 10.6GHz LPDDR6 90% faster than 7500MHz LPDDR5.
This matters because current integrated graphics solutions from AMD and Intel are bottlenecked not by the chips but by memory speeds. Apple's higher-end M-series chips have (as far as I can tell) 256-bit or even 384-bit buses, and AMD's upcoming Strix Halo chips will also have a 256-bit bus, but regular laptops only offer 128-bit memory.
So when LPDDR6 arrives we can expect a big jump in integrated graphics performance.
(My new laptop has DDR4 memory running at 3200MHz. So... Yeah.)
Well, yes, if you aren't worried about it working properly.
The code produced for this example sort of works, in that it doesn't break the page. But on a scale of 0 to 100, it only does anything at all for the range from 20 to 80.
It's a lovely piece of engineering, but the screen is too small for serious work, the memory cannot ever be upgraded, and the network speed is limited to 1Gbit when even the Mac Mini has a 10Gbit option. And Apple has long since abandoned monitor mode, where an aging iMac with a perfectly good screen could serve as a monitor for another computer.
Which would all be forgivable if it were cheap.
The 10 core model with 16GB RAM and 512GB of SSD costs $1699.
The 27-year-old Pennsylvania man was arrested yesterday on a petty theft charge for allegedly stealing a lap dance.
Alabilan, cops say, “was buying a service” from a woman inside a Florida strip club when he “refused to pay the $40 service fee.” Seen above, Alabilan sought to leave the Reign nightclub in Clearwater without paying for the 2:45 AM private dance.
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Perhaps this Open Thread was brought to you by Planning.
"The Tears of CBS:" Norah O'Donnell and other CBS communist propaganda ministers have the sads on election night Incredibly, during the night, and probably for the first time ever, Norah O'Donnell admits, starting around 4:00, that maybe Biden shouldn't have cancelled all of the Trump executive orders "that really locked down the border." Seriously -- has anyone on CBS ever even allowed that possibility, except after it was clear Trump had won?
CONCERNING: Ana Kasparian afflicted by some kind of seizure as she repeats the left's attacks on her that she's "just a secret right-winger"
ShellBanger
@Bangershell11
ARGENTINA SOARS: JP Morgan Revises Forecast, Predicting 8.5% Annual GDP Growth
Afuera!
Keith Olbermann's declaring Bathtub Fatwas again. (So it's a day that ends in -y.)
Keith Olbermann
@KeithOlbermann
To political reporters, commentators, liberals, moderates: After this fawning, humiliating, network-destroying surrender, if you go on @Morning_Joe you have endorsed and bought into #VichyMSNBC
Keith Olbermann
@KeithOlbermann
BREAKING NEWS: I TOLD YOU SO
@joenbc and @morningmika - Trump collaborators
Not a word Mr. and Mrs. Vichy Quisling say can ever be trusted again - not that those words ever should have been trusted. They are confidence tricksters - and grifters
Thanks to anonosaurus wrecks
What they took from us:
I had a big Mac last week. I was stunned at how thin the burgers were. Never seen them that thin. We are a fallen people.
Posted by: Pudinhead
I think every lima bean recipe should have a suggestion, best served with a toddler's bitter tears...
Posted by: Joe Kidd
CBD and Sefton discuss President Trump's cabinet picks, including the all-important "Bikini Measure." And the continuing pogroms in Europe, driven by uncontrolled and massive Muslim immigration, and aided by Europe's traditional Jew-Hate.
Written by Ben Meiselas:
"Chuck Todd wrote the most idiotic thing I've read today, and it perfectly encapsulates the problem with corporate media. It's also a confession. He wrote, "These confirmation hearings may just save cable TV for the short term."
You see, people like Chuck Todd and their corporate benefactors are losing relevance. Americans are sick and tired of their lazy reporting, blatant lies, "both sides" equivocations, and outright cheerleading for fascism. By ignoring the most obvious lessons of history, corporate media rooted for chaos, drama, torment, crime, and hardship, believing idiocracy and fascism would be good for ratings.
Well, here it is, Chuck Todd. And no one cares about you or your network. In fact, we hold you responsible for forcing this circus upon us.
If Senate confirmation hearings take place at all, we, the people, are not watching them on your network, Chuck."
"For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health," Trump wrote in his announcement, making rare use of his X account to broadcast a cabinet pick.
"The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country. Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!"
Ace: aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
High Jingo begins with a young couple in love "spelunking" in a cave that isn't really a cave, but an abandoned mineshaft, a relic of a Gold Rush that wasn't really a "rush" but more of a Gold Kerfuffle that never materialized. The couple is assisted by a beer-loving husky dog which eschews the normal protocols of an archaeological dig and willy-nilly unearths an artifact with Hebrew letters on it. And the reader thinks, "This is not your every-day story!"
