Ace of Spades Pet Thread, June 14

Courtesy Misanthropic Humanitarian

* * *

Good afternoon and welcome to the almost world famous Ace of Spades Pet Thread. Thanks for stopping by. Kick back and enjoy the world of animals.

Would you like a treat?

Let's relax a little with the animals and leave the world of politics and current events outside today.

Posted by: K.T. at 03:07 PM | Comments (47) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, June 14

Hello! A short thread as I get re-oriented to the big outdoor world! I've missed you. Thanks for all the help from the COBs!

Hope everyone is doing well.

Hey KT,

Glad you are back at it again and hopefully feeling good.

Saw in today's garden thread a hibiscus discussion. I have a little story about this one. When we first moved here to Wee Kreek Holler, we put a garden in off the living room patio. One of the first plants I bought for the area was a lavender hibiscus bush. It did very well and grew to be quite large, and then about 8-9 years later, it up and died. Not sure if that was its life span or it got tired of the unrelenting death star beating down on it. But before it croaked I managed to harvest some seeds after it bloomed. I have had those seeds for over 10 years now and I had tried planting them here and there and never any luck. This year I was cleaning out my seed storage and decided I would throw all the seeds I had left of the lavender hibiscus into a pot and if I got one, great, if not I wouldn't have to stare at that seed envelope any more. Lo and behold the plant Gods smiled down on me and one took. It just bloomed yesterday. I will have to transplant it out of the pot soon but I was very happy to have another one. I enjoyed it very much the first time and I am sure I will enjoy it as much this time around.
Never give up Horde, sometimes 10 year old seeds will surprise you!

WeeKreekFarmGirl

Never give up!

We have a lot of Hibiscus and their relatives among The Horde.

Posted by: K.T. at 12:52 PM | Comments (94) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Minor Appreciations of Civilization

Well, it's been a while since I posted, with some life complications along the way. I had open heart surgery a while ago. I still can't drive and some of our household equipment and parts of automotive equipment have decided to die. Then on Thursday, hubby fell among cut-throats in an operating room. Things are a little better now but don't expect great thoughts today.

Thanks to our wonderful COBS and to all of you in The Horde. I've missed you!

We are blessed by family and friends, too.

Anyway, there's a lot going on in California and the world right now, but sometimes the larger culture seems less important than at other times. There's only so much you can pay attention to at one time these days.

I'm kind of happy that there are people who pay attention to the "larger" culture. Long-term trends in culture affect the daily (it seems) changes which dominate the news these days.

But my mind hasn't been much on the development of ancient culture lately. Forget the riots and other stupidities of a moment. There are people out there who don't pay much attention to them. Sometimes we count on these people, even the ones we don't know.

Posted by: K.T. at 11:02 AM | Comments (343) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Case For Military Parades [Diogenes]

There is growing opposition to this weekend’s Army Birthday Parade…ordered by President Trump. Apparently because he ordered it, his opposition is finding all kinds of excuses to complain about it. It costs too much, it disrupts soldiers’ holiday weekend, it’s really about Trump as it is his birthday too. Hogwash.

These people are wrong.

Here’s why.

America needs this parade and frankly it needs more of them. Today’s military is drawn from a remarkably small percentage of the American public. Only about 1% of Americans are currently serving and only about 6% identify as Veterans. The result of this is an America that does not identify with the military, cannot understand what it does, and, sadly, many just don’t care. Whatever they need to know about the military, Hollywood will teach them. Parades can change this. It is an opportunity for thousands of citizens to see what an artillery piece looks like, what a tank sounds like, and what an MRAP looks like in the street. It allows citizens to see soldiers marching, looking sharp and standing tall. America meet your Army.

It is a training opportunity. The President gave an order. It will be carried out. Staffs begin planning. Units are alerted to begin preparations to participate. They will need to plan for travel, shipping of the vehicles, feeding, housing, and care of the troops. They will need to plan for time to set up, rehearse, and inspect. They will need spare parts for maintenance, special training for specific units, and leaders need time to check each soldier involved. In short, deploying to a parade in Washington DC (or anywhere else) is not that different from deploying to, say, the National Training Center for a month of training. It is just another mission to accomplish.

Further, it isn’t an excessive cost. The troops are going to be doing many of these things anyway, whether on their Post or in the field. They will still get paid. They will still eat. They will still have a place to sleep. Leaders will still be checking their soldiers. Maintenance expenses are factored into annual training forecasts. The only real delta in the budget is travel and that isn’t a huge cost, given the payoff. In short, the majority of the budget for the parade is sunk cost.

But there is a huge upside. Yes, troops will bitch about this stuff. It will be a couple of weeks of hurry up and wait. Multiple inspections, spot corrections, last minute changes, and boredom. But when the marching begins, most troops stand a bit straighter and take pride in their units. The soldiers I knew who did a major parade like this were in the DC parade after Desert Storm. All of them told me it was a real pain in the butt. But they also said that afterwards they were very glad to be a part of it. “Sir, it was a huge party!” Children coming up and giving a soldier a bouquet of flowers, strangers shaking their hands, hundreds of civilians saying thank you, and best of all, they never had to buy their own drinks.

Lastly, a parade is a huge recruiting event. When I commanded a Recruiting Company, any time I could get some equipment into a high school or a local civic event, I did so. The results were always positive and some were incredible.

America needs to renew its acquaintance with its soldiers. And soldiers need to see who it is they are fighting for. We cannot let this bond be broken.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:30 AM | Comments (307) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival

[H/T TRex]

I would stop there just to get a cup of coffee because of their clever name. I'm guessing if they put that much thought into their name, the coffee has to be fine as well.

Now we before we enter the Prayer Revival, just a few house keeping matters to take care of. (Rulz for those of you in Delevan)

1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind, be nice. Even the trolls have warped feelings.
3) No. Don't even think about it. No. No running with sharp objects.
4) Have a nice weekend!

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:09 AM | Comments (285) | Trackbacks (Suck)

EMT

Is it morning or is it Memorex?

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 06:47 AM | Comments (164) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 14 June 2025

Top Story

• How Palm died for a second time. (Substack)
  
  Written by Phil McKinney, who was the CTO of Hewlett Packard at the time HP bought and then promptly murdered Palm.
  
  The CEO at the time of the acquisition was fired by the board before HP's new PalmOS products could launch, and the new CEO wanted nothing to do with hardware, and killed the entire lineup seven weeks after launch.
  
  While the CTO was out recovering from emergency surgery.
  
  And the new CEO was in turn fired by the board just months later, after spending $10 billion on British software company Autonomy and then being forced to write down its value by 80%.

  My first day back at HP will be burned into my memory forever. I was simply trying to grab lunch in the cafeteria at HP Labs when I found myself surrounded by what felt like the entire technical staff. They weren't there to welcome me back - they were there to hold me accountable.

  The scene was intense and unambiguous. Engineers and researchers who had watched the WebOS disaster unfold were pointing fingers and raising voices. Their message was crystal clear and brutal: "You can never take leave again - EVER!"

  Their exact words still echo in my mind: "The CEO and board need adult supervision."

  Indeed they did. Those were dark days at Hewlett Packard.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (82) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Brevity Is The Soul Of The ONT

Howdy folks! Before we get to the memes, let's take a quick peek at how things are going in Tehran:

Posted by: WeirdDave at 10:00 PM | Comments (462) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Army Anniversary Cafe

Sometimes you just gotta get on your moped with your goat.

Owl shows off his beer muscles.

Crystal clear and yet green lake in India.

This dog doesn't just play soccer. He holds his own selfie-stick to film himself playing soccer.

Hyraxes, the evil river otters of the capybara family.

Cows love two things: thick grass and smooth jazz.

A mama cat lost her baby, so her owner got a new kitten for her. Here's her reaction.

This baby kangaroo is just too cute.

Little dog wants smoochers.

Sometimes parents have to think outside of the box to entertain their children.

Very bad dog! Aw, I can't stay mad at him, he's a good boy.

A boat filled with Real American Heroes finds an owl lost over the sea and struggling to stay aloft. So they do what Real American Heroes do.

To a cat, everything is a cat-toy, except actual cat-toys (obviously).

Imma just be down in your wires "fixing" them. Thanks to The Patriarch Tree.

Soldiers are getting ready for the Army Anniversary Parade, some wearing Revolutionary War era uniforms.

Some soldiers are wearing Vietnam-era uniforms. Neat. I guess they're doing an NFL-style Throwback Uniforms display, and I'm all about it.

Update: A commenter says the Real America network will cover the parade starting at 4pm. (Eastern, I guess.) The Right Side Broadcasting network will cover it starting at 4:30.

Governor Tampon says that the US Army parading is like North Korea -- or "Pyong-Pyong" as he so ignorantly says -- and also says he hopes our troops get bad weather for their parade.

The left is so insanely hateful and so possessed of Terrorist Fervor that I'm very worried they're going to attack the troops.

And then we'll have to hear CNN and the New York Times instructing us that it was a Fiery But Mostly Peaceful terrorist attack on US troops.

Dustin Grage
@GrageDustin
The former Army National Guard "Command Sergeant Major" opposes the 250th birthday celebration for the Army?

Fascinating.

We can have an entire month of drag queens gyrating their dick-and-balls into kid's faces but we can't have a single day to honor the troops?

Jeeze, even Jake Tapper feels the pressure to pretend to Support the Troops.

Posted by: Ace at 07:20 PM | Comments (307) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Week In Woke

Three people are shot or stabbed at the "Pride" rally in DC after "protester" object to prudent security measures and a police presence.

A shooting and separate stabbing occurred Saturday during DC's Pride celebrations, leaving three injured. The violence followed a decision to reverse a security closure of the park after activists protested the original plan.

Key Details:

The incidents unfolded in Dupont Circle, a symbolic venue for LGBT+ events in Washington, D.C. One male was injured in the shooting, while two others were stabbed nearby. No deaths were reported as of Saturday evening.

Police had originally planned to shut down Dupont Circle from June 5th to 9th, citing a history of property damage and public safety risks during Pride festivities. That decision was overturned following public backlash from local officials and activists.

In a joint Saturday statement, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the National Park Service confirmed the reversal, saying they worked "overnight" on a compromise to keep the park open while attempting to maintain security.

You wanted it, you got it. You should be happy.

Woke corporations are doubling down on the Groomer Merch.

In the face of sweeping changes to federal DEI guidance under President Donald Trump's administration, corporations across the retail, tech, and fashion sectors are charging ahead with Pride 2025 promotions. This comes even as public support for corporate social engineering through DEI has waned, and major events like NYC Pride have lost longtime financial backers. Nevertheless, over 20 companies have released LGBTQ+ themed merchandise, pledging millions to aligned nonprofits and advocacy groups.

Levi's, for example, released its "Meet You In The Park" campaign featuring reclaimed iconography such as the inverted pink triangle. Notably, the brand's shareholder base recently shut down a move to scale back DEI policies. Levi's continues to donate $100,000 annually to Outright International, a global LGBTQ+ advocacy group.

Calvin Klein rolled out its retro-styled campaign starring LGBTQ+ actor Cooper Koch. The company reaffirms its support for The Trevor Project and other left-leaning organizations like the Transgender Legal Defense Fund. Diesel, in a more radical move, partnered with the erotic art-focused Tom of Finland Foundation, using images of gay party scenes in its merchandise.

Even companies like Target, which earlier this year signaled a departure from DEI hiring quotas, are hedging their stance by keeping Pride merchandise alive--albeit scaled back. This year's offering includes "Pride birds" and limits most sales to online platforms.

Retailers including Urban Outfitters, Hollister, and Abercrombie & Fitch have released gender-neutral lines, with Abercrombie committing $400,000 to The Trevor Project irrespective of sales. Guess Watches framed its offering as "Pride with purpose," donating to the same group.

Meanwhile, tech giant Apple launched a handcrafted "Pride Edition" watch band and other rainbow accessories, stating only that it supports LGBTQ+ groups financially--without disclosing amounts or beneficiaries. Disney went ahead with its themed merchandise inside parks, including rainbow ear headbands and a Stitch plush in a Pride sweatshirt.

While the Red Sox go all out on "pride," even inviting drag queens to put on shows inside the park and throw the opening pitch, the Texas Rangers refuse to host a "pride" night, and the left-wing media is angry that one ballclub shows any diversity on this issue.

Another rapist teacher. But there won't be any Boston Globe exposes or Hollywood films about the moral rot inside the teachers unions.

The Indiana home where disgraced teacher Brittany Fortinberry is accused of making teenagers as young as 13 wear "Scream" masks while having group sex with her has been put up for sale after her husband dumped her, according to a report.

Fortinberry's husband, Nicholas, filed for divorce from the 31-year-old educator, and the couple can no longer afford their Martinsdale home, according to divorce documents seen by TMZ.

The house is where police say some of Fortinberry's alleged sick sexual encounters with minors took place last year -- and where a stripper pole and sex toys were found inside, according to court documents seen by Fox59.

I hope she was one wearing the mask.

Munchausen-by-proxy evil mother is so proud to Signal Her Virtue as she brings her very young mentally-ill daughter in to have her breasts amputated.

Democratic outreach to normal straight men is going great.

Posted by: Ace at 06:26 PM | Comments (190) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Quick Hits

Ana Paulina Luna says that congressional subpeonas will be issued to George Soros and another man I've just heard of -- apparently a CCP-connected donor -- to left-wing organizations set on destabilizing America.

As a wise man once said, Tell me you don't want to see dem beefers.

Byron York
@ByronYork

Appalling to remember that this man--partisan, emotional, hotheaded--held a sensitive position in the national security structure of the White House. Used it to set off the first Trump impeachment and become a Hero of the Resistance.

Trump: "Unlike Biden, I stay awake at night, thinking of how to save our country. He was much better at sleeping than me. He could sleep at a beach with cameras rolling. I can't do that." I voted for the continued humiliation of the evil criminal jackass braggart Joe Biden.

Data Republican tracks the Democrat front group NGOs funding the No More Kings riots to take place tomorrow.

That's a shame. No Ludacris Cam yet, so here's a weak substitute for now.

Ban the Chinese (or any other non-allied country) from buying up US land. (I can't just say "ban all foreign ownership of US land" because the Brits and the Dutch and a lot of other allied countries own a lot of our buildings and companies.)

Posted by: Ace at 05:25 PM | Comments (248) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Israel's Strikes Killed Dozens of High-Ranking Iranian Terror Generals and Nucular Scientists
Update: Photos of the Penthouses of the Pious Leaders of Iran

Obviously Israel failed to blow up all of Iran's missile sites, but they did target them pre-attack:

Amit Segal
@AmitSegal

Israeli security source:

Significant intelligence was collected and surveillance was carried out to incriminate senior Iranian security officials and nuclear scientists who were eliminated.

Alongside this, a covert operational campaign to damage Iran's strategic missile array. The Mossad carried out a series of covert operations in Iran, which were intended to damage Iran's strategic missile array and its air defense capabilities.

As part of their activities, Mossad agents implemented significant moves to introduce special weapons on a large scale, deploy them throughout Iran, and launch them towards the attack targets in a precise and effective manner.

These are three different operations:

First, in central Iran, squads of Mossad commando fighters operated to deploy operational systems of precision-guided weapons, in open areas near the location of Iranian surface-to-air missile systems (SAM).

With the beginning of the Israeli attack, in parallel with the air force attacks throughout Iran, the systems were trained and activated, and the precision missiles were launched directly at the targets at once and with great accuracy.

In another operational campaign to thwart Iran's air defense capabilities that threaten Israeli fighter jets, the Mossad, in secret operations, planted sophisticated attack systems and technologies on vehicles. With the start of the surprise attack, the weapons were launched and completely destroyed the targets of the attack - the Iranian defense systems.

In the third campaign, the Mossad established a base of explosive drones that were infiltrated into the heart of Iran long before the attack by Mossad agents. During the Israeli attack, the explosive drones were activated and launched at the surface-to-surface missile launchers (SGMs) located at the Asfaqabad base near Tehran and that pose a threat to strategic targets and Israeli citizens.

Israel also attempted a decapitation strike against Iran's senior terror command.

Mario Nawfal
@MarioNawfal

🚨🇮🇷BREAKING: IRAN NAMES NEW ARMY CHIEF AS ISRAEL CLAIMS 15 TOP TARGETS KILLED

Iran has appointed General Amir Khatami as the new commander of its army, following the deaths of senior military leadership in Israeli strikes.

At a press briefing, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin confirmed that Israel has killed at least six senior Iranian commanders and nine nuclear scientists.

The slain officials include:

Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri
IRGC Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami
Khatam-al Anbiya HQ head Gholam Ali Rashid
IRGC Air Force chief Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh
Drone unit commander Taher Pour
Air defense chief Davoud Shaykhian

The Israeli military describes this as one of the most surgically targeted operations in its history.

Source: Times of Israel, N12

Niyak Ghorbani
@GhorbaniiNiyak

@IDF Statement: Three Top Iranian Military Commanders Eliminated

In a large-scale overnight operation, more than 200 Israeli Air Force fighter jets -- guided by pinpoint intelligence -- struck over 100 high-value targets across Iran.

Among those eliminated:
* Mohammad Hossein Bagheri -- Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces
* Hossein Salami -- Commander of the IRGC
* Gholam-Ali Rashid -- Commander of Khatam al-Anbiya (Emergency Command)

This marks a major blow to the military leadership of the Iranian regime.

srael Defense Forces
@IDF

ELIMINATED: Commander of the IRGC's Air Force & Senior Chain of Command of the Air Force

The Intelligence Directorate identified that the senior chain of command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Air Force had assembled in an underground command center to prepare for an attack on the State of Israel.

IAF fighter jets struck the command center where Commander of the IRGC's Air Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh was located along with other senior officials.

Along with Hajizadeh, Commander of the UAV Force of the IRGC's Air Force Taher-pour and Commander of the Aerial Command of the IRGC’s Air Force Davoud Shaykhian, were eliminated.

Eyal Yakoby
@EYakoby

BREAKING: Dana Bash: Trump told her, the Iranian hardliners in the talks are now dead.

Bash: "Meaning Israel got them?"

Trump: "Well they didn't die of covid."

This is my President. I definitely voted for this.

An Israeli source claims that Israel's intelligence had figured out on what conditions Iran's senior military staff would gather in one place to plot against them. They took the actions and put out the signals (radio chatter, etc.) that would cause the high command to congregate in this one place. Then they kept taking actions and putting out radio chatter that would keep them in this place... while its jets closed in to blow them all up.

Trey Yingst
@TreyYingst

On the strikes against IRGC Air Force leadership: Israel tricked the top command of Iran's air force into a meeting and then kept them there, I'm told by an Israeli security official.

"We did specific activities to help us understand things about them and then used that information to make them act in a specific way," the official said. "We knew this would make them meet, but more importantly we knew how to keep them there."

Update: Israel shot missiles into the penthouses of Iran's senior terror commanders.

Posted by: Ace at 04:30 PM | Comments (350) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Iran Fires Dozens of Missiles at Tel Aviv
Plus: Former Democrat Candidate for Vice President Tim Walz: We Need a Country With "Moral Authority" to Step In to Save Iran from Israel.
Oh, I Know Who Has Moral Authority -- China!!!

All of Israel's attacks were against valid military targets. Including pinpoint-accurate strikes against generals of the Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian Air Force (RIP) and professors working on Iran's nuke program.

The Muslims, of course, are bad at making conventional war so they go straight to terror-bombing major population centers:

Iran is taking its vengeance. It's trying to blow up Jewish civilians -- of course -- but most of its missiles lobbed at population centers are being intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system.

But a handful of missiles are getting through.

They hit a high-rise apartment building.

Posted by: Ace at 03:15 PM | Comments (524) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Israel Is Now Bombing Iran's Main Uranium Enrichment Site

There are fresh strikes, which I'll get to in a bit. Let me digest the whole first night of the Israel-Iran War.

Which is what it is.

This post will be about the strikes against Iran's air defenses and nuclear sites. I'll do another post about their strikes against Revolutionary Guards and Air Force generals later.

I've had a pro-Israel friend who was so beside himself over his belief that Trump was selling out Israel that I had to quit the chat group I was in. I was tired of hearing it every hour on the hour.

I want to rejoin just to see what he's saying now.

Apparently Trump did want to negotiate with Iran, to see if he could pull an Art of the Deal coup and avoid war.

But Trump knew there was a countdown clock running, and a hard deadline.

Iran made it clear that they were just jerking him off -- as they've done with every US president, pretending to "negotiate" while they build their nukes.

The deadline passed.

Israel took out Iran's nuke sites, Revolutionary Guard leaders, Air Force leaders.

And Trump knew this was coming the whole time he was negotiating with Iran.

Two can play at the Talk While You Plan War game.

The operation, which is continuing into Friday, came after President Donald Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give Iran 60 days for negotiation. Operation Rising Lion commenced on Day 61.

...

In the first post at 5:56 a.m. ET, Trump lamented that the Iranian leadership wouldn't make a deal:

I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to "just do it," but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn't get it done. I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come - And they know how to use it. Certain Iranian hardliner's [sic] spoke bravely, but they didn't know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse! There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. God Bless You All!

In the second post at 7:36 a.m. ET, the president reiterated that there's still time for Iran to negotiate:

Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to "make a deal." They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn't get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!

More on Trump's warning to Iran that they had better make a deal now or face even "more brutal" strikes.

President Donald Trump warned Iran that further attacks will be 'even more brutal' if it does not agree to a deal following Israel's shock strikes on its nuclear and military facilities.

Overnight, Operation Rising Lion targeted Tehran and Iran's nuclear sites in a devastating wave of assaults, escalating fears the Middle East is on the brink of all-out war.

This is a standard claim: That "tensions are escalating" and that we're "on the brink of an all-out war."

In what sense? Who would be the other parties in this "all-out war"?

The Gulf States are all engaged in war, cold or hot, against Iran. Which Middle Eastern powers are going to join the war on Iran's side, exactly?

Now, Iran's terror proxy army of the Houthis in Yemen did attempt a retalliatory missile attack against Israel.

They hit the Palestinians.

This is not the "all-out war" I was promised.

Explosions boomed across the Iranian capital as simultaneous raids hit buildings believed to be the homes of senior military commanders.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the sophisticated operation targeted a nuclear facility in Natanz and a ballistic missile program, thanks to a secret drone base set up in Iran by Mossad.

The operation involved a barrage of explosive-laden drones and more than 200 Israeli jets.

Though the US initially sought to distance itself from the attack, Trump has now told Iran: 'There is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end.'

...

Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff is reportedly hopeful that the talks will continue as scheduled despite Israel's actions overnight.

The president followed up on Truth Social saying Iran 'should have' followed his 60-day ultimatum to strike a nuclear deal.

What Israel did to Iran is incredible. As David Strom commented, this is perhaps even more audacious and incredible a covert operation than we saw in the "Grim Beeper" assassination campaign.

Israel commandos smuggled explosives-carrying drones inside Iran and set up whole "drone bases." I assume these would be in desert areas or otherwise barren land.

The reason they did this is because they wanted a first strike against Iran's air defenses and air force that came out of nowhere. There would be no long warning as Iran tracked Israeli planes from Israeli airspace. No, these drones, already in Iran and within miles of their targets, would just suddenly take flight and start hitting their targets within minutes with no opportunity to intercept them and no chance to scramble their planes off the ground.

That's the first strike -- to cripple their air defense and grant Israel complete unchallenged air supremacy over Iran.

The drones took out Iran's entire air defense grid.

And then the jets took off to start dropping the bigger payloads.

Alongside the Israeli military's strikes on nuclear and military targets, Mossad successfully pulled off a daring covert operation designed to cripple Iran's air defences and allow Israel's war planes to launch their attacks safely.

This included deploying precision-guided weapons in open areas near Iranian surface-to-air missile systems sites, and using drones launched from an undercover base near Tehran to target air defence assets, according to Israeli media reports citing security sources.

Trump did tell Netanyahu to not interfere with the talks and give the (fruitless) negotiations a chance.

Which Netanyahu did.

But the countdown was still running.

When asked at the White House about the possibility of a strike on Iran last night, Trump said: 'I don't want to say imminent, but it looks like something that could very well happen.

'It's very simple - not complicated. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Other than that, I want them to be successful. We'll help them be successful. We'll trade with them, we'll do whatever's necessary.

'I want to have an agreement with Iran. We're fairly close. As long as there is an agreement, I don't want [Israel] going in because I think that would blow it.

'There's a chance of massive conflict. We have a lot of American people in this area, and I said: 'We've gotta tell them to get out because something could happen soon, and I don't want to be the one who didn't give them any warning.'

'We've had very good discussions with Iran. Whether or not we get there, I can't tell you - but it'll happen soon.'

He admitted to Fox News today that he was made aware of Operation Rising Lion before it happened.

He added: 'Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table.

'We will see there are several people in leadership in Iran that will not be coming back.'

Early this morning, Iran launched a swarm of 100 drones towards Israel in retaliation to Israel's strikes.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel 'should anticipate a severe punishment', adding that military forces 'won't let them go unpunished.'

He said that Israel had 'sealed for itself a bitter and painful destiny.'

Meanwhile, Iran's foreign ministry said its army would not 'hesitate to defend Iran's sovereignty with full strength and in the manner they deem appropriate'.

But Iran's drones have reportedly been intercepted by Israel's air defence systems.

Where's the all-out war, then?

Posted by: Ace at 02:05 PM | Comments (495) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The CIA Releases 1,450 Pages of Documents Relating to the Killing of RFK (Senior)

The documents don't look too good for Sirhan Sirhan.

The CIA released 1,450 additional pages of documents related to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy on Thursday, including 54 previously classified documents and revealing records on his killer -- and no evidence of a wider conspiracy.

The files shed more light on the motivations of Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian-born Jordanian citizen convicted of Kennedy's murder after the June 5, 1968, shooting in Los Angeles -- and contain a psychological profile of the gunman as well as his handwritten notes.

A July 8 personality assessment by the feds declared that "under no circumstances would we have predicted that [Sirhan] was 'capable' of doing what he did."

"Obviously, we cannot see him as part of a conspiracy," the assessment also states. "He could be a tool of a conspiracy in the sense that the attempted assassin of Secretary of State [William] Seward and the assigned assassin of Vice President Andrew Johnson (George Atzerodt) were tools of the [John Wilkes] Booth conspiracy."

"It is very unlikely however that he could have effectively acted under precise instructions," it goes on. "Essentially, we see Sirhan as being much more like the impulsive assassins of [James] Garfield and [William] McKinley than the calculating assassins of Lincoln and President [John F. ] Kennedy."

"Kennedy must fall Kennedy must fall. Please pay to the order of Sirhan Sirhan," reads a note that appears to predate Sirhan's other private journal entries from May 19, 1968, previously published by The Washington Post.

"We believe that Robert F. Kennedy must be sacrificed for the cause of the poor exploited people," another note proclaims, adding that the then-presidential candidate would "eventually be felled ... by an assassin's bullet ... tonight tonight tonight."

Those seem pretty damning, but I don't think this is new-news. Images of the notes are here, thanks to Trump's executive order.

The guy writes "Robert F. Kennedy must be assassinated" over and over and over again, just like you'd expect an obsessive lunatic to do.

A June 12, 1968, psychological profile of Sirhan Sirhan had described him as having "high intellectual potential," and being "quite intuitive," with a belief that "communism may appear as an ideal solution."

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has previously claimed he's unconvinced that Sirhan, now 81, fired the bullet that killed his father -- even meeting with the convicted assassin in a California prison in 2018.

"I got to a place where I had to see Sirhan,'' the younger Kennedy told the Washington Post in an interview that year. "I went [to the prison] because I was curious and disturbed by what I had seen in the evidence."

"I was disturbed that the wrong person might have been convicted of killing my father," he added, referencing Kennedy's autopsy, police reports and witness accounts.

In a 2021 San Francisco Chronicle op-ed, Kennedy accused part-time hotel security guard Thane Eugene Cesar of killing his father.

"I firmly believe the idea that Sirhan murdered my dad is a fiction that is impeding justice," he wrote at the time in petitioning for the convicted killer's parole, which was immediately slammed by his Kennedy relatives.

Other records released Thursday shed new light on a trip that the future attorney general and senator from New York took with then-Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas to the Soviet Union in 1955, during which Kennedy "served the Agency as a voluntary informant."

The intelligence gathered by Kennedy during his trip was recorded in an extensive 129-page diary, which was passed on to the CIA.

RFK also provided the CIA with more than 1,000 photographs and videos of various locations he visited during his USSR tour.

A CIA official told The Post that the documents about Kennedy's journey "exemplifies the depth of his patriotism and commitment to serving his country," knowing that "the USSR was our top adversary at the time."

I'm working on an Iran post. There's a lot of news.

Posted by: Ace at 01:23 PM | Comments (218) | Trackbacks (Suck)

CNN May Fire Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper to Make the Company More Attractive for a Buyer

CNN is making so much money for Warner Discovery that the company is looking to spin it off into another company called "Loser Deadweight Ratings Poison Networks LLC" if my facts are correct. Update: My facts weren't correct. It will be called "Global Networks" or something gay and vague like that.

They will be reviewing the exorbitant salaries they're paying proven ratings-disasters like Anderson Cooper. No one wants to buy a dying company until management gets serious about making it at least plausibly profitable in the future.

CNN is reportedly paying anchor Anderson Cooper $18 million a year -- an eye-popping sum that could be in the crosshairs when the ratings-challenged network is spun off by its debt-ridden parent company.

Cooper, the face of the network and host of its primetime show at 8 p.m., along with other anchors like Kaitlan Collins and Jake Tapper face an uncertain future following Monday's stunning announcement by Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav about the looming split, according to the Puck newsletter.

Zaslav tapped WBD Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels to take over CNN and other cable assets including TNT, TBS, HGTV as part of a new company called Global Networks.

A source told The Post that CNN staffers are worried about Wiedenfel, who they say has a reputation for ruthlessly cutting costs.

"Gunnar news is not good," the person said. "He is slash and burn."

Puck media writer Dylan Byers singled out Cooper and his $18 million salary as a possible target, considering the network remains mired in last place in the ratings.

"Why, for instance, would Gunnar pay Anderson Cooper $18 million a year when Kaitlan Collins draws the same ratings at roughly a fifth of the salary?" Byers wrote.

According to the latest Nielsen ratings, "Anderson Cooper 360" drew 647,000 total viewers on Tuesday -- or about $27 per viewer.

LOL. I see Podcast Opportunities in zis future.

Posted by: Ace at 12:22 PM | Comments (377) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Following Its Ruling Prohibiting Reverse Discrimination in the Workplace, SCOTUS Now Has the Opportunity to Eradicate Reverse Discrimination in Schools

In a landmark 9-0 ruling a few days ago, in a case referred to as “Ames,” the Supreme Court ruled that laws protecting minority groups against workplace discrimination also prevent discrimination against whites, straights, and males. This sets the stage for another important case that has been submitted to the Supreme Court, specifically, a case that would similarly prohibit schools from engaging in reverse discrimination against the children they are supposed to be educating.

The schoolhouse reverse discrimination case I am referring to is “B.W. vs Austin Independent School District.” I wrote about the case two months ago, unaware of the landmark Ames ruling that was about to come down that put an end to reverse discrimination by employers.

As I noted at the time I wrote about B.W. vs AISD, as important as this case is for the country, it’s also a bit personal to me, because the minor - just 12 years old at the time - who was the victim of institutional racial oppression at taxpayer funded public schools, is also the son of personal friends of mine. I became friends with Monte and Brandi Warden not because of politics, but because of shared musical interests.

For a brief recap of what Brooks Warden (“B.W.” was put through by adults at the Austin Independent School District, here is what I wrote: “Case Filed with Supreme Court Addresses if Civil Rights Act of 1964 Applies to Discrimination Against Whites - and this case is personal” [Buck Throckmorton – 4/11/2025]

Among the abuses claimed by Brooks were a teacher calling him a racial slur; the Principal mocking Brooks and accusing him of listening to Dixie while wearing a headset; the Student Council President circulating a picture of Brooks as a Klansman; another student promising to kill Brooks and all Trump supporters; and a student beating Brooks up in a classroom while the teacher watched. That student is later alleged to have boasted about assaulting Brooks because of his race. As Brooks’ father documented, the Austin Independent School District never disputed or refuted any of this, they just chose to ignore the Wardens’ pleas to make it stop.

When Sean Davis of The Federalist appeared on Fox News a few days ago to talk about the implications of Ames, he also took the opportunity to talk about the importance of Brooks Warden’s case against AISD. An article in The Federalist last week highlighted the argument Mr. Davis made: “SCOTUS Needs to Extend Reverse Discrimination Ban To Schools, Not Just Workplaces” [The Federalist – 6/05/2025]

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (355) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

Dramatic Scene with Monks in a Crypt
Alexandre Evariste Fragonard

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (338) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 6/ 13 /25

Good morning kids. And so it begins — Israel's "Mostly Peaceful" dismantling of Iran's nuclear weapons capability and other key targets that have continually threatened it and the rest of the civilized world thanks mostly to Jimmy Carter and 45 years of feckless inaction and willful blindness. It would not surprise me in the least if the Democrat-inspired and funded rioters in LA started turning their attention to synagogues and the Simon Wiesenthal center, or just random Hassidim strolling along Pico Boulevard today and this evening for Shabbat services.

But that said, here's some of the action, with some video and maps at the link.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Operation “Rising Lion” targeted several sites across the Iranian capital to dismantle the country’s nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile factories and military – in a mission to “roll back” Iran’s threat to Israel’s “very survival.”

Though the extent of damage remains unclear, the attack reportedly killed a high-ranking general and nuclear scientists as explosions boomed across Tehran.

“We can’t leave these threats for the next generation,” Netanyahu said during an address shared on YouTube, pressing that the attacks will continue for “as many days as it takes.” “Because if we don’t act now, there will not be another generation. If we don’t act now, we simply won’t be here. We have internalized the lessons of history. When an enemy says he intends to destroy you — believe him,” he continued. “When the enemy develops the capabilities to destroy you — stop him.”

A recent report that Iran had enriched enough uranium to build nuclear bombs within days was confirmed, a source told The Post Thursday night, adding that is why the strike occurred.

Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of the country’s military, are believed to have been killed in the barrage, as were two nuclear scientists, Iran’s state media said, according to the Times of Israel.

The Revolutionary Guard oversees Iran’s ballistic missiles, which it has used twice to strike Israel since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Jewish state also targeted Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz — where black smoke was seen billowing from the building, Iranian state media showed.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the US was “not involved” in the strike.

“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” he said.

“Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel.”

However, the US may be forced to act to protect Israel — and prevent the Jewish state from using its nuclear weapons, a source said.

A few things to note, while the action as Rubio states was indeed unilateral on the part of Israel, Rubio confirmed that he and the President were informed by the Israelis well in advance of the strike, which makes sense given yesterday's report of the latter putting our interests in the region on high alert and evacuating some out of the region entirely.

War is indeed a horrible and evil thing, but sometimes it is a necessary evil. Unlike the dark age reptilian savages that the Iranian Mullahs helped unleash on Israel on October 7th – on top of the multi-decade global terror campaign waged against Israelis, Jews and westerners around the globe since 1979, Israel's actions yesterday were entirely defensive in nature and might very well have the welcome effect of helping to collapse an evil regime that has imprisoned and terrorized the Iranian people and at long last liberate them from Islamic oppression that they have longed for. My thoughts and prayers are with the brave men and women of the IDF, the citizenry of the state of Israel and of the Iranian people (some of whom, mostly expat refugees, I have come to know personally over the years and are a good barometer of Iranian sentiment) for their safety and God-willing their long awaited liberation.

And, as CBD and I discussed on the latest episode of the podcast (here and in the sidebar) and going back for many prior podcasts this past year and since the October 7th surprise attack and ensuing pogrom and butchery of Jews that led to the Gaza war against Iranian proxy army Hamas, American boots on the ground and or USAF strikes on Iran are neither warranted nor desireable for a whole host of reasons.

On paper, decapitation strikes, depending on how they’re implemented may violate international law. And so rather than take out Saddam, we spend years and countless lives to usher in democracy. You’re not supposed to target officers. Too bad the other side doesn’t play by those rules or care about them. Israel however went after element of Iran’s shadow government, including its terrorist apparatus.

Operation Rising Lion is in theory somewhat similar to Beepergate, but applied to a state. Infiltrate and then eliminate its key figures.

With regard to the cluelessness and fecklessness that allowed Iran to become what it is today, friend and friend of the blog, the erudite Robert Spencer hits the nail on the head, or to be more precise, like a Nidal Hassan or a KSM hits a koran on his forehead:

Almost immediately after the air strikes began in Tehran, the propaganda war also entered a new phase. The Iranian military posted on X: “Remember, we didn’t initiate it.”

. . .In fact, the Islamic Republic of Iran initiated it by regarding Israel as an enemy from its earliest days. The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic in 1979, replaced the Israeli embassy in Tehran with an embassy of “Palestine.” He decreed that the last Friday of the Muslim fasting-and-feasting month of Ramadan would henceforth be known as Al-Quds Day. Al-Quds is the name that modern-day Arabs and Muslims use for Jerusalem, and Al-Quds Day from its inception was the occasion for an orgy of hatred for Israel, jihadist saber rattling, and declarations that the Jewish state would soon be completely destroyed and a new genocide of the Jews would begin. . . In reality, Iran has no reason to regard Israel as an enemy at all. Israel poses no threat to Iran. They do not share a common border. Israel has no territorial claims against Iran. Iran, for that matter, does not claim Israeli territory. They do not have competing economic interests. The only reason why the Islamic Republic of Iran burns with hatred toward Israel and has been working toward its destruction for over forty years now is because it is an Islamic Republic. The existence of Israel is an insult to Islam. The Qur’an tells Muslims: “Drive them out from where they drove you out.” (2:191). The Arab Higher Committee ordered the Arabs to flee the new Jewish state in 1948, as the Arab leaders were confident that they would soon destroy the new state, and then the Arabs would be able to go home. Instead, Israel won. Nevertheless, the imperative to “Drive them out from where they drove you out” still applies, for the land of Israel was once the property of the Ottoman Empire, and was ruled by Islamic law.

Of course, that conveniently ignores the rather salient fact that Israel was the Jewish state of Israel for almost 5,000 years before Islam existed let alone the now extinct Ottoman Empire (with or without the naked fat guy sprawled out on it).

At the end of the day, it's not necessarily Iran but it's the Islam, stupid! that is driving all of this madness, same as it ever was since the 15th century. But instead of scimitars, they'd have nukes. And here's a blast from the past, remember that Ayatollah Khomeini railed against not just the little satan - Israel - but against the big satan; that would be us, America. And by the way, it should come as no surprise that much of the immigration rioting is not only being cheered on but being funded and even organized by groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR. They could care fuck all for immigrants legal or otherwise from latin America, but using them and their grievances to foment the usual keffiyah-clad US flag-burning/Mexican flag-waving braindead college students, plus the LA RAZA-Reconquista and Antifa scum to foment unrest within our borders.

Back to Tehran and Israel, the Iranians will and indeed have retaliated by sending a barrage of drones over Israel. But as Daniel Greenfield wondered about this being a decapitaton strike, Iran is a multi-headed hydra. How many Farsi heads have to roll before the Muallah-ocracy is truly decapitated and no longer poses a mortal threat to Israel and indeed the rest of the free and/or sane world.

I have to wonder how Israel managed to deliver the ordnance necessary to take out the number of targets it did without some logistical assistance perhaps from the Saudis and Emiratis, and perhaps from the Azerbaijanis to the north of Iran. The nuke facilities are in hardened facilities deep underground and/or within mountains. Even if it had squadrons of B-52s, B1-bs and B-2s, demolishing all those sites would require mutiple sorties and then reconnaissance flights plus perhaps insurance strikes to make the rubble bounce to be on the safe side.

Once again, John Fetterman continues to be a breath of fresh air not only on this but in his reactions to the Democrat immigration riots/violent insurrection:

U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) pledged his support of the attack by Israel on Iran, saying Israel should “keep wiping out Iranian leadership and the nuclear personnel.” He posted his remarks on social media a short time after the news of Israel’s pre-emptive bombing of Iran hit the press.
“Our commitment to Israel must be absolute and I fully support this attack,” Fewtterman wrote on X. “Keep wiping out Iranian leadership and the nuclear personnel.”
He said the U.S. “must” provide the necessary military, intelligence, and weaponry to support the Israeli strike against Iran

Well, Bibi kicked the hornets nest. or hopefully doused it in gasoline and lit it up.

Prayers up for Israel and the Iranian people.

Well, today is Friday the 13th, and tomorrow is Flag Day and the Army parade in Washington DC. What a weekend it could turn out to be!

PS: Alex Padilla can go to hell. The fat bastard backbencher bull rushed Kristi Noem and suddenly he's the hero because he was justifiably tackled, cuffed and dragged the hell out of the conference room. He's lucky Ms. Noem was not carrying a handgun or the fat greasy bastard might have been ventilated.

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

Have a great weekend.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• Robert Spencer: The Jewish state begins to take out the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
  Israel Strikes Back
  
  
• Daniel Greenfield: Scarier than beepers.
  Israel Tests Out a Decapitation Strike
  
• Netanyahu said Operation “Rising Lion” targeted several sites across Tehran to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile factories and military, though the extent of the damage and any casualties remained unclear.
  Israel launches air strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, killing top military officials: ‘If we don’t act now, there will not be another generation’
  
• Rubio said that Israel advised the United States that the action was necessary and for self-defense.
  Rubio Says United States Not Involved, Warns Iran Against Attacking U.S. Personnel
  
• IDF touts ‘preemptive, precise, combined offensive based on high-quality intelligence to strike Iran’s nuclear program’
  ‘Rising Lion’: Israel Launches Massive Military Campaign Against Iranian Nuclear Program, Senior Officials
  
• Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) confirmed in the early hours of Friday morning local time that Israeli airstrikes on targets in the country eliminated Major General Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Other arms of Iran’s state news apparatus confirmed several other high-profile regime members, including two nuclear scientists, were killed in the strikes. While unverified reports suggested that Salami may be far from the only high-ranking Iranian regime official to have been targeted successfully in the operation, he is the only one whose death the Iranian government has confirmed at press time.
  Iran Confirms IRGC Terror Chief Hossein Salami Eliminated in Israel Strikes
  
• He said the U.S. “must” provide the necessary military, intelligence, and weaponry to support the Israeli strike against Iran. ( Pro Israel and anti Immigration Rioter/Terrorists. How soon before the Antifa cadres target him for termination? - jjs)
  Fetterman to Israel: Keep Wiping Out Iranian Leadership, Nuclear Personnel
  
• Khamenei said Israel "must expect severe punishment."
  Iran’s Supreme Leader Responds To Israel’s Attack
  * * * * *

  
  

• On June 14, America will see flags, parades—and troops in the streets; a day both festive and fearsome, as power marches hand-in-hand with principle.
  Shows of Force
  
• This is all part of their next-level revolution, similar to what was attempted during the George Floyd riots.
  Dems back anti-ICE, anti-American riots—the rest of us want law and order

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:23 AM | Comments (436) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 13 June 2025

Top Story

• Google in the wiring closet with a lead pipe: The internet went down. It was Google's fault. (Tech Crunch)

  Google Cloud said it started investigating service issues affecting its customers at 11:46 a.m. PT. As of 2:23 p..m PT, the company said it had implemented mitigations, and expects to have its services back up and running within the hour.

  You started investigating issues 44 minutes after I was woken up by the outage? Good work, guys.

  At 11:19 a.m. PT, Cloudflare also said it was investigating service disruptions affecting its customers, according to its status page. At 12:12 p.m. PT, Cloudflare said it was starting to see its services recover after investigating the issue.

  Cloudflare KV was affected by the Google outage, and it in turn took down the rest of Cloudflare.
  
  And that took down everyone else, since Cloudflare handles about 20% of web traffic worldwide, so it's a rare site - like this one - that doesn't depend on it.
  
  Also, yes, they did post that note at 12:12 PM, but the "starting to see" does a lot of heavy lifting there. An hour later and our sites at work that are routed through Cloudflare were still completely dead.

  "This is a Google Cloud outage," said Cloudflare spokesperson Ripley Park in an email to TechCrunch. "A limited number of services at Cloudflare use Google Cloud and were impacted. We expect them to come back shortly. The core Cloudflare services were not impacted."

  The core Cloudflare services were not impacted, it was just that you couldn't reach them because everything else was on fire.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (171) | Trackbacks (Suck)