January 26, 2026
Special Forces Veteran: This Isn't a Protest, This Is an Organized Insurgency Like We Faced in Iraq
Cam Higby infiltrated insurrectionist Signal groups. (Signal is a secure private message app favored by anyone who wants to keep his messages secret, including terrorists and insurrectionists.)
He posted several of the screenshots of the secret insurrectionist chats. Note that Minneapolis police are part of the insurgency.Posted by: Ace at 12:16 PM | Comments (454) | Trackbacks (Suck)
THE MORNING RANT: Lodging Made Torturous by Smart Appliances and Electronics - “The Big Regression” 
My folks are in town visiting us for a couple months so we rented them a house nearby. It’s new construction. No one has lived in it yet. It’s amped up with state-of-the-art systems. You know, the ones with touchscreens of various sizes, [Internet of Things] appliances, and interfaces that try too hard. And it’s terrible. What a regression. The lights are powered by Control4, and require a demo to understand how to use the switches, understand which ones control what, and to be sure not to hit THAT ONE because it’ll turn off all the lights in the house when you didn’t mean to. Worse. The TV is the latest Samsung which has a baffling user interface just to watch CNN. My parents aren’t idiots, but definitely feel like they’re missing something obvious. They aren’t — TVs have simply gotten worse. You don’t turn them on anymore, you boot them up. Worse. The Miele dishwasher is hidden flush with the counters. That part is fine, but here’s what isn’t: It wouldn’t even operate the first time without connecting it with an app. This meant another call to the house manager to have them install an app they didn’t know they needed either. An app to clean some peanut butter off a plate? For serious? Worse. Thermostats... Nest would have been an upgrade, but these other propriety ones from some other company trying to be nest-like are baffling. Round touchscreens that take you into a dark labyrinth of options just to be sure it’s set at 68. Or is it 68 now? Or is that what we want it at, but it’s at 72? Wait... What? Which number is this? Worse. The alarm system is essentially a 10” iPad bolted to the wall that has the f***ing weather forecast on it. And it’s bright! I’m sure there’s a way to turn that off, but then the screen would be so barren that it would be filled with the news instead. Why can’t the alarm panel just be an alarm panel? Worse. And the lag. Lag everywhere. Everything feels a beat or two behind. Everything. Lag is the giveaway that the system is working too hard for too little. Real-time must be the hardest problem. Now look... I’m no luddite. But this experience is close to conversion therapy. Tech can make things better, but I simply can’t see it in these cases. I’ve heard the pitches too — you can set up scenes and one button can change EVERYTHING. Not buying it. It actually feels primitive, like we haven’t figured out how to make things easy yet. That some breakthrough will eventually come when you can simply knock a switch up or down and it’ll all makes sense. But we haven’t evolved to that point yet. It’s really the contrast that makes it alarming. We just got back from a vacation in Montana. Rented a house there. They did have a fancy TV — seems those can’t be avoided these days — but everything else was old school and clear. Physical up/down light switches in the right places. Appliances without the internet. Buttons with depth and physically-confirmed state change rather than surfaces that don’t obviously register your choice. More traditional round rotating Honeywell thermostats that are just clear and obvious. No tours, no instructions, no questions, no fearing you’re going to do something wrong, no wondering how something works. Useful and universally clear. That’s human that’s modern.Preach, brother. Preach. Thank you. For me, simplicity is luxury. An absence of apps is luxury. Not having to watch a training video is luxury. Not having to engage with a wall-mounted tablet is luxury. Those are the luxuries I want when traveling.
Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (407) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Mid-Morning Art Thread
Charles Sheeler
Charles Sheeler
Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (495) | Trackbacks (Suck)
The Morning Report — 1/26/26
Of course the top story remains insurrection and revolution — no not in Iran but right here in the good old US of A, which with what is going on in Minneapolis could potentially devolve into a disunited state of chaos. Considering the wastage of life, treasure and human potential for decades in its bloodthirsty drive for absolute power, the Democrat party and anti-American leftist movement have produced some of the worst examples of humanity to ever hold the reins of power. And in recent times among the worst of the worst was and remains Barack Hussein Obama. During his accursed tenure as president, he turned back over 50 years of societal advancement and sowed racial division and enmity that within a few years of his departure from the White House American cities burned to the ground in an orgy of violence unseen since the 1960s, and all based on blood libels against law enforcement and the bogeyman of white supremacy. All because Donald Trump dared to run and win a massive victory that in many ways was a complete repudiation of everything Obama stood for, believed in and foisted in the American people. Now here we are six years later and this despicable, evil, twisted lout is at it again.
If you want to know why two people are dead and why many others might very well wind up in a Minneapolis or even Anytown USA morgue drawer just like them, it's because Obama, Walz, Frey and the entirety of the Democrat Party is egging them on. That Tim Walz dares compare ICE to the Nazi German Gestapo rounding up Anne Frank, and to me on no less a day than Holocaust Remembrance Day, makes my blood boil.
Of course the willingness of some to become cannon fodder for the Left is not a great mystery.
For those of a certain age who remember the 1960s, as bad as the anti-war demonstrations and even the Civil Rights marches and race riots of that era, wha we are witnessing here and now potentially can do what those events could not — erupt into an actual civil war, or into such a state of societal breakdown akin to perhaps Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. And then everything is up for grabs. When churches and now hotels are invaded by roving bands of deranged people convinced they are the moral equivalent of the FFI and the White Rose movement resisting the Nazis — and an entire political party as well as the media using this gargantuan blood libel nonstop, this will not end well. Remember, long before Minneapolis, the Democrats labeled Donald Trump and all of us as Literally Hitler and Nazis. And so we get this to potentially have to deal with:
Of course the top story remains insurrection and revolution — no not in Iran but right here in the good old US of A, which with what is going on in Minneapolis could potentially devolve into a disunited state of chaos. Considering the wastage of life, treasure and human potential for decades in its bloodthirsty drive for absolute power, the Democrat party and anti-American leftist movement have produced some of the worst examples of humanity to ever hold the reins of power. And in recent times among the worst of the worst was and remains Barack Hussein Obama. During his accursed tenure as president, he turned back over 50 years of societal advancement and sowed racial division and enmity that within a few years of his departure from the White House American cities burned to the ground in an orgy of violence unseen since the 1960s, and all based on blood libels against law enforcement and the bogeyman of white supremacy. All because Donald Trump dared to run and win a massive victory that in many ways was a complete repudiation of everything Obama stood for, believed in and foisted in the American people. Now here we are six years later and this despicable, evil, twisted lout is at it again.
The anti-ICE riots aren’t ‘grass roots’. They’re as ‘grass roots’ as the BLM riots that the Obama administration not so secretly nurtured. And, by no coincidence at all, Barack Obama popped up to endorse the latest incarnation of his War on America. Obama popped up to issue a press release attacking federal immigration law enforcement, falsely claiming that, “people across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city.” The man who funded and freed Islamic terrorists, spied on political opponents and had a man arrested for making a movie about Mohammed, whines that “many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.” But apart from all the rants about ICE and the usual propaganda, Obama concludes with “every American should support and draw inspiration from the wave of peaceful protests in Minneapolis and other parts of the country.” The “peaceful protests” that so far include deadly assaults on federal law enforcement, biting an officer’s finger off, and the usual rioting. Obama wants back in the treason game. He should face the legal consequences for encouraging an insurrection to overthrow the government and enable the conquest of America.
If you want to know why two people are dead and why many others might very well wind up in a Minneapolis or even Anytown USA morgue drawer just like them, it's because Obama, Walz, Frey and the entirety of the Democrat Party is egging them on. That Tim Walz dares compare ICE to the Nazi German Gestapo rounding up Anne Frank, and to me on no less a day than Holocaust Remembrance Day, makes my blood boil.
Of course the willingness of some to become cannon fodder for the Left is not a great mystery.
What’s inside the mind of a pro-crime leftist? Some identify vicariously with the criminal as a source of revolutionary violence while others go into a kind of Stockholm Syndrome driven by white guilt and bleeding heart liberalism. ‘Why I Didn’t Report My Rape’, Anna Krauthammer, writing at the radical leftist The Nation goes all in on pro-crime guilt. The author, a grad student who claims to have been gang raped, read Angela Davis and declares that she’s a ‘prison abolitionist’. “There in that hotel, a little over four years ago, I was raped by a group of men during a three-day trip I took to Las Vegas with two of my best friends. Of the rape, which lasted all night,” she writes. “The simple answer to the question of why I never reported the rape is that I believe in the abolition of police and prisons.” “I don’t want to ruin the lives of my rapists and I don’t know if they have children,” she blathers. “I have believed in and used the term prison abolition for at least a decade, but for less time than I’ve felt in my bones that I could never participate in any chain of events that might send someone to prison.” . . . This is what moral inversion does to morality. It makes the perpetrators into the victims and vice versa. . . Women are told to practice a Gandhiesque liberalism in which they must accept being raped rather than send a rapist to jail. This is the endpoint of ‘Abolish ICE”, “BLM”, “Defund the Police’ and the entire mad spectacle of pro-crime policies.And when you understand that moral inversion is the ultimate sign of evil, you understand everything.
For those of a certain age who remember the 1960s, as bad as the anti-war demonstrations and even the Civil Rights marches and race riots of that era, wha we are witnessing here and now potentially can do what those events could not — erupt into an actual civil war, or into such a state of societal breakdown akin to perhaps Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. And then everything is up for grabs. When churches and now hotels are invaded by roving bands of deranged people convinced they are the moral equivalent of the FFI and the White Rose movement resisting the Nazis — and an entire political party as well as the media using this gargantuan blood libel nonstop, this will not end well. Remember, long before Minneapolis, the Democrats labeled Donald Trump and all of us as Literally Hitler and Nazis. And so we get this to potentially have to deal with:
Antifa Influencer Declares ‘Guerrilla War’ Against ICE After Minnesota Shooting — Kyle Wagner, a self-described “entrepreneur” and “master-hate-baiter,” posted a series of videos to social media appearing to encourage armed and explicitly non-peaceful demonstrations against federal agents, whom he referred to as “Nazi gunmen.” The far-left influencer uploaded the videos in the immediate aftermath of the day’s fatal shooting, which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed targeted a suspect who looked ready to “massacre law enforcement.” Chaotic riots subsequently erupted on the streets of Minneapolis. . . “My name is Kyle, I’m Antifa, and there’s so much rage in me, I’ve had to record this like fifteen times trying to get the message out,” Wagner addressed the camera in one video posted to Instagram. “They fucked up.” “[I]t’s time to suit up, boots on the ground … show up ready to go,” he said, later noting he was specifically “talking specifically to my fucking followers.” “No, not talking about peaceful protests anymore. We’re not talking about having polite conversations anymore,” Wagner stressed. “Sorry, but welcome to America 2026 where Second Amendment is the only thing that’s gonna keep you fucking protected from literal fucking Nazi gunmen that are killing innocent people in the street with impunity. This is not a fucking joke. There’s nothing fun to chant about it.”Can you imagine if someone on our side took to social media to implore ordinary citizens to march on Minneapolis or wherever and help defend ICE agents as they went about their business?! Have a great day. And lastly, a quick shout-out and a huge thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.
- ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY LINKS
- Pro-Crime Leftist defends her rapists, Taliban and Hamas.
“I Don’t Want to Ruin the Lives of My Rapists” Says Hamas Apologist
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:27 AM | Comments (404) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Daily Tech News 26 January 2026
Top Story
- Replication crisis as a service. (Columbia)
You may have heard about the replication crisis science, and if you haven't, you should. Half of all published medical research, for example, cannot be replicated, and for preclinical trials the rate increases to four fifths.
An interesting point from that Wikipedia article is that 70% of scientists have tried and failed to replicate another researcher's work, but only 20% have been contacted by another scientist trying to replicate their work.
Which is perhaps by design:This paper in Management Science has been cited more than 6,000 times. Wall Street executives, top government officials, and even a former U.S. Vice President have all referenced it. It's fatally flawed, and the scholarly community refuses to do anything about it.
Management science, huh? Bad as things are in medical research, at least they admit to baseline reality.
When someone tried to correct the record on this particular paper, his efforts were not well received:The authors ignored me, the journal refused to act, and the scholarly community looked the other way. Two universities disregarded evidence of research misconduct - even after the authors admitted publishing a misleading report.
A latter-day dissolution of the monasteries?
The article remains largely uncorrected - misleading thousands of people each year.
I believe our systems for curating trustworthy science are broken and need reformation.Having received no response from the authors, I contacted Management Science. After getting advice, I submitted a comment.
As the article says, ah, the tone police.
It was rejected.
The reviewers did not address the substance of my comment; they objected to my "tone".The authors did admit to the editor that they had misreported a key finding - labeling it as statistically significant when it was not. The authors claimed the error was a "typo." They intended to type "not significant" but omitted the word "not".
That's one hell of a typo.
The story gets worse from there. And that's just a single paper out of millions.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (175) | Trackbacks (Suck)
January 25, 2026
Sunday Overnight Open Thread - January 25, 2026 [Doof]
Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (453) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Gun Thread: Bigly Storm Edition!
Posted by: Weasel at 07:00 PM | Comments (251) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Food Thread: It's Chilly Outside, Time To Make Chili!
So the chili above has black beans and hominy, and a very pleasant hit of chipotle. The lead actor is of course beef, because I am not a savage, but pork would work in a pinch. And even chicken, though that changes things considerably. And I guess you could use lamb? Anyone ever make lamb chili? One thing I do is saute the herbs and spices before I add the liquid. It seems to accentuate their flavors, and even if it doesn't, the house smells great! Anyone have a particular trick they use to make their special, world-famous chili?
''When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.''
So the chili above has black beans and hominy, and a very pleasant hit of chipotle. The lead actor is of course beef, because I am not a savage, but pork would work in a pinch. And even chicken, though that changes things considerably. And I guess you could use lamb? Anyone ever make lamb chili? One thing I do is saute the herbs and spices before I add the liquid. It seems to accentuate their flavors, and even if it doesn't, the house smells great! Anyone have a particular trick they use to make their special, world-famous chili?
Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (304) | Trackbacks (Suck)
First World Problems...
Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (239) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Does The West Still Have The Oxford Martyr's Spark?
Whether that resolve remains in Great Britain remains to be seen, But Western culture is no stranger to religious wars. The Reformation sparked conflict for a few hundred years, and it was brutal. The 30 Years War killed off at least 5,000,000 people, and smaller but no less vicious conflicts spread across Europe. Europeans once fought and died to protect their religions and culture. From our lofty perch in the 21st century, it seems almost quaint that they would disagree so profoundly about what many of us see as, simply, Christianity. Regardless of the reasons for the conflict, we must respect the fortitude that they displayed. Is there that same fortitude in the current population of Europe? Yes, certainly, among the Muslim invaders! But it remains to be seen whether there is any fight left in the descendants of the people who bled and died for their faith, their country, their culture. Who will be the men who light the candle that shows the West that our culture is worth fighting for...and dying for? PS. This is not a forum for Catholic or Protestant bashing.
Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man, for we shall this day light such a candle in England as I trust by God's grace shall never be put out.
Whether that resolve remains in Great Britain remains to be seen, But Western culture is no stranger to religious wars. The Reformation sparked conflict for a few hundred years, and it was brutal. The 30 Years War killed off at least 5,000,000 people, and smaller but no less vicious conflicts spread across Europe. Europeans once fought and died to protect their religions and culture. From our lofty perch in the 21st century, it seems almost quaint that they would disagree so profoundly about what many of us see as, simply, Christianity. Regardless of the reasons for the conflict, we must respect the fortitude that they displayed. Is there that same fortitude in the current population of Europe? Yes, certainly, among the Muslim invaders! But it remains to be seen whether there is any fight left in the descendants of the people who bled and died for their faith, their country, their culture. Who will be the men who light the candle that shows the West that our culture is worth fighting for...and dying for? PS. This is not a forum for Catholic or Protestant bashing.
Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (344) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 1-25-2026 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
(Click for larger image)
(Click for larger image)
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 (for masochists only!). 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?
Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (403) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Daily Tech News 25 January 2026
Top Story
- Bitlocker: The encryption technology where everyone has access to your data except you. (Tom's Hardware)
Microsoft's Bitlocker is infamous for suddenly enabling itself without you explicitly going through the setup process so that neither you nor anybody else has any idea what the encryption key is, and you data is simply gone.
But if you do go through the setup process, it automatically shares your key with Microsoft so the government can ask for and receive your keys.
Which government?
All of them.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (305) | Trackbacks (Suck)
January 24, 2026
Saturday Night Club ONT - January 24, 2026 [Double Trouble]
Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (618) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Saturday Evening Movie Thread - 1/24/2026
Few directors have all-around strengths, the ability to see every aspect of a production from pre-production through sound mixing and determine what's best for the story, for the film as a whole. Most noteworthy directors tend to have groups of strengths, certain parts of the production where their attention and skill is most directly applied to their films. Wolfgang Petersen wasn't an all around strong director, but he did have one particular strength: the sequence.
The Sequence Director is actually really interesting because while scripts may end up having issues, the strength of the sequence done really well is its own thrill and joy. John Ford was actually a sequence director according to his own writers, not really understanding narrative form but understanding exactly how to put together a sequence for film. Wolfgang Petersen feels like a similar filmmaker, just without a strong studio system to back him up with a stable of quality writers.
Moving from German television to Hollywood and then getting hired from one job to the next in ever-increasingly large budgeted productions, Petersen proved that he was a man for the time. Taking simple concepts like a president needing to fight terrorists on Air Force One and delivering them with aggressive energy in clearly filmed sustained sequences, Petersen became one of the most powerful and sought-after directors in Hollywood for about a decade. I don't know if that's what he had dreamed of his career being, but he made the most of it while he was there.
Wolfgang Petersen
Few directors have all-around strengths, the ability to see every aspect of a production from pre-production through sound mixing and determine what's best for the story, for the film as a whole. Most noteworthy directors tend to have groups of strengths, certain parts of the production where their attention and skill is most directly applied to their films. Wolfgang Petersen wasn't an all around strong director, but he did have one particular strength: the sequence.
The Sequence Director is actually really interesting because while scripts may end up having issues, the strength of the sequence done really well is its own thrill and joy. John Ford was actually a sequence director according to his own writers, not really understanding narrative form but understanding exactly how to put together a sequence for film. Wolfgang Petersen feels like a similar filmmaker, just without a strong studio system to back him up with a stable of quality writers.
Moving from German television to Hollywood and then getting hired from one job to the next in ever-increasingly large budgeted productions, Petersen proved that he was a man for the time. Taking simple concepts like a president needing to fight terrorists on Air Force One and delivering them with aggressive energy in clearly filmed sustained sequences, Petersen became one of the most powerful and sought-after directors in Hollywood for about a decade. I don't know if that's what he had dreamed of his career being, but he made the most of it while he was there.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison at 07:30 PM | Comments (225) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Hobby Thread - January 24, 2026 [TRex]
Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies (TM) a spin it landed on wood carving and tools.
[Top photo courtesy Bird Rock Doc]Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (149) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Ace of Spades Pet Thread, January 24
Courtesy Terry Glenn Gotta watch 'em
* * *
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.
* * *
Courtesy Terry Glenn Gotta watch 'em
Posted by: K.T. at 03:18 PM | Comments (65) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, Jan. 24
Filbert Catkins with hoarfrost
Hope everyone in the paths of the big storms is safe and warm. In your honor, some frosty photos from HalDallMD:
Hoarfrost on our trees. Had ice on everything for a few days.
Posted by: K.T. at 01:24 PM | Comments (42) | Trackbacks (Suck)
The WEF has been a little different this year
Posted by: K.T. at 11:10 AM | Comments (451) | Trackbacks (Suck)
The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival
*****
Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. Before we enter the Prayer Revival just a few housekeeping matters to go over. (Rulz for those of you in Nimrod)
1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind, be nice. Say a prayer or three for our Morons to survive the winter weather blasting the country.
3) If you must run with sharp objects. Take it outside.
4) Have a great weekend!
2) Be kind, be nice. Say a prayer or three for our Morons to survive the winter weather blasting the country.
3) If you must run with sharp objects. Take it outside.
4) Have a great weekend!
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:00 AM | Comments (448) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Daily Tech News 24 January 2026
Top Story
- Yeah, I'm going to stay right here in my insulated, double-glazed, air-conditioned bunker for a week.
- You can get an AMD Ryzen 9800X3D, an Asus X870 motherboard, and 32GB of RAM for $939 at Newegg right now - and even get a bonus mouse. (Tom's Hardware)
That's a $480 CPU, a $300 motherboard, and memory that did cost around $100 but suddenly finds itself at $440. And a $125 mouse that isn't worth $125 or it wouldn't be included for free.
- Just one small problem: Asus is currently reviewing - though not recalling - all of its 800-series motherboards over a string of failures specifically involving the 9800X3D CPU. (Tom's Hardware)
ASRock has been battling this for months. It's rare, but seems to keep happening.
- Oh, and the faster 9850X3D is here. (Notebook Check)
It's only slightly faster, but it's only slightly more expensive. If you were planning on a 9800X3D build - or upgrading an existing system that already has DDR5 RAM - it's not a compelling option but not an awful one either.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (125) | Trackbacks (Suck)
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