Food Thread: Salad As A Meal? Not On Your Life!

Salad is great!

At the beginning of a meal it is delicious, with smoked duck breast, or the French classic, crispy chicken gizzards and lardons on a bed of some green stuff that is unimportant. At the end of a meal, it is a wonderful palate cleanser, especially with a crisp and bright vinaigrette.

But as anything other than a counterpoint? Nah...it's not worth the trouble. How many dinner salads or lunch salads have you eaten in which the best part was the green stuff...no matter how high quality and artfully dressed and displayed? When was the last time you ate the green stuff and left the last of the steak tips or grilled chicken?

Every once in a great while I will have a salad that stands on its own. Many years ago at a restaurant in D.C. (called "The Pig!"), I had a summer salad made with incredible produce. It was a marvel of the farmer's art.

But I still liked the pork chop better!

Posted by: CBD at 06:37 PM | Comments (338) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First-World Problems...

The Art of Manliness

This is a catastrophe of biblical proportions.

All right-thinking people know that burger toppings go...ON THE TOP!. Why else would they be called "toppings?" Sure, I guess it's allowed to put condiments on the bottom bun. But that is flirting with disaster and is a weak-willed accommodation to the revanchists in the toppings-on-the-bottom camp. They know that they have lost, but are clever, with their subtle subterfuge and propaganda.

Do we need a purge?

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (408) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Take Your Ball And Go Home! That Is How To End The Transgender Rot In Women's Athletics

This is the template for the return of sanity to women's sports in America. College administrators are feckless worms who will do their progressive masters' bidding, so they are part of the problem. And the NCAA is even worse. Just listen to Mike Rowe's interview with Riley Gaines (the swimmer who tied with Will Thomas) if you want a sense of how corrupted by the Woke agenda the NCAA is.

But the women who are in danger of catastrophic injury are the solution. These are the women who are supposed to be protected by their colleges and by the NCAA. These are the women whose athletic careers are damaged by competing and losing against men masquerading as women. These are the women who risk injury by competing against those men.

And they have had enough!

Fifth Women's College Volleyball Team Forfeits Match Against San Jose State

“We, the University of Nevada Reno women’s volleyball team, forfeit against San Jose State University and stand united in solidarity with the volleyball teams of Southern Utah University, Boise State University, the University of Wyoming, and Utah State University,” they wrote.

However, the University of Nevada itself stated that the match will “move forward” as planned, citing Nevada state laws and NCAA regulations. It said the rules require that competitions be held in “an inclusive and supportive environment,” adding that players are free to choose not to participate, and those who skip the game will not face disciplinary action. [bolding mine]

Notice that they are not being supported by their university or the NCAA. But both of those pathetic organizations must dance along a very thin line. On one side is the health and well-being of the athletes they are supposed to protect, and on the other side are the insane demands of the narcissistic cowards pretending to be women. Sadly, those failed male athletes are celebrated and defended by the progressive left and Homosexual Inc., and they have tremendous power in academia.

And notice the Orwellian language..."inclusive and supportive environment?" For whom? Certainly not the women athletes, because their careers and health are in constant jeopardy because of the craven and cowardly behavior of their universities and the NCAA. So that inclusion and support is for the vanishingly small number of supposed "trans" athletes whose sporting careers were mediocre, so they decided to grow their hair and wear women's clothing! Will Thomas is a great example of this lunacy. He has intact male genitalia, and an intact male musculoskeletal structure. How does that qualify him to swim against women? Long hair? A woman's swim suit? That's all it takes?

Regardless, the women at these five schools have finally taken a stance against this insanity. Hopefully this trend expands to every single women's sport in America, and these failed pretend women will be sent packing.

Does anyone want to bet that many of them will quietly return to their correct sex, when their narcissistic dreams are dashed by these real women standing up to them?

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (342) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread - 10-27-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

HT: TRex

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...("I AM THE PUMPKIN KING!")

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, enjoy a pumpkin spice Snickers bar, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (284) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 27 October 2024

Top Story

• Are Boeing's problems beyond fixable? (Financial Times / Ars Technica)
  
  Probably not.
  
  They do need to ditch their space division, though. Find a buyer or just shut it down. Unless the government starts handing out cost plus contracts like candy again, it's a money pit for them.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (182) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Saturday Overnight Open Thread (10/26/24)

d

*****

The Saturday Night Joke With Moral.

The teacher gave her students an assignment asking them to share a story with a moral ... Little Johnny raised his hand and said, "My parents once told me a story about morals." The teacher encouraged him to share and Johnny began, "There was a little bird flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While lying there a cow came by and pooped right on top of it. Strangely, the frozen bird in the pile of cow poop began to feel warm and great; it laid there all cozy and happy and even started singing. Just then a cat passing by heard the bird's song and went over to investigate. When the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow poop, it promptly dug him out and ate him." The teacher was stunned and asked, "Dear God, what was the moral of THAT story?" And little Johnny replied, "Well, it teaches us: (1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy; (2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend; and, most importantly, (3) When you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut. (H/T Kathy)

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:49 PM | Comments (496) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Music Thread: A Real Classic!

Garrett is a bit obsessed! Those are crocs for mountain biking!

Posted by: CBD at 07:30 PM | Comments (323) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - October 26, 2024 [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 and it landed on a theme of Halloween traditions for this week. Imagine that? What a coincidence with Halloween coming up soon!

Let us talk Halloween traditions. Costumes, decorations for the home, pumpkin carving, trick or treating, candy, haunted houses, pumpkin chunkin,and such. Do you embrace the holiday? Are you a jack o lantern artist? Do you have favorite pumpkin designs or costumes from your past? Have you over engineered decorations, costumes or pumkin carving? Are you planning a great costume this year? Do you remember traditions from your childhood? Have you shared traditions with your kids? How did your manage the candy haul of your kids? Did you impose a parent tax that confiscated some of their candy? Do you go overboard with decorating your house for the little ghosts and goblins? Is your house haunted? I know the Horde is crafty. What have you made, built or bodged for Halloween?

Content below to get the conversation started, but looking for participation from our gray box friends. If meaningful to you, it will be meaningful to the Horde. Time to get spooky!

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (157) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, October 26

Courtesy dan

* * *

* * *

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 03:26 PM | Comments (82) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Oct. 26

Winter meets fall, mountains above Ogden, Utah.
Lean Buagas Violeta - Aba

Happy Saturday before Halloween! Hope everyone has an opportunity to go outside. Today, a little appreciation for our farmers.

Posted by: K.T. at 01:28 PM | Comments (75) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Thread before the Gardening Thread, October 26

Posted by: K.T. at 11:20 AM | Comments (258) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival

(H/T KT)

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:30 AM | Comments (437) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 26 October 2024

Top Story

• The Librarian of Congress has granted a DMCA exemption to allow franchise owners to repair their own ice cream machines. (ExtremeTech)
  
  The requested exemption was much broader, but the Librarian only granted the part covering "retail-level food preparation equipment". Still a step forward for soft-serve lovers everywhere.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (287) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gimmie That Old Time ONT

Greetings fellow Hordians! I love this Roman floor mosaic of a dog that knocked over a flagon of wine. Dogs haven't changed in 2000 years.

Posted by: WeirdDave at 10:00 PM | Comments (540) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Animal Aggressions Cafe

Colorado
by @kamaraworkshops

Nice human saves seven baby ducks from a storm drain. The mama duck quacks appreciatively.

Proud mother-to-be.

Oncoming train.

Pandas showing the power and ferocity that allows them to dominate eucalyptus leaves.

Not sure what I'm looking at here.

Lullaby worthy of a King.

Flintstones Big Wheels.

Steve Inman's playcalling of animal altercations. Note these aren't really violent. I don't post animals getting hurt, unless it's a crocodile or something.

Deer vs. squirrel.

Dog vs. cat.

Bear vs. car. Do you believe me now?

Monkey was raised by Doug Emhoff.

This cat learned from the monkey.

Mongoose has one strategy: Confusion.

Pork-our.

Baby ram vs. dork.

Dolphin vs. gay surfer.

Cat vs. owner.

Frog MMA.

A poke and a pounce.

Dog vs. Cat. I really expected more from this dog. Come on, son. You're an embarrassment to your species.

Bull vs. Bronco Betty.

Fish gets final vengeance on fisherman.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 08:32 PM | Comments (311) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Israel Now Bombing Iran

I put the Cafe in for a little bit.

I'm not sure all of the bombing videos are real. I'm assuming they are, but a lot of clickbait accounts just take footage from previous events and label them as the current event.

Whoops: Yup, as I guessed might be the case, one of the vids I posted, and the photo I posted, was from a strike in Lebanon, falsely labeled as a strike on Tehran. That's what happens when you scramble to keep up with breaking news.

I've seen that they're hitting Republican Guards bases. The Mullahs rely on them for internal control of the populace (in addition to conducting foreign terror operations, of course).

I don't know if this is true-- I'm just sharing it.

Eyal Yakoby
@EYakoby

Breaking: The nuclear power plant in Karaj was targeted by the Israeli Air Force.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 07:55 PM | Comments (348) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Fifth Circuit: Only Ballots Received by Election Day May Be Counted; It Is Illegal and Unconstitutional To Count "Votes" Recieved After Election Day

The left has been fighting to count votes received four or five or more days after the constitutionally-specified election day.

This appeals court covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. It doesn't cover that state I mentioned the other day that will count votes four days after the election. However, this ruling could cause other courts to adopt this rule, or the Supreme Court to impose it on them.

The below tweet is incorrect -- a circuit appeals court's decision is only binding on the jurisdictions of the circuit. Sometimes a rinky-dink trail court judge will claim a decision binds the entire nation everywhere. We call those "Hawaiian judges." I've noticed a lot of those decisions get vacated.

We'll have to see. There aren't many days left for litigation!

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 06:54 PM | Comments (318) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The UK Just Arrested Someone for Praying Silently

Russia is our enemy because they're anti-freedom and interfere in our elections, huh?

What about the UK?

She Was Arrested for Praying in Her Head

Citizens in the UK have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for silently praying outside abortion clinics. Even organizing pro-life meetings in your own home may be a criminal offense.

By Madeleine Kearns

October 24, 2024

Emma has strong feelings about abortion: She wears T-shirts that say things like "Pro-life and Proud." A devout Catholic, she is a trustee of a pro-life activism group and regularly holds planning meetings at her flat in Edinburgh, Scotland. On her way to work at an office in the center of town, the 24-year-old passes the abortion facility at nearby Chalmers Hospital. Sometimes, she prays with rosary beads as she walks by.

But now she's worried she could get arrested in her neighborhood--for wearing that T-shirt, for holding those meetings, or even for praying in her head.

On October 4, Emma, who asked not to be named, got a letter from the Scottish government. Addressed "Dear Resident," its purpose was to alert her that her home, due to its proximity to the hospital, is now in an abortion censorship zone.

This is due to the UK's brand-new "Safe Access" law, which came into effect September 24 and made it a criminal offense to do anything within 200 meters of an abortion facility that could "influence" someone's decision to access, provide, or facilitate an abortion. In the Scottish government's letter, Emma read that even "activities in a private place (such as a house) within the area could be an offence if they can be seen or heard within the Zone and are done intentionally or recklessly."

"You can report a group or an individual that you think is breaking the law," the letter added, before providing instructions on how to do so.

Emma couldn't believe her eyes. The law carries a maximum fine of £10,000 (over $13,000). In June, it passed in The Scottish Parliament by 118 votes to one, following in the footsteps of Northern Ireland, which became the first country in the UK to enforce abortion censorship legislation last year. The rest of the UK is doing the same: On October 31, a similar law will come into effect in England and Wales; it was passed by Parliament in 2023. In these countries, the fine will be unlimited.

All of this legislation codifies--on a national level--a trend that has been creeping across the UK for a decade. Ten years ago, in 2014, Parliament empowered local councils to create and police their own antisocial behavior laws. The intention was to enhance "the professional capabilities and integrity of the police." But since 2018, five UK districts have used these powers to aggressively limit what people can do, say, and even think, near abortion clinics. I spoke to four people who have fallen afoul of these restrictions, and a disturbing pattern emerged.

In November 2022, Adam Smith-Connor, now 51, a physiotherapist and veteran, was interrogated by local authorities in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England, which had recently introduced an abortion censorship zone. His alleged crime was silently praying for three minutes while 50 meters from an abortion clinic. When council officers asked, "What is the nature of your prayer?" he replied: "I am praying for my son who is deceased," referring to his unborn child that he and his then-girlfriend decided to abort two decades ago.

Smith-Connor was charged with breaching the censorship zone. Earlier this month, on October 16, he was convicted and ordered to pay £9,000 (roughly $11,700) toward the prosecution's legal fees. He set up a page on a crowdfunding website, which raised the fee within hours. He and the lawyer supporting him are considering an appeal.

The same day, also in Bournemouth, the trial of Livia Tossici-Bolt was due to begin. The retired scientist, who's 64, faces the same charges as Smith-Connor, but her alleged offense is standing outside an abortion clinic in March 2023 with a sign that simply read: "Here to talk, if you want." (Her trial was postponed to March 2025, to give both legal teams time to consider the implications of Smith-Connor's verdict.)

Related: Kamala called for abortion to be mandated across the US, with no exemptions for people of faith.

In other words: Abortion is such a sacrament that nuns working in Catholic hospitals will be compelled to do Moloch's work.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 05:55 PM | Comments (257) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Real John Kelly: A Stupid, Power-Mad, Insubordinate Bully Who Blocked People From Speaking With Trump and Hid Proposals and Reports So That He Could Play Unelected President

From those who know him best:

Mark R. Levin
@marklevinshow

THE REAL JOHN KELLY

Here's what a knowledgeable former White House staffer just texted me about John Kelly and his disastrous time as chief of staff:

"The irony of John Kelly claiming Trump was dictatorial is almost too rich to digest. He personified a Napoleon complex in all its excesses! He daily had to approve guests to the Navy mess, approved or denied requests of staff to use White House exercise facility, insisted on signing off on all newspaper and magazine subscriptions, and demanded a daily summary of all websites visited by sr personnel. He was an out of control, obsessive control freak --- terribly insecure, past the point of paranoia, and after quickly spending his political capital with the boss -- went on incessant jihads to terminate all those he thought too close to POTUS that he could get away with. He refused to share phone logs with POTUS if they contained names he didn't want him speaking to -- it was ENDLESS. And there was the time he physically pushed past Ivanka, which was witnessed by several people. Ask ANYONE, Mark!"

From Peter Navarro's memoir:

Trump's four-star bully chief of staff John Kelly was a traitor within

Peter Navarro

October 25, 2024

Kelly's sensational claims about the president highlight his incompetence, mismanagement, and contempt for the chain of command.

No one knows former Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly better than I do. This bitter, bullying coward should be cast into the dustbin of history for once again smearing Donald Trump, just days before the most important election in modern American history.

It may seem reasonable to assume a four-star general would make a good chief of staff, but that assumption is deeply flawed.

Kelly invariably hated those closest to Trump. As chief of staff, he single-handedly turned Trump allies into bitter and viperous enemies.

Four-star generals like Kelly typically reach the top of their profession because they are seen as the sharpest tools in the military shed. Yet in the West Wing, among uber-elite civilians from academia, the corporate world, and Wall Street, Kelly was consistently the dumbest guy in the room.

Regarding Kelly's leadership, I had to brace myself physically every time his office called, as it inevitably involved some form of threat or abuse. Some leaders inspire, while others attempt to "lead" through intimidation. Kelly was clearly the latter, and I can't imagine serving under his command in combat.

But Kelly's flawed leadership wasn't the most concerning issue. His real failure was his refusal to obey the president, breaking the chain of command.

Kelly, along with Defense Secretary James "Mad Dog" Mattis, knew better than anyone that the military's survival depends on strict respect for the chain of command. Yet once Kelly and Mattis reached the pinnacle of civilian power, they acted as if no one, not even the president, was above them.

Kelly routinely subverted the president's trade agenda. When my former boss instructed Kelly to prepare an executive order to impose steel and aluminum tariffs or tariffs on China, Kelly would consistently delay the process by subjecting it to an extended review.

Kelly employed the same tactic whenever the president attempted to push trading partners like South Korea and Japan to stop screwing us in trade. Both Kelly and Mattis resisted actions that could threaten military alliances with these countries, ignoring the fact that gutting our economy and manufacturing base would ultimately weaken our ability to defend ourselves, let alone any other nation.

Why was Kelly so opposed to Trump's trade policies? Lacking any economic training, Kelly fell easily into the globalist mindset of West Wing figures like National Economic Council Directors Gary Cohn and Larry Kudlow and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin -- all of whom worked to block the president's trade policies.

Because Kelly had no training in politics, he failed to understand the importance of trade policy in holding the high political ground of blue wall manufacturing states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan that Trump had won in 2016.

Because Kelly didn't know how to "let Trump be Trump," as Corey Lewandowski famously advised, there was no way "Captain Queeg" Kelly would allow anyone with differing trade policy ideas near the Oval Office.

Kelly regularly eavesdropped on press phone calls and scrutinized overnight phone logs. If someone like me called the president, we were threatened with firing.

...

Now, it saddens and infuriates me to see Kelly play the court jester to the Atlantic, of all places. I had hoped that the Biden-Harris administration's tragic mishandling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, where Kelly's own son died in combat, might have brought him out of his hate-filled and vengeful derangement. I was wrong. And the

Mark Paoletta
@MarkPaoletta

I worked in the White House with John Kelly, and I don't believe a word he says. He was a terrible chief of staff who dishonestly kept information from the President to pursue his own agenda, an unelected former military official substituting his judgment for the duly elected President. Here are two examples:

1) In 2018, President Trump asked OMB Director Mulvaney to find money in agency accounts to build the wall to secure our southern border. Mulvaney asked OMB Deputy Russ Vought and me as OMB GC to do a deep dive on this project, and with the help of superb career staff, we found a ton of money at the DOD that we could use to build the wall.

But Kelly prevented Mulvaney from presenting this plan to President Trump. Several months later, in a meeting, Trump said "Mick, I asked you to find me money and you haven't." Mulvaney responded "I found the money but I have not been able to brief you." Kelly would not set up policy time for Mulvaney to discuss the plan with Trump.

After this exchange, Mulvaney presented the plan and the President authorized this strategy. John Kelly was insubordinate and duplicitous by refusing to provide the President with lawful options to implement the President's policies.

2) Because of the manner in which the Election Integrity Commission was set up, I wanted to have the President shut it down and direct the DOJ to investigate election fraud. At the time, I was the Counsel to VP Pence, who was the co-chair of the commission, and I had developed a list of previous presidential directives to DOJ to investigate a specific matter so that when making this recommendation I could show it was well supported by history and tradition.

In a meeting with Kelly and others, I made this recommendation and shared the list of examples of Presidents directing DOJ to engage on specific matters. Kelly said he would never show this list to the President because it would be terrible if President Trump knew he could do this, his life was tough enough in dealing with the President, and he did not want him to know this. To my knowledge, President Trump was never made aware of these examples.

John Kelly thought he knew better than President Trump and was opposed to many of his policies. As Chief of Staff, Kelly dishonestly tried to thwart President Trump's policies, and on the wall funding he was totally fine with not doing everything possible to stop illegal aliens flooding into our country and murdering innocent Americans, all in order to protect the bloated bureaucracy of his DOD.

John Kelly will say anything to stop President Trump from being re-elected. It won't work.

Vote Trump Vance 2024.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:55 PM | Comments (214) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Halloween Movie Thread

I know I just did one of these.

I saw House, from 1985 (or 1986 -- it was out in limited release December 1985, then full nationwide release February 1986), on Amazon Prime. With William "Greatest American Hero" Katt, George "Norm" Wendt, and Bull from "Night Court."

I kind of loved it.

It starts out as a sort of grounded, low-key, more serious movie. William Katt is a Vietnam vet troubled by nightmares about his time in the jungle. This is exacerbated by the fact he's chosen to right a memoir about his time in 'Nam, so he's dealing with those memories more than he ever has before.

Don't worry, he's not the Hollywood stereotype "crazy vet" or dysfunctional. He's a successful author and has his act together. He just has nightmares and bad memories.

What is making him a little crazy is that his young son disappeared without a trace when he was visiting his aunt's house under strange -- supernatural? -- circumstances.

After his aunt's death, he moves into the house to write his book. And he starts seeing things.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:00 PM | Comments (299) | Trackbacks (Suck)