Mid-Morning Art Thread

The Monongahela River Valley, Pennsylvania
John Kane

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (334) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 9/3/24

Good Morning Kids. This past weekend marked both the 85th anniversary of the start of the Second World War and the 79th anniversary of its official conclusion, with the signing of the surrender of Japan aboard the U.S.S. Missouri.

As General Douglas Macarthur stated:

     It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past - a world founded upon faith and understanding - a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish - for freedom, tolerance and justice. . .      It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past - a world founded upon faith and understanding - a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish - for freedom, tolerance and justice.

While one can certainly make the case that the blood and carnage of the past are indeed the human condition. Over the course of human history, in spite of that, there have always been people who have striven to make Macarthur's prayers and hope come true.

Yet here we are 80 years on and the nation that was founded as the exception to history to be that shining example of freedom tolerance and justice has rotted out from within by the forces of venality, tyranny and oppression who seek our souls and our destruction to satisfy their base desires for absolute control.

Obviously, today as we look to the rest of the world, and most especially to where the precepts of our founders, the Judeo-Christian tradition and Western civilization itself, were born, the land of Israel, it's all collapsing in on itself in an orgy of ancient bloodlust and hatred, as retrograde forces continue their never-ending quest to conquer the world, and/or destroy it if they cannot have it. The twin monsters of slam and Leftism.

I'll have to keep it brief today, as I have a very early doctors appointment.

Have a good day, keep the faith, and don't let the bastards get you down.

Hasta mañana.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 06:08 AM | Comments (518) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 3 September 2024

Top Story

• Andreesen Horowitz partner Joshua Lu says the future of gaming is AI, and Discord. (Tech Crunch)
  
  What would he know?

  Andreessen Horowitz's partner Joshua Lu knows that, in the video game industry, you can never get too comfortable. When he was head of product at Zynga, he experienced the height of mobile games, working on hits like Words with Friends; then as a vice president at Blizzard Entertainment, he helped produce tentpole hits like Diablo Immortal.

  Wait. Diablo Immortal? I've heard of that.
  
  Oh, yeah.
  
  Diablo Immortal slammed on Metacritic, now holds lowest user score ever. (Kotaku)
  
  It scored 0.2. Out of 10.
  
  After some updates the score increased slightly. It now stands at 0.3.
  
  Of course, that's on PC. On iOS they're more tolerant of pay-to-win mobile slop. It scored 0.5 there.
  
  This was the game where it infamously cost $110,000 to fully equip a single character. (GameRant)
  
  The future of gaming smells like a sewer.
  
  

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (52) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Monday Overnight Open Thread (9/2/24)

*****

The Statement of The Day

Statement I

"RTD strongly condemns the hateful, discriminatory message portrayed by the signs. There is no place for racism or discrimination at RTD or within the communities we serve. The signs do not reflect the organization’s adopted values or promote a welcoming transit environment for all, nor should such vile messaging be tolerated or supported by anyone." RTD(H/T OrangeEnt)

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:38 PM | Comments (605) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Labor Day Cafe

Death Valley

Please sir can I have some more?

More dogs taking the day trip to the country (IG).

Parachute/airpad backpack to escape burning buildings. (IG)

Wingsuit guy flying through keyhole in mountain rock. (IG)

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 07:30 PM | Comments (244) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Packing Up and Heading Home Open Thread

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 06:30 PM | Comments (115) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Yard Signs Open Thread

I stupidly posted this on Friday night, but in case you missed it:

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 05:15 PM | Comments (181) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The "Mazes and Monsters" Tribute Album You Didn't Know You Needed

"Mazes and Monsters" was a book and then a TV movie. The story was a fictionalized version of a student at Michigan State (IIRC) who went missing. The Fake News account of the disappearance was that he crazy from playing Dungeons & Dragons and disappeared into the tunnels under the school, lost in a fantasy world. This idea was proposed by a private detective paid to find the kid. He couldn't find him, but he seized on the D&D theory.

In fact, he went to some other school to hook up with someone without telling anyone. It didn't have anything to do with D&D.

But the story was out there for exploitation and got exploited.

Below, the very silly conclusion of the TV movie, taking place atop the Two Towers.

After that, choice quotes from that movie, and that scene, made part of a dungeonpunk synth track.

It's all very, very silly.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:00 PM | Comments (259) | Trackbacks (Suck)

More Beach Fun Open Thread

The Bee:

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 02:45 PM | Comments (265) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Beach Vacation Open Thread

I stupidly posted this video on Friday.

It's a real video of Biden on his second straight week of "vacation," with a little editing.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 01:30 PM | Comments (246) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Oldie But Furry Open Thread

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 12:15 PM | Comments (190) | Trackbacks (Suck)

THE MORNING RANT: EV Death Pool Update – A Thermal Runaway of Bad News for Rivian, Including Production Shutdown of its Amazon Delivery Van

Because Rivian still has several billion dollars of investor cash to burn through, it’s not at the top of my EV Manufacturer Death Pool. (Lucid and VinFast will likely fail first.) But Rivian is the largest and most over-hyped of the Tesla competitors, having seduced bad investments from major corporations like Amazon and Volkswagen, and from credulous politicians like Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. When Rivian fails, it will be the most spectacular of the overhyped EV bubble companies to fully deflate.

There has been an explosion of additional bad news for Rivian in recent days - you might even call it a thermal runaway. Concurrent with this bad news is a level of corporate reticence that makes me question how forthright Rivian is being about its problems. Specifically, Rivian has suspended production of its much-hyped Amazon vans, blaming the production shutdown on a “parts shortage,” but refusing to specify what the part is. I’m skeptical, especially in light of all the recent troubles these Amazon vans have been having.

You may recall this story from a few weeks ago about the problems Amazon is having with its Rivian delivery vans bursting into flames. There have been several instances, most recently in Houston, where it was initially thought that charging Rivian EVs in normal summer heat (e.g. over 90 degrees) may have been a triggering event for the thermal runaway fire.

“Electric Amazon Delivery Vans Keep Burning Down, And Chargers May Be To Blame” [7/02/2024]

Shortly thereafter, the news broke that Rivian was suspending production of its Amazon delivery vans. Rivian’s excuse sounds like it came straight out of a 2021 press release – “supply chain issues.” Peculiarly, the supply chain issue only affects parts for Rivian’s Amazon vans, not for the rest of Rivian’s lineup. Perhaps a shipment of sliding rear doors was targeted by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. What is clear is that Rivian seems to be withholding information, as the company refuses to say which missing components are causing the suspension of delivery van production.

Rivian has to stop making electric vans for Amazon; It’s the latest supply chain issue for the nascent EV maker [Jalopnik – 8/16/2024]

Rivian has paused production of its electric van, which it built for Amazon, because of a parts shortage. It’s the latest supply chain issue for the nascent EV maker.

The shortage began earlier this month, according to Rivian, but the automaker declined to say exactly which components were in short supply.

Rivian is a publicly traded company. There is no excuse for it not to provide investors specific details about the “parts shortage.” If this production shutdown is not actually related to a parts shortage, Rivian shareholders will have a solid reason to engage counsel for redress against the company when the stock price goes lower.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (269) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

No.61 (Rust and Blue)
Маркус Роткович

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (366) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 9/2/24

Good Morning Kids. Hope you all are all enjoying your Labor Day weekend. The big story, horrendous though it is, is unfortunately not at all surprising in the least. The dark age Islamic savages from Hamas have slaughtered 6 Israeli hostages, evidently as forces from the IDF were on the verge of liberating them. This after nearly a year in captivity. Naturally, the propaganda media complex is focused on anger in the Israeli street at Bibi Netanyahu. Whatever the fault of Netanyahu, his government and military in not only not anticipating the attack on 10/7 but in its response both in the immediate aftermath and now ongoing, I feel I am not knowledgeable enough to address.

What I can say is with absolute certainty is that the so-called "peace process" going on since the days of Jimmy Carter has done nothing but process hundreds of innocent lives into so much worm food, in the misguided (at best) hope that Israel and yet another Islamic state can live side by side peacefully. If the previous millennium and a half of Islam and the oceans of blood it has spilled in its continuous quest to conquer the world, and/or destroy it in the process didn't prove this folly, nothing ever will.

For sure this latest round of madness goes back to Obama and Biden/Harris, who along with the globalist, Jew-haters at Foggy Bottom have long sought to replace Israel as the dominant force in the region with Iran. That is, replace a nation that is not only an ally but one that is an actual free, prosperous and open and peaceful society founded on Judeo-Christian ethics and a beacon of 2,000 years of Western enlightenment with one that views armageddon as a desirable political goal in enslaving the world and eradicating 2,000 years of human advancement as embodied by both Israel and America as founded (not as it is or as it is heading).

In March, President Biden said that if Israel invaded Rafah, the last major Hamas holdout in southern Gaza, it would cross a “red line” that threatened US aid.
Asked about his statement shortly after, Vice President Kamala Harris added to ABC News, “We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake . . . And so we’ve been very clear that it would be a mistake to move into Rafah with any type of military operation.”
Now we know the tragic cost of the Harris-Biden administration’s dithering: Six dead hostages, including one Israeli-American.
Some families of the dead are blaming this loss on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to secure a cease-fire, and no one can question their sorrow or resolve.
But Hamas has shown again and again that it wasn’t negotiating in good faith. The terrorists refused to return hostages unless Israel essentially surrendered, pulled out of Gaza and allowed Hamas to remain in power. 
The “huge mistake” here was not failing to capitulate to Hamas, it is the US criticizing Israel rather than joining the fight.

The Biden-Harris administration could have told Iran: Force your proxy to give up hostages or pay a steep price — financially and militarily. 
And told Hamas in no uncertain terms: Give up the hostages or we help Israel root you out, and pressure Qatar to stop sheltering your leader. 
The very least would have been to give Israel a free hand to try to rescue its people.
We saw the heroics the IDF was capable of in June, when it freed Noa Argamani and three other hostages alive out of Nuseirat. 
That these bodies were found in Rafah shows that Israel was absolutely right that Hamas despicably hid hostages among Gazan civilians, gambling that campus protesters and hesitant governments would stay Israel’s hand.

Harris and Biden played right into Hamas’ ploy, threatening Israel to appease the anti-Israel wing of the Democratic Party. They put the electoral votes of Michigan before what was right.

...Speaking of Minnesota:

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee, walked away Sunday after being asked by a reporter what his “reaction” was to the news that the bodies of six Israeli hostages had been discovered in a Hamas tunnel underneath Gaza, including one American citizen. . .

. . . Walz, holding a vanilla milkshake, was then asked by a reporter about his “reaction” to the news that the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas had been found, to which he turned and walked away.

Vanilla. Of course. Certainly not an Andy Ngo strawberry/QUickcrete special hate-shake.

While that's going on, illegal alien criminals are hijacking school buses in San Diego as well as taking over and terrorizing apartment houses in Colorado. Or is it just our racist imaginations running away with us, as Colorado's pudgy mincing governor insisted. Past tense. He's now whistling a slightly different tune:

Colorado is a zero tolerance state for illegal activity, taking over buildings has no place in Colorado, and I am confident that the city of Aurora shares this basic value and will enforce the law if it is being violated there. I urge them to do so quickly and in a thorough manner. Over the last month, I have been in regular contact with the City of Aurora and the Aurora Police Department and have offered any and all state assistance to support their efforts if requested. The state has been ready for weeks to back up any operation by the Aurora Police Department needed to make Aurora safer.

That’s a pretty big shift from Aurora officials are overreacting to an imaginary problem. Odd, though, that the state would prepare weeks ago for something that is the figment of an Aurora official’s imagination.

Of course, America's unique version of bipedal radioactive mange has this to offer:

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) advocated turning millions of illegal aliens into U.S. citizens this week and making them eligible for taxpayer-funded assistance for buying homes.

Pelosi made the remarks during a Friday interview on HBO’s “Real Time” with Bill Maher when asked about a highly controversial bill in California that would make illegal aliens eligible for $150,000 for purchasing homes — even as the state leads the country with the largest number of homeless U.S. citizens.
“What I would like to do is move them to documented,” she said. “One of the best things we can do for our economy is pass comprehensive immigration reform.”
Pelosi admitted that the issue of supporting immigration is no longer “bipartisan” ever since Democrats began to weaponize the issue and sought to import voters whom they believe will end up voting for them.

“But not free housing,” Maher responded.“Well, that’s not free housing. It’s the American Dream being available to more people,” Pelosi claimed.

“California is always in the lead,” she claimed. “Maybe others will follow that lead, but that’s up to those states. But we are very blessed here with beautiful diversity.”

How about a two-state solution right here in North America: America as founded, and everyone else who does not want that go to hell. And take the illegal aliens with you, for diversity.

Have a good day.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• Richard Fernandez: There is a feeling among some that the November 2024 election is special. It is useful to consider why. American presidential activities have become increasingly important since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, ushering in a period of U.S. dominance occasionally referred to as The End of History. The Reagan victory marked a moment when the key battlefield in the struggle to determine the future of humanity shifted from the superpower competition between East and West to the simple control of the institutions of the West, following the collapse of the USSR.
  Belmont Club: Dusk or Dawn?

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 06:35 AM | Comments (361) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 2 September 2024

Top Story

• Intel is expected to sell off its Altera division and freeze plans for a massive new factory in Germany, but not spin off its manufacturing division. (WCCFTech)
  
  This makes sense. Altera was a standalone business until 2015 when Intel bought it. Intel already started moves to spin it off late last year, so all they would be doing is bringing plans forward a little.
  
  Separating the entire manufacturing division would be a major upheaval for a company that is already a little too upheaved.
  
  
  

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:19 AM | Comments (78) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread (9/1/24)

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 10:00 PM | Comments (466) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: First September and Texas MoMe Edition!

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

Some of you may recall I mentioned twisting my ankle last week while rescuing blind and crippled orphans from a burning school bus stuck on railroad tracks near the farm. It's nothing really; I saw my ankle guy this week and the prognosis is good. Although ice and keeping it elevated seemed to be doing the trick and for no other reason than to set a good example for others, I am also wearing an orthopedic boot of shame, weakness, humiliation and Range Babe repellent to facilitate resting the joint. Thank you for the outpouring of concern and good wishes! Now if you will excuse me I really do need to go put my foot up because it hurts like a mo-fo.

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

Posted by: Weasel at 07:00 PM | Comments (341) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: Labor Day And Sous Vide!

What is it about grilling that is so much damned fun and so pleasing? I can probably cook more food with less effort in my kitchen, but slinging hot dogs or burgers or chicken or steaks (or all at once!0 on a grill is a simple pleasure that rarely gets old.

I wish all of you a full grill, fine weather, cold beer, good bourbon, and a backyard or house or apartment or sewer drain filled with friends and family!

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (272) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First-World Problems...

It's tough to see in the photo, but that is a one-tablespoon measure sitting on the counter after being washed. And if you look closely you will see a bit of water sitting in the spoon. In a sane world, that measuring spoon would be sitting on the counter with the reservoir POINTING DOWN!

But in the dystopian hellscape that is Chez Dildo, gravity is not an appreciated force. In fact, it is almost universally ignored, judging by the number of bowls placed in the dishwasher on their sides...guaranteeing a lovely bowl of dishwater at the end of the cycle.

I think corporal punishment is the only solution.

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (164) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Labor Day And The Lost Respect For What Has Made America Great

Labor Day may be a sop to the unions and the progressive pressure groups that are loosely defined as "labor," but I prefer to see it as a recognition of the incredible tradition of labor that took America from a small, mostly agrarian nation to a world-leader in 150 years. Yes, we had coal and oil and timber and iron and water power, but we had visionaries who could take those inputs and create something far bigger. Samuel Slater, Eli Whitney, Oliver Evans, Robert Fulton, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and hundreds of other designers and engineers and dreamers created a manufacturing colossus, all with the help of the brightest and most hardworking labor force in the history of the world.

It was their brawn and brains that drove America to such great heights, and the honor of sometimes backbreaking work in the steel mills and coal mines and railroads and factories of America is something that we should never diminish.

Yet now we mock it!

Digging ditches as a teenager? Never! Bagging groceries, sweeping the shop floor, lugging parts from one bench to another, fetching tools, lubricating great machines? That's beneath us!

But that is the crucible from which the master machinist emerged. That is the classroom where the heavy equipment operator, who looks like he was born in the cab of his crane, learned his craft. That is where the welder who built the great war machines that saved the world learned how to do his magic. That is where the machine-tool operator who eyeballs a ten-thousandth cut learned his wizardry.

But we have spent generations denigrating that labor, and we are left with a nation that sees "labor" as a dirty word. Never mind that those laborers are responsible for the unimaginable wealth of America, and that without them we would rapidly fall back into a muddle of third world poverty and a decaying country that simply cannot be repaired.

Our youth dreams of web design and fancy offices and massage stations at work and never ever getting their hands dirty.

Change a tire? Call someone!

But one day that call will go unanswered...

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (261) | Trackbacks (Suck)