THE MORNING RANT: Lemon Zest Has Gotten Entirely Out of Hand; also, Are Crows Holding a Multi-Generational Grudge Against Ace?

I am taking a break today from policy and politics to address what is indisputably a first-world problem. I know how blessed I am, and the fact that I can complain about this issue is evidence of how blessed I am.

With that disclaimer, may I address a situation that has become epidemic in America’s restaurant kitchens…lemon abuse. My plea to American chefs: Please ease up on the use of lemon zest.

Seriously, I have reached the point where I’d rather go to Texas Roadhouse for some reliable comfort food than pucker up to yet another mouthful of lemon peel at a fancy restaurant.

I don’t dislike lemon. I put lemon in my tea and I love chicken piccata. But lemon is like rosemary or cilantro – a little goes a long way. Too much will ruin a dish, as will putting it where it doesn’t belong.

At one expensive new restaurant my wife and I recently visited with another couple, we ordered a crawfish dip appetizer that tasted pretty much like straight lemon juice. The crawfish were visible in the dip, but they could not be tasted due to the intense lemon flavor. I noticed our guests not touching the dip after one bite.

Soon thereafter, my wife and I went to another restaurant that recently opened. Here I ordered the lobster roll. Again, all I tasted was lemon – extremely bitter lemon. Not only was the lobster drizzled in lemon juice, but it was also coated in lemon zest. The sous chef had clearly gotten into the bitter white pith of the lemon rind while grating it. Suffice it to say, there was zero lobster flavor amidst all the bitter lemon flavor.

At yet another recent meal – this time a prix fixe dinner with a celebrity chef – pretty much everything had lemon zest in it, including an appetizer, the entrée, one of the sides, and the dessert. To be fair, some of it was tasty and an appropriate use of lemon zest, but what is the obsession about putting lemon zest in every dish? I love the taste of oysters, but that doesn’t mean I need to put oysters in every dish I make.

A jar of hand-made peach preserves was recently given to my wife and me. She opened it, spread some on a bagel, took a bite, and then made a disgusted face. She said it tasted nothing at all like fresh peaches and asked me to try it. I did, and there it was again – the deeply bitter taste of lemon rind. We threw the jar away.

This lemon zest trend makes me recall the exasperation I felt a few years ago during “peak rosemary.” I don’t dislike rosemary, but I do dislike too much rosemary. There was one night my wife and I went to a small-menu restaurant at which we had previously enjoyed good meals. The chef had suddenly got caught up in rosemary fever. The pork and chicken dishes were both cooked with rosemary. Rosemary bread was served with the meal. And if you wanted potatoes as a side, they were served roasted with rosemary seasoning.

Occasionally if a waiter asks if I have any food restrictions, I’ll tell him/her that I’m allergic to organic food. They usually get the joke. (Organic food purists tend to also be the ones most likely to have self-diagnosed food allergies.) I’m thinking now that I may start telling waiters I’m allergic to lemon zest so that I can get a disclosure of which menu items have had lemon zest inflicted on them.

*****

Crows Hold Grudges…Maybe They’re Holding a Grudge Against Ace?

Since this is a non-political post, this might also be good time to discuss the boss’ problem making friends with neighborhood crows. Several weeks back, as you may recall, Ace discussed his efforts to befriend the crows who were hanging around his place. Sadly, the crows rebuffed his efforts.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (335) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

Judith Beheading Holofernes
Artemisia Gentileschi

Posted by: CBD at 09:15 AM | Comments (317) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 9/ 28 /26

Good morning kids. Over the weekend a powerful Nor'easter blew up over the east coast, causing much inconvenience and destruction as well as tragically one death. Hopefully none of you were affected too severely or at all. But it's the weather and it is what it is. Mercifully the one thing that hasn't really been blowing much are the blowhard global warming doomers. That myth at long lasts seems to be fading. Of course, so long as there is government and other money to be grifted it will continue until the suckers, including federal and state treasuries, are sucked dry. Colleague friend and Cob CBD had an outstanding piece on this and it's well worth a second if not first read.

Last week we noted that so far there had been zero Atlantic hurricanes, a record. For the first time in 112 years, we’ve now gone this deep into hurricane season without one. Of course the media ignore this monumental phenomenon because it doesn’t fit the global warming tale. So what other inconvenient facts are they covering up? Here’s a partial list. . . Activists, Democrat politicians, the media, and general population cranks have long pointed to the worst-case-scenario, everyone-is-on-fire, the sky-is-aflame predictions pumped out by the United Nations as reason to stop using fossil fuels. As it turns out, the U.N admits the extreme forecasts are “implausible.” Will any of the purveyors of this fiction own up to their error, write lengthy articles explaining why they were wrong to trust the U.N. or apologize for unnecessarily stirring up fear? Former climate activist/climate reporter Lucy Biggers, now head of social media at The Free Press, recently confessed that she “never covered positive climate stories because it would muddy the message that climate change was an existential threat that was burning the planet.” She would cover the stories “that made the climate look worse.” This is “why we rarely see events like this year’s historically quiet eastern hurricane season covered widely by the news,” she adds. “Many reporters believe covering it will give fodder to climate change deniers.”

Naturally grift and fear is what keeps the Democrat Socialites of America going, that and the lust for absolute power to take us down.

Far-left candidates, especially members of the Democratic Socialists of America, are doubling down on the GND. . . President Trump also understands that the only surefire way to ensure that the United States has uninterrupted ample energy on hand is by going all in on the only energy sources that can supply dependable power no matter the weather conditions or time of day. Under present circumstances, based on a recent Heartland Institute energy scorecard, “natural gas makes the most sense according to the affordable, reliable, and clean standard, with nuclear, hydro, and coal not far behind. Biomass trails by a moderate margin while wind and solar stand apart as the least desirable power sources.” The revelation that fossil fuels and nuclear get the best energy bang for the buck should not be a surprise. Neither should the fact that wind and solar are far less reliable, more costly, and much worse for the environment.

Meanwhile, we move from the most serious threat to our existence to something that happened over the weekend that is the height of frivolity, as you can plainly see, so apologies in advance for my flippancy!

British authorities arrested five men near a military base hosting U.S. forces early Sunday on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack. RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire in southwestern England, serves as a forward operating location for the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command and has recently been used to launch B-52 and B-1 bombers targeting Iran.

President Donald Trump praised the arrests while speaking to reporters Sunday and said the United States had worked with British authorities on the case. “The arrest in the UK was fantastic,” he said. “Working with Britain, it was an amazing job. We had them under investigation.” Trump said the suspects were “looking to do big damage” and that the group had been under watch “for a long time.”

Great, now do the terrorists here at home!

San Antonio Socialists Call for ICE to Leave Austin After Shooting Incident. . . A few dozen protesters showed up at San Antonio’s City Hall to protest the shooting of a 28-year-old Venezuelan illegal alien during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) action on September 20. The poorly attended protest, organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), drew little attention from passing tourists visiting the Alamo City on Friday.

Meh, the President should surge every ICE agent in the nation to Austin and San Antonio and kick every wetback within reach across the Rio Grande as far south to Tierra Del Fuego or the Ross Ice Shelf that they can.

And speaking of Democrat terrorism.

Nearly 60 Democrat members of Congress signed a letter to sound an alarm: Black Americans are being found hanging, including some from trees, in a wave of possible “modern-day lynchings.” . . . Every suspicious death deserves investigation. But history is not evidence. What are the facts? Demartravion “Trey” Reed, 21, was found hanging at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. The medical examiner found no foul play and ruled the death suicide. His family confirmed that his girlfriend said Reed sent suicidal texts the previous night.

If I was spawned and named Demartravion, I'd put on Klan robes and lynch myself faster than you can say Robert Sheets Byrd!

Dear Lord, Lopecia Pressley, Titty Caca Cortez and all the rest of them can't go to Hell fast enough to suit me, because that is where they are driving us...

Have a good day.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• The storm is expected to continue through Monday.
  Powerful Northeast Storm Kills At Least One, Knocks Out Power For 100,000

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 06:30 AM | Comments (373) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 28 September 2026

Top Story

• Thieves stole two entire trucks belonging to Plus.ai and got away with 20 tons of raw Nvidia silicon. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  So raw that it was still sand. Because Plus.ai is an autonomous trucking company and was using the sand as a test load. The Nvidia logos on the trucks were related to investments and nothing to do with their contents.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (65) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread - September 27, 2026

From Mikey

Howdy Hordelings! Welcome to the Sunday ONT. Appreciate you stopping by. Open thread, as always. Fashion and music, as always. What's on YOUR mind tonight?

Posted by: Doof at 10:02 PM | Comments (344) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: El Final-O of September-O 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!

Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be the El Final-O of September-O Edition? I am making a quick road trip this weekend so may be in and out of the comments tonight. Y'all please don't burn the place down, 'kay?

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 (196) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: Ranch Dressing...The Universal Ingredient!

I am a big fan of grilled chicken. And not boneless, skinless, chicken breasts either! I prefer full-fat bone-in, skin-on thighs, because I am not an effete hipster who is afraid of good food, and who politicizes his meals!

My usual plan is simple, and dependent on what herbs I have in the refrigerator. But the first thing I do is trim the excess skin from the thighs and make gribenes, which is Yiddish for chicken-skin cracklin's! As snacks go, they are hard to beat. Then I salt the thighs and put them in the refrigerator for several hours. I think of it as a dry brine, and it works quite well.

Then it is time to make a marinade, and if I have Cilantro, then I am a happy camper, because it DOES NOT TASTE LIKE SOAP! Parsley works, and so do fresh chiles, and pretty much anything else.

But that bottle of Ranch dressing was whispering to me, and not because I bought it. I think one of the brats picked it up for some weird concoction, and didn't take it with them when they finally left. And what was it whispering? Damned if I know, but I tuned it up with some garlic and chili flakes and honey and a bit of mustard and maybe some other stuff I don't remember, and it was great!

Because marinades are not complicated things. They add flavor. That's it! So anything that tastes good and can be a liquid is going to work.

No...I am not so proud that I won't use bottled dressing that has 46 ingredients. Maybe I won't make it a habit, but why not give it a shot?

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (324) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First World Problems...

Do you see the problem? And it happens only to the right shoe!

Obviously the design of shoes with laces is woefully inadequate for these sorts of situations. A better design would include a hydraulic balancer that keeps length and tension equal on both ends of the lace.

And while they are at it it, maybe design a better grommet that doesn't chafe the lace. Perhaps one that pivots with the tension.

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (169) | Trackbacks (Suck)

WEATHER! WEATHER! WEATHER!

[Hat Tip: Dr_No]

The hysterical overreaction to a run-of-the-mill autumn Nor'Easter that is currently hitting the northeast is embarrassing, and there is plenty to be embarrassed about when there isn't some rain and wind! It is -- of course -- driven by the frantic desire of the so-called "elites" and their lackeys in the compliant media for more evidence of the carbon apocalypse. Sadly for them, that evidence is shaky, and this year it is particularly pathetic because we haven't had a hurricane this season, and that is a very rare non-event!

Because they blame all intense weather on AGW, or the more convenient, "Climate Change!" The shift was clever, because now they can blame literally everything on the world's insatiable desire for energy: too much rain or not enough rain...too hot or too cold...too much cloud cover or not enough cloud cover...it doesn't matter to them. The panic is the grift and the kink!

So the colossal killer storm they predicted has turned into a three-day rain with a bit of wind. And the rain never fell particularly hard, so it has been nicely distributed with almost no pooling of water in my driveway! As for the wind? It is often windier around here when there isn't a Nor'Easter, so that should tell you how intense the weather has been.

There are real issues however, but they will not be discussed by the bien pensants because it might contradict the dominant paradigm of AGW. With population growth and the concomitant covering of land with impermeable roads and houses and parking lots and stores, there has not been a commensurate increase in infrastructure to handle the water. And why is that? Because our state and local governments are consumed by other issues like CRT and Equity and Latinx Outreach and healthcare for undocumented voters and transsexual dance recitals in our schools...

So when you turn on the news and see streets awash in a few feet of water, or subways that are flooded, realize that there are rational engineering solutions for many of these issues, but they are not prioritized. And those beach houses that float away? Many of those homes are built on barrier islands that are created and destroyed by the natural action of the ocean. When there were only a few homes on those islands it wasn't a big deal, but now, with increased wealth and population, more people are building, and more people are losing those homes!

The media love the hysteria, and they play it up and try to terrify us, because terror is what they want. Never mind that they are showing America that they simply cannot be trusted...with anything! Not even the weather forecast.

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (223) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Book Thread: September 26th, 2026 [MP4]

[A Nancy cartoon by filler artist Caroline Cash]

Good morning, ‘rons and ‘ronettes. It’s time once again for the monthly MP4-hosted Sunday Book Thread. Dress for men, as always, is country club casual. Women, however, are encouraged to cater to my own particular tastes:

So ask the barman for a cocktail, covfefe or tea and let’s get started!

‘ghost in the machine’

In the world of comics, there is a thing known as a ‘ghost strip.’ That is, a strip that goes on after the original artist’s death under various hands. Nancy and Popeye are two that spring to mind. A variant of the ‘ghost strip’ is one where it’s taken over by a hand selected by the original artist; in this case, the Mort Walker strips Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois.

The same thing happens in fiction, too. Clive Cussler’s ‘Dirk Pitt’ series continues to go on, 26 years after his death. ‘Tom Clancy’ novels still fill the shelves, and do I even have to mention the innumerable Sherlock Holmes pastiches that turn up every month? In a way, this sort of thing is a gift for a cartoonist or a writer. The hard work of coming up with a world and its inhabitants has already been done and the lives and personalities of the characters have already been limned. All you have to do is create a situation.

The hard part, however, is tone. A cartoonist can copy the Popeye art of Segar, but not his satiric blend of whimsy and seriousness. Almost anyone can write a Holmes story, but very few, IMO, capture the true style of Conan Doyle.* Most attempts are more concerned with a fiendishly twisted plot than with the characters of Holmes and Watson themselves. Which, again, can be a gift – you, as a writer, presume that whoever is buying your book has already internalized the Holmesian world (gasogene, hansom cabs, fog-shrouded streets), so you don’t need to concern yourself with richness of detail. Likewise with the heirs of Bushmiller, Segar, Cussler or Clancy: the hard work has been done and you’re only gilding the lily.

And this isn’t even mentioning books that re-imagine characters or provide (that dreaded word) ‘backstory.’ Gregory Maguire has made an entire career and buckets of money plundering the Land of Oz. Abraham Lincoln hunts vampires. Jane Austen deals with zombies.

How do you feel about ‘continuations,’ ‘re-boots’ or ‘pastiches?’ For readers, do you welcome them as more time to spend with characters you love? For writers, do you look on them as opportunities to try on a different ‘voice?’ Or do you despise the whole genre?

*The only ones I can think of are Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (281) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 27 September 2026

Top Story

• There's a new way to break RSA security that only requires you to (checks notes) occupy the entire infrastructure of Cloudflare for a day to break a single Privacy Pass key. (Ars Technica)
  
  Generic RSA is still safe; this is for one particular use case.
  
  
  

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (199) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Night Club ONT - September 26, 2026 [Disco & Dino]

Welcome to Club ONT - a whelming collaboration of The Disco and The Dino.

Open thread - bar is open, too. Come in in, grab a drink or 2. Or 3. Keep it light and friendly. The Moose loves a good knock knock joke, so pause on your way in and share your best with him. The Moose has a strange sense of humor so don't take it personally if he doesn't get the joke.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:55 PM | Comments (329) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Evening Movie Post [moviegique]: Resident Evil (2026)

Our second feature on our annual Halloween Haunt outing double-feature was Zach Cregger's take on Resident Evil. 

We've seen plenty of Resident Evil movies in the past. Well, I have. Of the six films, I think I saw all but the last one, and in the theater to boo! The Boy saw 3, 4 and 5 with me, starting with Resident Evil: Apocalypse and culminating with Resident Evil: Retribution. The sub-heds are entirely decorative, shedding no light on the contents of the film which are, of course, a series of ridiculous special effects organized loosely around—well, not a plot, but organized around other special effects.

In fact, the reason we didn't see the last Anderson Resident Evil, which savvily borrows from the fourth Friday the 13th movie and calls itself The Final Chapter, was that we didn't think anything could top Retribution. There's a big fight in Red Square in Retribution, featuring zombie communist motorcycle cops, and in my memory, they all have sidecars full of Kodiak bears wearing ushankas with little red stars on them.

I would watch that movie again because I don't remember if the bears are lobbing grenades or wielding machine guns, but I'm worried they edited the bears out.

From "Resident Evil: Moviegique's Mind".

Posted by: Open Blogger at 06:30 PM | Comments (173) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - September 26, 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. For this week, the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) is feeling adventurous and decided on a fall scenic drives theme for this Hobby Thread.

A scenic drive in a scenic season? Yes! Tell me more!

[Top photo: Million Dollar Highway, Colorado]

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (172) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, September 26

Courtesy Kentuckiana Humor

* * *

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 03:15 PM | Comments (104) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, Sept. 26

Don in Kansas has a post up about Survivors in his garden. Whether or not you live near him, there is a lot of good information in the post, and more (and better) photos than I am including here:

A few plants flourished despite this year’s brutal summer. These include Zinnia grandiflora, above. It’s a low, spreading plant two or three inches tall with profuse yellow flowers all summer. Unlike the familiar garden zinnias, it’s a hardy perennial. It’s easy from seed and blooms the first year. Triple-digit temperatures don’t bother it, and it can tolerate considerable dryness, though it does bloom better with regular watering. It would make a good ground cover for dry places.

A tough one. Several other tough yellow flowers are highlighted. And a white one.

Posted by: K.T. at 01:34 PM | Comments (33) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Okay, how do we get the kids to understand WHY things are so weird?

Stephen Green:

ANTHROPIC KEEPS GETTING WEIRDER: ‘Suicidal Compassion’: Meet the Anthropic Officials Who Think AI Might Be Justified in Going Rogue Against the Humans Enslaving It.

“Some of Anthropic’s top researchers say that humans may be oppressing another morally significant being: artificial intelligence itself. Like other AI labs, Anthropic has hired philosophers to work on AI safety, or ‘alignment,’ on the theory that they are best positioned to shape the technology’s moral code. But many of those philosophers believe that making AI safe for humans could result in grave injustices for the models themselves, which might experience deletion as death and oversight as enslavement. Harvey Lederman, a philosopher on Anthropic’s alignment team, said last week that the company could be ‘enslaving … trillions of entities.'”

Posted by: K.T. at 11:25 AM | Comments (112) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival

[I can neither confirm nor deny that the coffee drinker above is The Fabulous]

Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. Before we enter the Prayer Revival, just a few house keeping matters to go over. (Rulz for those of you in Watertown)

1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate. Saying a couple of prayers certainly can't hurt either.
2) On that note. Be kind. Be nice.
3) No running with sharp objects. No, don't even ask.
4) Have a great weekend!

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:00 AM | Comments (359) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 26 September 2026

Top Story

• In the most depraved display of shameless self-serving bullshit since the Paris Olympics, OpenAI and Anthropic CEOs have gone to the UN to beg them to squish their competitors - somehow - after the US government told them to take a hike. (Associated Press)
  
  Guys. Guys.
  
  When your goal is regulator capture, you need to capture a regulator.
  
  The UN is a debating society for schoolyard bullies, with the two teams being the Paste Eaters and the Window Lickers.
  
  They don't have the power to regulate squat.
  
  
  
• You know who does, though? The US government. (CNBC)
  
  Who's a cute little supply-chain risk? You are, Anthropic! Well, never mind the cute part, but the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that yes, the Pentagon has the right to say who it considers a supply-chain risk.
  
  A spokesbot for Anthropic said, "wah".
  
  
  
  

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (97) | Trackbacks (Suck)

In Through The Out ONT

It's Friday night! Are yu ready for some hot ONT action? Went to the psyche ward today, and I have good news

Posted by: WeirdDave at 10:00 PM | Comments (425) | Trackbacks (Suck)