Mid-Morning Art Thread

Locomotive Watering
Reginald Marsh

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (332) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 5/ 4/26

Good morning kids. Sad to have to kick off a new week and first full week of May with this troubling news:

“Mayor Rudy Giuliani is currently in the hospital, where he remains in critical but stable condition, the spokesperson said in a statement. “Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same level of strength as we speak. We do ask that you join us in prayer for America’s Mayor – Rudy Giuliani.” It’s unclear what ailment the 81-year-old ex-mayor and former Trump attorney is being treated for while in the care of a Florida hospital.

Considering who and what is occupying City Hall these days the parallels and metaphors are in your face self-evident.

New Yorkers, you’ve been slacking — so the mayor wants to organize you. Mayor Zohran Mamdani isn’t happy that only 400 people showed up to last year’s Rent Guidelines Board hearings. In response, last Wednesday, he launched Organize NYC, a supposed volunteer effort to have New Yorkers participate in local government... Taken straight from the Democratic Socialists of America’s community-organizing playbook, Mamdani is calling it “a long-term initiative to bring mass public participation into the work of governing.”

Don’t be fooled. Organize NYC is a thinly veiled, taxpayer-funded effort to embed campaign-style political organizing inside city government, dress it up as civic virtue and deliver Mamdani’s campaign promise under a veneer of official neutrality.

Having been born and raised in New York, and coming of age during bad old days of grime and crime in the 60s and 70s, the Giuliani years were absolutely miraculous both in terms of making it America's nd arguably the world's premier city and a truly great place to live. Considering the city's long-standing status as a Democrat/Liberal if not necessarily hardcore leftist bastion (a few isolated pockets and a couple college campuses notwithstanding) Rudy's election and incredible success was somewhat miraculous all things considered, and a perpetually ultra-liberal/leftist city council underscores that.

And so when NYC was on life support it rebounded spectacularly. Perhaps both Rudy and the city itself can one day come back once again. Momdani is going to lay waste to Gotham, but this time around will there be an electorate that rises up to elect another Rudy or are the younger generations so brainwashed and self-absorbed as to make that utterly impossible. I fear that to be the case since as the saner/older cohort of the baby boomers pass away leaving nothing but the younger generations who have no real collective memory nor desire for America as founded and sane Western Judeo/Christian values, since they were barely if at all taught and raised with them.

From this we go to the alleged deathbed "confession" if you will of someone who is a complete polar opposite of Rudy Giuliani:

Former Rep. Barney Frank spent decades as one of the Democrat Party’s most recognizable left-wing figures. Now, in what may be one of his final public warnings, he is telling Democrats that their loudest activists have pushed the party into territory the public simply is not buying. Frank’s warning, delivered as he enters hospice, is blunt. He is not attacking the left from the right. He is saying the left has made a strategic mess of things by turning its most controversial causes into purity tests and then acting surprised when voters balk. . . That is a polite Washington way of saying the fringe has taken over the message and made the party look reckless. Frank also sees a broader pattern in Democrat politics, one that should worry anyone who thinks slogans are a substitute for results. By his telling, too many Democrats have fallen in love with whatever the current thing is, regardless of how radical it is.

Well, as we have seen when (or if) voters balk then the Democrats wield molotov cocktails and rent-a-mobs along with assassins. Funny how he's complaining about the very thing that allowed him to be elected in the first place. In a way perhaps there is a sea change taking place insofar as the DOnald Trump MAGA revolution could not have taken place were it not for the utter disasters engendered by Clinton(s), and the Bushes and GOP-e are in the mix here, make no mistake, and then of course the insanity of Obama and Biden. Nixon's silent or not-so-silent anymore majority must still exist at least to a level that keeps things in check, but how long will that last and will the Socialist-loving Yoots take over the asylum or will America, that is Can America be reborn as we approach 250, or are we destined to fall?

On that cheery note... Here's wishing for a full and speedy recovery for Mayor Giuliani.

Have a good day!

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY LINKS
• It’s unclear what ailment the 81-year-old ex-mayor and former Trump attorney is being treated for while in the care of a Florida hospital.
  Ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani hospitalized in critical condition: spokesperson

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 06:35 AM | Comments (354) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 4 May 2026

Top Story

• Utah has decided to make it a crime to use VPNs to bypass age verification checks. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  Since anyone can set up a VPN of their own in minutes using open source software and any of a thousand cloud service providers, and tear it down right after leaving no trace of its existence, this is stereotypical malicious idiocy.
  
  So of course the UK and France are pushing similar legislations as fast as they can.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (67) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread - May 3, 2026 [Doof]

From Monica
(Yeah, I know - the mystery click and photo aren't exact matches)

Howdy Hordelings! Time for the Sunday night ONT. Somewhat in the style of one of Ace's weekday Cafe threads tonight. Open thread, as always. Fashion and music, as always. What's on YOUR mind tonight?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (347) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: First May 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 May? It has to be May because I have it on good authority this is the First May edition, right? Not the May first edition, but rather the first May edition!

PSA: Don't forget next Sunday is Mother's Day!

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 (178) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: Ice Cream! It's What's For Breakfast!

There is a mom-and-pop ice cream joint in my little town that has been around for 50 years, making the same excellent ice cream for generations of kids and adults fresh from little league games and family barbecues and the movies on a scorching hot day. There is absolutely nothing special about the place...in fact, it's a bit of a dump. I doubt they have repaved their parking lot since they opened, there are no spaces marked, so people just stop there cars wherever there is room. But the floors and counters are immaculate, the teenagers behind the counter are polite and efficient, and the ice cream is delicious. Is it homemade in the shop? Yeah...I have no idea, and I don't much care, because all of the flavors are great, so if it's made in some big commissary kitchen in Newark and trucked in under cover of night? Well, that's okay, because I will go there for their Cheesecake ice cream until I die! And the coffee chip is pretty fabulous too!

As for the graphic up top? Nope, I am a purist, but that sundae looks better than a boring old photograph of a scoop of ice cream in a paper cup!

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (276) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First World Problems...

Admit it..you have 73 of these things floating around the house. And they aren't all the same, because God forbid the electronics industry try to stick to some sort of standard! At least Apple has caved to pressure and gotten rid of their proprietary plugs, but not before I bought several dozen cables of every combination. And I use an Android phone!

Yes...yes...yes. Progress and all that. I have perfectly good buggy whips in a hall closet that I am confident once again will be useful!

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (157) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The GOPe Is Alive And Well And Stealing Our Money

Several years ago I made the huge mistake of sending some money to one of the organizations that claim to be "Republican." My usual method is to donate to a particular candidate, and avoid the bloated Republican Party apparatus. But in a moment of weakness and stupidity, I was bamboozled. Or maybe one of those candidates sold my contact information to what has morphed into "WinRed."

I don't remember, and at this point I don't care how it happened. What I do care about is making it stop. But more important than my little experience is the ridiculous, heavy-handed, insulting, and absolutely counter-productive way the Republican Party is trying to raise money.

Here are samples (not comprehensive!) from last week. One of them is my response. It is up to you to decipher which one!

Claim Accepted! Request #6152 regarding excessive political texts is complete. To finalize preferences, update user profile: usa26.io/jopmh9 stop=end

Go fuck yourselves

SIGN HERE: X____________

Your signature is MISSING from Ilhan Omar's deportation petition: 26vote.co/4tdpz1

stop=end

It's Don Jr. I wrote this just for you, Friend. It's personal. Could you please take a moment to read it: usa26.io/93y8tf stop=end

Skip the $, we need your opinion. Tell us where you stand on America's future before bed. Reply now: win26.io/zrw1v6 stop=end

I'm begging, pleading, praying for one last chance to win you over.

Will a 100X MATCH do the trick? >> voterep.co/l4jil0

stop=end

THIS IS PRESIDENT TRUMP

I need to ask Friend something personal.

Will you still stand with me if... voterep.co/fs5lwh

stop=end

Please, [Dildo] , this isn't a plea for money. We're just 5 names short on the GOP Petition to REQUIRE photo ID to vote. Sign now: gop4u.co/pam99j stop=end

Past Due Notice: [29 Days]
[Dildo] Your input will be voided if not updated. Skip the line & correct. Profile unlocked for 5 min: 26u5a.co/hkb6qt
stop=end

This is just like low-quality phishing or spam that I get via e-mail, but even more irritating because it is being done on behalf of my representatives in our national political debate. Is this the image that the Republican Party wants to convey to its supporters? Scammy URLs that direct to fundraising forms, no matter what the links might say? Irritating pseudo-official notices of "CANCELLATION!?" Rude and obnoxious criticisms of my lack of dedication?

This is offensive junk, and the idea that I will be energized to vote by efforts such as these is laughable. Treat me like an adult, explain the issues, communicate the goals of the organization, and perhaps I will contribute. But this crap has hardened my resolve never to donate again, and worse...it has convinced me that the Republican Party is a deeply unserious organization whose goals are self-serving, and counter to my political philosophy.

Nice going guys!

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (220) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread - 5-3-2026 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

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...(April showers not included.)

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 (354) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 3 May 2026

Top Story

• The CPanel exploit is being exploited as a ransomware attack that encrypts your entire website. (Bleeping Computer)
  
  Well, I dodged that one, at least.

  Numerous sources told BleepingComputer that hackers have been exploiting the cPanel flaw since Thursday to breach servers and deploy a Go-based Linux encryptor for the "Sorry" ransomware [VirusTotal].

  Thanks, CPanel.
  
  
  
• The problem with my server yesterday was hardware, not software - an SSD failure. It's not dead but ZFS automatically disabled it due to errors, which broke all the sites hosted there.
  
  So I had backups from the previous day, and I now have backups from the moment it failed. If anyone lost anything important I can get it back.
  
  

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (175) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Night Club ONT - May 2, 2026 [D Squared]

Welcome to Club ONT - a collaboration of The Disco and The Dino. Come in in, grab a drink or 3. Please keep the horsing around to a minimum. We don't want to throw you in the corral of misery. Think there's somewhere else better to hang out tonight?? We say NEIGH!

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:55 PM | Comments (362) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Evening Movie Post [moviegique]: Over Your Dead Body

The Boy and I had a blast at this violent Jorma Taccone (MacGruber) black-comedy, but I couldn't help but notice this was the second romantic-dark-comedy in a row, after The Drama. Is Hollywood maybe inching its way back toward the perennial crowd-pleasing romcom genre, but can't find a straight path?

I have no idea.

When the movie opens, we see sad sack Dan (Jason Segel) being bullied on the set of the commercial he's directing, and he's very ostentatiously telling everyone within earshot about how he's going up to the cabin with his wife Lisa (Samara Weaving), and how she's insisting—insisting!—on going on this very dangerous hike by herself.

OK, so, obviously, he's planning to kill her.

When he gets home, one of his wife's girlfriends is leaving, and she smiles at him and says, "Happy hunting!" which is perplexing because of course he's not any kind of a hunter.

So, somewhat less obviously, she's planning to kill him.

Somewhat more obviously.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:30 PM | Comments (214) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - May 2, 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. As advertised, the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) decided on a crowdsourced car repair as a theme for this Hobby Thread. (It also decided on a broader horsepower theme given the running of the Kentucky Derby.)

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (174) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, May 2

* * *

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 03:23 PM | Comments (85) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, May 2

From NorCal Sierra Foothills Lurker

These were here when we moved here, 30 years ago. They’ve never thrived but they produce a few flowers every year.

Gorgeous. And it's amazing that it has survived that long. I think that's a bearded iris, but you live in Pacific Coast Iris territory. Here are two photos said to be of 'Chief Sequoia', an iris of this type. The first is from Garden.org, the second from Pcn. You can decide for your self if one of them might be mis-identified.

Posted by: K.T. at 01:33 PM | Comments (45) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Turning long stories into short stories

How many people here expected the visit between President Trump and King Charles to turn out as friendly as it did? Somehow, the long history between the UK and the USA became just a personal visit. How did that happen?

A lot of surprising things have happened this week that are based in long stories. But some of the events which occurred during the week took me by surprise. They fit well in Ace's "Quick Hits".

* * * * *

I think that sometimes seeing a story in the Babylon Bee tends to turn it into a short story, too. Some of their commentary on last Saturday's big event: Poll Shows Majority Of Democrats Believe Lincoln Assassination Staged

U.S. — The growing rift between the political right and left in the country became even more evident this week, as a new poll showed that a majority of Democrats believe the Lincoln assassination was staged.

Though long held to be a historical fact, a plurality of Democratic voters went on record in a research study to confirm that they now suspect that President Abraham Lincoln was never actually assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, and that the entire incident was simply an elaborate hoax.

"That whole situation was suspicious," lifelong Democrat Dean Stinson posted on social media. "Sure, the government and the educational system want you to believe that President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater, but let's be honest here, things don't add up. First of all, do you know what John Wilkes Booth did for a living? That's right — he was an actor. Actors literally spend their time playing roles and pretending. Sounds like just the guy you'd want to pull off a staged assassination, am I right?" . . .

Unfortunately, the right-ish "all-conspiracy" site I mentioned last week also suggested that the attempted assassination could have been staged to increase Trump's popularity. No consideration was given to how the suspect was recruited.

Back to the Bee:

Media Still Stumped As To Motive Of Gunman With Manifesto Titled 'Why I'm Going To Kill Donald J. Trump'

U.S. — Members of the national media remained completely baffled as to the target or motive of a gunman carrying a detailed, 47-page manifesto entitled "Why I'm Going To Kill Donald J. Trump."

The document reportedly provided a handy bullet-pointed list of grievances along with a helpful table of contents detailing primary and secondary motivations for wanting to kill the president, but after hours of reviewing the manifesto, journalists came up empty as to who the gunman may have been targeting and why.

"It's a mystery," said CBS correspondent Norah O'Donnell, thumbing through the papers. "See right here, the gunman says that he plans to use a gun to shoot President Donald J. Trump, and explains that he's doing so because he believes that Trump is a dangerous fascist who must be stopped at all costs. I wonder who the gunman is talking about here? Who was he after that night, and for what reason? We may never know."

Experts explained that the gunman's repeated references to President Trump, including a chapter called "Yes, Trump Is My Target, And Here Is Why," should not be taken as definitive evidence of intent.

"This is going to be a tough nut to crack," said CNN's Kaitlan Collins. "We're looking at everything. What drove this man to attempt such a heinous act? Was it class imbalance? Was it gluten? The search has only just begun."

Posted by: K.T. at 11:16 AM | Comments (133) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival

[H/T: The Fabulous]

*****

If I would have wanted your opinion. I would have asked for it.

This is what happens when you quit coffee for just two weeks: Scientists reveal surprising effects on stress, sleep and memory

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:00 AM | Comments (356) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 2 May 2026

Top Story

• Just five days ago I wrote this:
  
  It's been a while since we've had a big tech news story. No disasters, no miracles. Things haven't suddenly gotten better - or at least, not much, and they haven't gotten drastically worse.
  
  Well.
  
  A Linux exploit has been found that instantly grants root access to local users on most Linux versions released since 2017. (Tom's Hardware)

  Although it's not a zero-day and the kernel has already gotten a patch, the short disclosure window gave distro makers relatively little time to react. Affected variants include (but aren't limited to) Ubuntu 24 (version 26 was just released last week), RHEL 10, Suse 16, and Amazon Linux 2023. Even Windows' WSL2 is affected, and all it takes is 732 bytes to do it.

  Fortunately for me, only one server was potentially vulnerable, and that one didn't have the affected module loaded, and I've now disabled it completely.
  
  But even more sysadmins are having a bad day.
  
  
  
• Like the ones at Canonical - the company behind the popular Ubuntu Linux release - whose corporate servers are mostly dead right now thanks to a massive ongoing DDOS attack. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  If you've already installed Ubuntu you are still able to load updates - like the patch for the so-called CopyFail bug mentioned above - from the numerous mirrors, which don't seem to be affected at all.
  
  
  
• My other server - not this one, but where my own blog and many others are hosted - decided to drop dead, completely unrelated to all the other drama going on in the Linux world.
  
  Fortunately I set it up years ago to make migrations easy - and to keep backups separate from the system disk. But it still took a few hours to get it all working smoothly.
  
  The silverfish lining is that I've wanted to do this for months but it never hit the top of my to do list. I already had a new server, twice the size of the old one and actually cheaper. So that's where those sites are running now.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (126) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Tonight's ONT Has A Surprising Amount Of Indian Content

Hi everyone! So, can anyone tell me the state of the world this week?

Posted by: WeirdDave at 09:50 PM | Comments (374) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Retirement Day Cafe

Stapeley Hill in Shropshire, England
Sarah/Larkspurr44

Why is the new guy so standoffish?

I've linked this dog before, but I think this is a new clip: Spinning, that's a good trick!

Who's there?

A sea otter production of Twin Peaks. Who killed Laura Otter?

Few people realize this, but Iceland has a lot of ice.

Chalten in Patagonia.

That's deep, man.

A big hippo wallow.

Baby teaches a dog.

Psychologists spend all day thinking up weird ish like this.

John Candy and Kevin Klein in parody of The Hustler from the 80s. The clip replaces the music used originally with copyright free music so that the video doesn't get deleted, but if you ignore that, it's pretty funny. (It's not from SCTV -- it's from this forgotten Lorne Michaels primetime show. Bonus: I just found this clip which I remember from ages ago.)

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 07:30 PM | Comments (171) | Trackbacks (Suck)