THE MORNING RANT: Senators Cornyn & Cassidy Were My Fault, Because I Voted for Both of Them as the “Most Electable Candidate”; also, the Amazing Rhythm Ace of Spades

Dear Texas and Louisiana voters: With a combination of gratitude and shame, I’d like to thank you for cleaning up the mess I helped create by putting Democrat-aligned RINOs in the Senate to represent your great states. I apologize for my role in putting duplicitous, faux-conservatives in a position to betray the actual conservatives who elected them, and I hope others will learn the lesson I learned – never, ever vote for the most “electable” candidate if it means empowering someone who may align with the left against conservatives.

Politics is not a sporting event where we simply cheer for whomever is wearing our team’s jersey. John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy were allegedly Team Republican, but they have spent the past nine years working with Democrats to undermine the man whom Republicans voted for in the past three presidential elections.

To my ever-lasting disgrace, while living in Texas I voted for John Cornyn in the 2002 Republican primary, because he was the “moderate” and “electable” Republican who was most likely to defeat the “popular” Dallas Mayor, Ron Kirk, in the general election. Cornyn won the primary and the general election, and he then proceeded to stab conservatives in the back for the next 24 years. The power of incumbency could no longer protect him this year, as disgusted Texas Republicans voted for Ken Paxton by a landslide in the Texas senate primary.

Even worse, while living in Louisiana in 2014, I voted for Bill Cassidy in the US Senate primary since he was the most “electable” Republican candidate running against the “moderate” and “popular” three-term Democrat incumbent, Mary Landrieu. Not only has Bill Cassidy been hostile to the MAGA agenda, he actually joined Senate Democrats in voting to convict President Trump in the farcical impeachment trial in early 2021. After Cassidy’s 12-year run of duplicity and betrayal against the Republicans who elected him, he too was just voted out of office, finishing third in the Republican primary.

These two senators who are routinely praised by Trump-haters for being men of high character are already making clear that they will finish out their term with middle fingers fully extended toward their constituents. They plan to represent national Democrats and the DC swamp for their final months in office, not the states that elected them to office. The “respectable Republicans” who advocated for Cornyn’s and Cassidy’s re-election are cheering on this score-settling, and blaming Donald Trump for the despicable character now on full display by Cornyn and Cassidy.

“Character”, to the modern voter, means “willingness and ability to faithfully represent the interests of the voters who elected them”

Anyone looking for something other than that should go to church.

— Surma Greene (@SurmaGreene) May 29, 2026

There are plenty of other Cornyns and Cassidys running in Republican senate primaries across the country. Down in Georgia, Derek Dooley has already gone off-script and revealed that he plans to go “full Lankford” once elected and oppose Trump’s border-control policies. But there is already a Democrat Senator from Georgia (Jon Ossoff) battling Trump’s successful closure of the border, so there is absolutely no reason for Georgia Republicans to elect a guy wearing our jersey to vote in Washington like Ossoff. (Mike Collins is apparently the Georgia Republican senate candidate who is most likely to authentically represent MAGA if elected.)

*****

The Amazing Rhythm Ace of Spades

One of the fun things at the Ace of Spades blog is getting to know some of the unexpected people who are loyal readers. For me, one of them has been James Hooker, a founding member of the country-rock group The Amazing Rhythm Aces. After the Aces’ run had ended, Mr. Hooker spent two decades as the band leader for country-folk singer Nancy Griffith.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (333) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

Terrace and Observation Deck at the Moulin de Blute-Fin, Montmartre
Vincent van Gogh

He painted this about one year after he arrived in Paris to live with his brother. His palette is evident, but this work is clearly different than his typical popular stuff.

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (277) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 6/ 1 /26

Good morning kids. June is busting out all over!

So if being an admirer of the Nazis as well as a philandering pervert and possible pedophile aren't enough of a definition of being a typical Democrat . . .

Graham Platner Allegedly Sent Sexually Explicit Texts to Women, Had Profile on Kik Messaging App

“People familiar with the matter” told the Wall Street Journal that Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, reportedly shared with an aide in August that she had found the sexually explicit messages “early in their marriage in the spring of 2025.”

From what I have read, the app is heavily used by pedophiles trolling for underage partners. Does that make Platner a P3DO, well where there's smoke there's fire, n'est ce pas?

This astonishing level of illegal content might appear unique, but in recent years this kind of activity has become rampant across Kik. A joint Forbes and Point Report investigation has uncovered evidence of a vast number of child exploitation cases involving the use of Kik, where some of the most appalling material is being shared and young girls and boys are being targeted for grooming. Posing as 14-year-old girls, we also discovered just how quickly predators were on the prowl and how third-party apps for sharing profiles appeared to be facilitating access to minors. And we found that Kik hasn’t even been deleting the profiles of individuals charged and convicted of child abuse offenses.

Well, as I said, If the above doesn't define the typical Democrat/Leftist, well certainly this does:

An adviser to socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders dismissed a Nazi-inspired tattoo Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner received as a “skull and crossbones” during a panel discussion Sunday.

Yup, as Fat Abert Speer Whoopi rape-rape would say, it's not Nazi-Nazi. Defend by deflection, obfuscation and gaslighting. Bad enough but Platner's wife went even lower by allowing herself to be a stooge!

Amy Gertner, who married Platner in 2023, said that she was “deeply hurt” about the campaign’s former political director, whom she tipped off about the sexting, confirming the messages to the press.

The video drew widespread criticism from observers who said it appeared that Platner was letting his wife take the heat for him.

“It looks and sounds like a hostage video,” one X user posted. “Blink twice if you need rescuing, Amy.”

The randy oyster farmer is believed to have had sexting affairs with up to a dozen women, according to reports.

Yeah, she "defended" him alright! BANGOR, he hardly knew her!

The other thing that absolutely is the sine qua non of Democrats/Leftists is violence and terrorism in pursuit of absolute power.

Police arrested at least 20 protesters outside embattled New Jersey ICE detention center Delaney Hall Sunday night after they broke a new curfew imposed to stop the violent rallies from continuing for a third week straight, as the Department of Homeland Security vowed to show “ZERO tolerance for rioters.” . . . Several arrests were made in front of a wall disturbingly grafittied with “KILL ICE” across it. . . Chaos has engulfed the immigration detention facility in Newark since at least May 22, after top Democrat officials, including New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, raised concerns about inhumane conditions in the facility and the lack of visitation hours.

Their "concerns" were a naked signal to their Antifa and other street goons as well as braindead dupes to engage in violent attacks on the facility.

More typical Democrat behavior: get others to do your dirty work by being cannon fodder for the media.

Other than this, speaking of flaming wreckage in Maine, or near it...

People across New England heard the sky clap back Saturday afternoon, and for a while, nobody knew why. Houses shook, windows rattled, and police departments fielded calls from worried residents. . . a natural meteor tore into the atmosphere, broke apart roughly 40 miles above northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire, and released energy equal to about 300 tons of TNT.. . Robert Lunsford, fireball report coordinator for the American Meteor Society (that's a job title!), described the object as roughly three feet wide. Reports reached the society from Delaware to Montreal, a huge footprint for a rock small enough to fit through many front doors. From the Associated Press:

Kaboom, indeed! And thanks for all the birthday wishes. It was a good one.

Have a great day,

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 06:50 AM | Comments (409) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 1 June 2026

Top Story

• AMD has announced two new old CPUs that are on the one hand somewhat overpriced and underwhelming and on the other hand eagerly awaited by hobbyists. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  The first is the Ryzen 5800X3D priced at $349. This first appeared in 2022 priced at $449, but was taken off the market in 2024 because it competed a little too well with the newer 7800X3D.
  
  The second is the Ryzen 7700X3D, priced at $329. This is a 7800X3D, just 10% slower.
  
  If you happen to have an unused AM4 motherboard and 64GB of DDR4 RAM sitting idle, the 5800X3D may be just what you need. Otherwise you're probably be better off with the newer, faster 7700X3D.
  
  
  
• AMD has also updated its roadmap to confirm that the AM5 platform (the current generation) will remain current through at least 2029. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  The previous AM4 platform - home to the once and future 5800X3D - was introduced in 2016, and is still viable today.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:42 AM | Comments (86) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread - May 31, 2026 [Doof]

From Mr. Star Spangled MAGA

Howdy Hordelings! Welcome to the Sunday night ONT. Appreciate you joining us for the waning hours of May 2026 and the beginning of June 2026. Open thread, as always. Fashion and music, as always. What's on YOUR mind tonight?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (318) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: Final 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 the Final May Edition?! June editions are just around the corner!

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 (255) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread:The Unbearable Lightness Of Good Dough

This is what is interesting and maddening about dough. I tried a new pizza dough recipe, which was suspiciously identical in ingredient proportions to the other one that was a modest success. The method was different, and the result was much, much better. Lots of lovely bubbles and flavor, and the texture was much more pleasant.

I understand how technique changes food, but this was a real surprise. I do need to work on shaping the dough, since it was quite springy, but that should be an easy fix.

Of course I burned the roof of my mouth on the first slice!

Well...to be honest...I burned the roof of my mouth on the second slice as well.

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (205) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First World Problems...

The best and highest expression of the snacker's art includes no utensils or vessels. No knives or spoons or plates or bowls...just the food containers and an appetite.

But for some unfathomable reason, the makers of peanut butter (Big Peanut) chose not to package their product in vessels that do not require a utensil, once the magic first 50% has been consumed.

We all know that the first portion of peanut butter, lovingly scraped up from the pristine surface with a mini pretzel, is a prized and rare experience.

But so is the last bit of peanut butter embedded in the corner of the jar, and Big Peanut has conspired to steal that from us, and require a spoon or a knife or some other backward tool to get at the mother lode.

We are not chimpanzees trolling for termites with long sticks! We have evolved past that, and I demand that Big Peanut keep up!

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (203) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Yes, Our Elections Are Dirty, But How Exactly Does It Happen?

Obviously the most secure election system is same-day voting in person, with paper ballots and mandatory ID checks against a master list that is reviewed every year, and purged of all names not of United States citizens.

Judicial Watch Scrutinizes 873,000 Inactive Voter Registrations in California

Watchdog group Judicial Watch says it has identified almost a million voter registrations in California that have been inactive for at least three federal election cycles, and argues they must be removed to ensure potential cheaters cannot use the names on faked ballots.
[...]
Fitton said, “326,608 names have remained continuously inactive for at least three consecutive federal general elections. That means the person hasn't voted or otherwise communicated with the state or the county voting officials for … six years. At least 151,202 registrants have been enactive [sic] for four federal elections. That's over eight years.”

And finally, “33,922 inactive voters have been around just hanging on the rolls for 10 plus years. You know, and you can see why we do this in the back here. Look at that quote. ‘Dirty voting rolls can mean dirty elections.’ And that's the key issue here.”[bolding mine]

There are other security demands for a voting system that is secure against manipulation, because there are very clever people working tirelessly to subvert the will of the American voter.

As much as it is tempting to blame the voter rolls for the bulk of the fraud, a glance at the vote totals from the 2020 presidential election will disabuse one of the notion that the main issue is illegals voting, or nefarious characters voting multiple times.

Democratic presidential popular vote totals:

2016: 65,788,564
2020: 81,283,501
2024: 75,019,682

Republican presidential popular vote totals:

2016: 62,984,828
2020: 74,223,975
2024: 77,303,568

The Democrat vote increased by 23.6% between 2016 and 2020, but decreased 7.7% in 2024. That is a huge discrepancy that simply cannot be reconciled with candidate popularity, population shifts, voter rolls being purged (spoiler: they weren't), or any other explanation that does not recognize massive cheating via the use of fake ballots that did not correspond to registered voters. That's why some precincts reported more than 100% turnout. That's why vote counting was suspended, then restarted after those fake ballots were inserted into the counting process.

And that's why recounts are of limited value. Sure, some ballots may be counted incorrectly, or not counted at all. But when the ballots themselves are fake, only a comprehensive audit of the votes will have any hope of identifying fraud.

The fight for clean voter roles is a noble cause, and it will go a long way toward improving Americans' opinion of the integrity of our political process. But it is not the whole answer, and we must recognize that the forces aligned against our republican form of government will continue to probe for ways to subvert the will of the people. They found a way in 2020, and we barely survived that attack on our country. The next time might be more clever, and not a brute force injection of millions of fake ballots!

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (166) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread - 5-31-2026 ["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 (just in time for summer!). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...

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

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (294) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 31 May 2026

Top Story

• GitHub Copilot users are aghast at the exponentially higher costs they are facing starting tomorrow with the introduction of usage-based billing. (Tech Crunch)

  "What a joke," one Redditor recently wrote, claiming that, while they currently only pay around $29 per month, the new rate will balloon their costs to nearly $750 a month.

  He posted this with a screenshot of his estimated bill... From a visibly unactivated version of Windows.

  Another user posted "WOW, didn't expect new pricing model to be this ridiculous," sharing a screenshot that appeared to show that their costs had shot up from around $50 to some $3,000.

  Both of them posted to Reddit, and both got dunked on for being obviously incompetent vibe-coders.
  
  I use Claude Code. My company pays for the 5X plan, and I rarely hit the 1X mark. The people who do hit the limit are either experimenting - fair enough - or trying to tell the AI to generate an entire application with a single prompt, which just doesn't work.
  
  
  

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (212) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Night Club ONT - May 30, 2026 [D Squared]

Welcome to Club ONT - a collaboration of The Disco and The Dino. We built this place for you so you can have some fun. Or you can just relax like the doggeh above. Come in in, grab a drink or 3. Keep it light and friendly. Jerks need not enter the premises.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (379) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Evening Movie Thread - 5/30/2026

Upcoming Movies

I usually talk about movies in the past. Movies in the long past most of the time.

But, I do keep abreast of current day movie news, and there have been some upcoming films that have intrigued me in certain ways.

But before I get to these specific examples, I wonder if I should be excited about movies in the future, movies that are sometimes not even in production yet and literally no one has seen (rough cuts aren't the film), or about movies from decades past that have existed for years and actually have great reputations but I just haven't seen yet.

Of course, online discourse trends towards the unseen. We know a movie is coming for months, even years, but no one can slam the door shut on the film in any way. Casting news, spy shots of set, rumors of story beats...it's just an endless stream of possibilities to grab onto for endless articles and videos whereas if you go and watch an old movie, well, that's it. You've seen it. You know if you like it or not, if you agree with the long-held generalized opinion, and it's done. It's a lot less fun than picking apart clues to try and come to a conclusion about if something is going to be good or not.

It's a game, a play in the zeitgeist, an effort to be part of an on-going conversation. It's not really about the movies themselves, but about connecting with other people. That's fine, but my concern is always about the movies themselves. So, I tend to be more excited about old movies I haven't seen than new movies that literally no one has seen (again, rough cuts without finished sound, effects, or music are not the film, they are rough cuts).

However, that being said, there are some movies I've heard about that have piqued my interest.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison at 07:45 PM | Comments (130) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - May 30, 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) decided on a music logistics theme for this Hobby Thread.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (159) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, May 30

* * *

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 03:32 PM | Comments (77) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, May 30

Good afternoon KT

The Lilacs are in bloom and smelling nice here in Southern NH. Mrs. R says she smells Lily of the Valley too but my old nostrils detect nothing!

Not an easy time of year for the flora and fauna. 95 Tuesday and 45 the next day...

Thanks as always for all the wonderful threads on Ace.

Rodent

Posted by: K.T. at 01:34 PM | Comments (48) | Trackbacks (Suck)

No, patriots, there is not an Israeli Bioterrorist on the loose in Vegas

Do you care about biolabs run by Chinese illegal immigrants?

On Thursday, J.J. Sefton included in his Morning Report this piece by Debra Heine: Sen. Sheehy Calls for IG Investigation of Montana Research Lab After Lapses Involving Deadly Viruses:

Senator Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) is demanding a government review of two incidents in the past year involving the “theft, loss, or release” of a deadly pathogen” at a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research facility in Hamilton, Montana.

Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), an NIH lab, “conducts studies on some of the world’s most dangerous diseases, meaning even small lapses could put Montana communities at risk,” Sheehy said in a press release, Tuesday.

Even more concerning are reports that a senior RML scientist allegedly attempted to smuggle dozens of vials of VHF [viral hemorrhagic fever] into the United States from Africa in January and lied to customs officials about their contents.

"The authorities" don't seem to have their act together here. I'm in favor of looking for ways to decrease the size of government, but here it seems that agents of the government were endangering Americans.

BUT WHAT IF GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT GETS EVEN STUPIDER?

The Montana cases above apparently involved personnel at a licensed NIH lab. What if there are unknown biolabs running in the country, perhaps even by hostile illegal immigrants from, say, China?

Posted by: K.T. at 11:30 AM | Comments (158) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Classical Saturday Coffee Break & Prayer Revival

[H/T Hour of the Wolf]

*****

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

1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind. Be nice. Don't be Pretti Good.
3) Running with sharp objects? Highly frowned upon. And permanent records can be involved.
4) Have a great weekend!

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:08 AM | Comments (261) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 30 May 2026

Top Story

• In the comments yesterday, Seth asked:[quote>Regarding Anthropic and their IPO. Why the statement as to it crashing?[/quote>Which is a fair question because Anthropic's Claude Code is actually a useful product and well worth the $20 per month.
  
  And the answer is that Anthropic (and likewise OpenAI) spend a lot more than $1 to make $1 in revenue. Subscription plans in particularly are wildly unprofitable; it's the much more expensive per-token charges on their API services that make the balance sheets look less insane.
  
  And if they hiked their subscription fees by around 1000% to reflect the real cost of the services, they'd lose the bulk of their customers, which would just make things worse because the training costs for new AI models are fixed regardless of how many people are using them.
  
  That's why both companies are rushing for an IPO.
  
  
  
• Microsoft is under fire for threatening a "security researcher" with criminal investigation. (Tech Crunch)
  
  The "security researcher" in question is anonymous and definitely no White Hat. The moment "Nightmare Eclipse" finds a security flaw, he goes public with it, regardless of the chaos that might ensue.
  
  On the other hand, Microsoft could do well to put fewer security flaws in their code in the first place.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (147) | Trackbacks (Suck)

And When He Had Opened The Fourth ONT

Posted by: WeirdDave at 10:00 PM | Comments (354) | Trackbacks (Suck)