America Is Too Stoned Already: We Don't Need More Marijuana Availability

[Clever readers will notice that this is a repost from last week...Ace stomped it after a half hour or so]

That's where marijuana should remain. Smoky dorm rooms and basements where stupid kids and their even stupider older siblings hang out and solve the ills of the world. But it doesn't belong on our streets or offices, and relaxing federal restrictions will do exactly that. Hell, it's already everywhere in some cities...it's impossible to walk down a NYC street and not smell it.

Rescheduling Marijuana Is the Wrong Call

When it comes to drugs, it’s hard to imagine a Republican president deciding to pick up where his Democratic predecessor left off. Yet that is what President Donald Trump did yesterday, directing the Department of Justice to finalize a process, started under former President Joe Biden, that would recategorize how the federal government views marijuana. In so doing, Trump hands a huge financial benefit to the businesses seeking to profit from making pot more mainstream.

There’s no way of understanding the decision without seeing it as a triumph of commerce over long-standing cultural concerns, and of the libertarian, podcast bro faction of the Right over its traditional socially conservative wing. It’s also the wrong move. Improving the commercial viability of marijuana won’t make America’s citizens healthier or her cities more livable. If the goal of federal policy is to make America great, rather than just delivering benefits to a well-connected industry, yesterday’s executive order should be contested—and rescinded if possible.

America has too many problems without adding more of us getting high regularly. Sure, I sound like somebody who just kicked you off his lawn, but what is the benefit to our culture?

[Yes, there is a song behind the graphic!]

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (484) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread - 12-28-2025 ["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...

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

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (268) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 28 December 2025

Top Story

• So what's the real story behind Nvidia spending $20 billion for a non-exclusive license to Groq's (not that one) inference technology?
  
  Definitely not fraud.* (Ossa-ma)
  
  Or so argue Nvidia and Groq's lawyers as the FTC no doubt prepares for a endoscopic examination of their respective corporate records.
  
  Nvidia buying another AI company would lead to messy stuff like regulatory approval, and Nvidia doesn't have time for that. So they paid $20 billion for a non-exclusive license to the technology... Oh, and that also included Groq's executive and engineering teams and all their patents and trade secrets.
  
  But not the company itself, or any duty to support its customers. GroqCloud has been left to quietly die under control of the former CFO, drained of its engineering talent and indeed its entire reason to exist.
  
  What Groq actually does is interesting: They make chips that use hundreds of megabytes of internal SRAM rather than tens of gigabytes of external DRAM, and have staggering amounts of bandwidth - 80 terabytes per second per chip.
  
  Not suitable for training LLMs but great for running them once they have been trained.
  
  As for the deal: Is this technically illegal? Possibly. Will Nvidia get away with it? Probably.
  
  * Though if not fraud, why fraud shaped?

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (165) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Night "Club ONT" December 27, 2025 [The 3 Ds]

Welcome to Club ONT. A collaboration the 3D's - The Disco, The Dino, and The Doggo. We hope everyone had a wonderful, whelming and blessed Christmas - and that you enjoyed/endured family, food, traditions, and cheer. Welcome back.

Last Club ONT of 2025. Have you come to party?!? Please have your password and restroom tokens ready. Make a new friend or 2. Tip your bartender. DO NOT try the veal.

[Top Photo: Winter Wonderland, Seiffen, Germany]

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

Saturday Evening Movie Thread [moviegique]: Klaus (2019)

This holiday season has offered a really limited slate of films, for reasons I don't quite understand. It might be that the third Avatar movie was enough to scare off other films, or it might be that having given up on Christmas years ago (the surviving market being relegated to Hallmark and the lot) and giving up on understanding human behavior, Hollywood's contented to just...give up. And we've basically lost all our Korean exhibitors, so the "seeing a Korean movie on Christmas Eve" tradition died before its tenth year.

Looking through the revivals, I saw two interesting possibilities. One was John Woo's "Bullet in the Head" (35th anniversary). Tempting, but somewhat awkward to get to. The other, in a more accessible theater, was the 2019 movie Klaus—which I was shocked to see ranked #159 on IMDB's top 250.

I have more than 250 issues with this list, but that aside—and very cautiously setting aside the Netflix brand name—I was surprised to see this relatively obscure film from Sergio Pablos' Animagic Studios (best known for Despicable Me, which Pablos created) on it. So off we went.

Christmas in Los Angeles.

Well.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:30 PM | Comments (183) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - December 27, 2025 [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. This is the LAST HOBBY THREAD of 2025!!

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (211) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, December 27

* * *

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 03:34 PM | Comments (75) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, Dec. 27

These photos were not taken during the holidays, but I have been saving them for the holidays, because I think they fit. Don't you agree?

Howdy Katy,
4 out if 5 years I get no blooms, then only one. This year I got about 20 on 3 different plants.
May you and yours be well and prosperous.
Kindest regards

Bonecrusher

Posted by: K.T. at 01:34 PM | Comments (37) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Thread before the Gardening Thread, December 27 - Irony

Happy Weekend after Christmas and Hannukah!

*

Posted by: K.T. at 11:21 AM | Comments (317) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Classical Saturday Coffee Break & Prayer Revival

[I should have a cup like that. Because it is so true.]

Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. I hope those who celebrate Christmas had a wonderful and joyous Christmas Eve and Day. Before we enter the Prayer Revival just a few housekeeping matters to take care of. (Rulz for those of you in Brokaw Maine.)

1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind. Be nice. The list is starting fresh.
3) Running with sharp objects? Do you have Health Savings money you need to spend?
4) Have a great weekend and see you next year!

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:00 AM | Comments (428) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 27 December 2025

Top Story

• Is it a bubble? Let's ask the money men lending billions to build these AI datacenters.
  
  They say yes. (New York Times) (archive site)
  
  9.25% interest rates for commercial construction loans that supposedly have paying customers lined up?
  
  Yeah, they're not convinced.
  
  
  
• The people who backed French bugfarm Ÿnsect were convinced - to the tune of $600 million. (Tech Crunch)
  
  And lost their shirts, because the idea was irredeemably stupid.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (81) | Trackbacks (Suck)

What The Heck Is Boxing Day ONT?

Say, I know this is a day late, but do you know how Norad came to "track" Santa?

Posted by: WeirdDave at 10:00 PM | Comments (384) | Trackbacks (Suck)

'Twas the Day After Christmas Cafe

Shizuoka, Japan

Shiatsu massage more like shiats-roo massage amirite

Bird enjoys an accidental fountain.

Dogs love visiting the grandparents.

This advertising model is so narcissistic.

Getting a trim.

World traveler.

Twin baby elephants.

Posted by: Ace at 07:10 PM | Comments (249) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Roundabout Open Thread

Posted by: Ace at 06:00 PM | Comments (156) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Tree Mansion Open Thread

Ultimate Makeover: Treehouse Edition.

Posted by: Ace at 04:50 PM | Comments (101) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hedgehog Hospital Open Thread

Couple Turns Their Home Into A Hedgehog Hospital - Complete With A Maternity Ward And 'Hogbulances'

Sharon and Andy Longhurst started Burntisland Hedgehog Haven nearly three years ago after rescuing two sick hedgehogs they found by the roadside. The experience inspired them to learn how to care for the tiny creatures -- and before long, their passion turned into a full-time mission to save them.

Since then, the Longhursts have treated 567 hedgehogs, caring for sick, injured, and orphaned ones around the clock. Their garage has been transformed into an ICU with seven incubators and 40 cages, while their garden now hosts a special hedgehog maternity ward. A dedicated team of 18 volunteers helps with cleaning, feeding, and transporting hedgehogs in the rescue's "Hogbulances."

Sharon, who works as a school crossing guard, and Andy, a bus driver, have poured their hearts -- and much of their free time -- into keeping the rescue running. They even fundraise through local events, raffles, and races to cover monthly costs of about £800 for food, bedding, and electricity, plus another £3,500 a year for vet bills.

"If there's a hedgehog out there that needs help and it's in pain, I can't say no," Sharon told BBC News. "It's a full-time job -- we always say we have to draw a line, but then the phone rings and we say, 'Bring it in.'"

...

Of the hundreds of hedgehogs they've treated, 65% have survived and been released back into the wild -- a meaningful achievement given that European hedgehogs are now listed as "near threatened" due to habitat loss and other environmental pressures.

"We'll do this until we're unable to," Andy said. "They're adorable -- really lovely animals."

Posted by: Ace at 03:40 PM | Comments (179) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Jetpack Transfer Open Thread

Google's worthless AI says it's all real:

Yes, jetpacks are actively being tested by militaries, especially the British Royal Marines and Royal Navy, to move personnel between ships or from ship to shore for faster boarding, reconnaissance, and tactical access, using companies like Gravity Industries's suits that resemble Iron Man's tech and offer potential for combat medics and pilot rescue, moving beyond simple transfers to tactical swarming

They fly now?!

They fly now.

Posted by: Ace at 02:30 PM | Comments (178) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Most Played Movies on HBO During the 80s Open Thread

I would call this The Beastmaster thread, but prepare for disappointment: Even the guy compiling this list is shocked that Beastmaster doesn't actually make his list.

But I do have questions. He counts by air dates. Not by times. The difference is that HBO could show a movie on a specific date, but how many times did it show it on that date? He doesn't have that information.

I know that kid-friendly PG movies played all day long on HBO, so maybe a listing of airings by number of times actually aired would give some love to Beastmaster.

Now that I've prepared you for disappointment...

Posted by: Ace at 01:20 PM | Comments (250) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Skiing Mount Everest Open Thread

This is insane. He starts off skiing from the top of Mount Everest pretty slowly, but then he hits some very steep areas where slow skiing is pretty much impossible. For long dangerous runs, he's just grinding down on steep ice.

I kept wondering: What happens if he loses a ski?

Also, I wonder: What if he goes over the edge?

And he is on the edge of a precarious ridgeline a few times.

For example, at 6:45 in the video, and 10:00. And around 16:00.

For those with vertigo: Content warning.

This took place a month ago. Apparently it's a first. At least, climbing Everest and then skiing down without oxygen tanks is a first.

Really amazing. Insane! Consider going full screen for this one or watching it on your TV.

Posted by: Ace at 12:12 PM | Comments (270) | Trackbacks (Suck)

THE MORNING RANT: We Should Cheer for Bari Weiss to Fail in Her Effort to Rehabilitate CBS’ Reputation

There is a civil war being fought at CBS News. The battle is being played out between Bari Weiss, its new left-of-center editor-in-chief, and the left-of-Trotsky journalists she inherited at the laughingstock news operation.

There are many conservatives cheering Ms. Weiss on in her battle against her hyper-partisan corps of journalists. I’m not one of them. In fact, I’m cheering for the insurgent “journalists” to prevail, and to maintain CBS News’ well-earned reputation for being unethical, dishonest, and openly hostile to impartial political coverage.

In fact, my worst fear is that Ms. Weiss might succeed in restoring CBS News to a level of respectability such that it might able to reassert its liberal influence on politics as it once did.

The recent imbroglio is due to Ms. Weiss yanking a typical 60 Minutes hit job just hours before it was to air. If you are reading this, you are almost certainly acquainted with the story. A 60 Minutes journalist, Sharyn Alfonsi, who has a history of dishonest hit jobs against Republicans*, produced a sob story about Venezuelan illegal immigrants being deported to “CECOT,” a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. (*In 2021, Ms. Alfonsi famously ran a hit piece against Ron DeSantis accusing him of prioritizing Publix as a provider of Covid shots in exchange for campaign contributions. The story was subsequently debunked and widely criticized by Florida politicians of both parties.)

Ms. Alfonsi’s story alleged that these Venezuelan deportees were being tortured at CECOT at the behest of the Trump administration, but she did not bother to provide any rebuttals from the Trump administration, which had been provided to CBS News, as acknowledged by left-wing outlet Axios:

• One of the main reasons Weiss cited for pulling the segment was that the "60 Minutes" team didn't include any of the three on-the-record statements from the White House, State Department and Department of Homeland Security that were provided to CBS News journalists.

• According to a source familiar with the "60 Minutes" team's correspondence with the administration, journalists reached out to press officials at the White House, State Department and DHS, all of which provided comment to CBS News ahead of the piece's anticipated run date.

• None of those comments, which varied in length and substance, were included in the piece.

We all know 60 Minutes as the show on which Dan Rather self-immolated his career by using forged military documents in an effort to harm George W. Bush’s 2004 presidential campaign. It’s also the show that spliced together various ramblings of Kamala Harris in 2024 to try to make it sound like she was making coherent answers to questions. And 60 Minutes is also the show that falsely claimed Hunter Biden’s laptop was not really his in the last weeks of the 2020 election, in an effort to push Joe Biden over the finish line.

CBS News has a well-earned reputation for being a place where journalistic malpractice is not considered a problem, it’s policy. I don’t want that to change. As Margot Cleveland joked about 60 Minutes ”At this point I wouldn't even trust CBS News division to tell me how many minutes were in an hour...”

How bad is the media’s disrepute?

“Trust in Media at New Low of 28% in US: Republicans' confidence in mass media to report news ‘fully, accurately and fairly’ now at 8%” [Gallup – 10/02/2025]

Americans’ confidence in the mass media has edged down to a new low, with just 28% expressing a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. This is down from 31% last year and 40% five years ago.

Meanwhile, seven in 10 U.S. adults now say they have “not very much” confidence (36%) or “none at all” (34%).

The legacy media is fully discredited, and that is a good thing. There is no “scandal” that network news divisions can promote at this point that will be taken as fact.

It’s important to remember that Bari Weiss does not dispute the general thesis of the 60 Minutes piece that was pulled, specifically that deportees are being subject to Trump-approved torture. She simply wants the story to come across as impartial journalism, not as another clumsy “we finally got him” hit job.

Therefore, I hope Ms. Weiss fails. The last thing we need is for the legacy media to have its reputation restored to a point that it can once again promote left-wing propaganda with a veneer of respectability. Instead, let CBS and the rest of the legacy news media proceed down the path to permanent irrelevance.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (264) | Trackbacks (Suck)