Trump Calls Tim Walz "Seriously Retarded" For Allowing Widespread Somali Pirate Fraud, Says Ilhan Omar Should Be "Thrown the Hell Out of the Country"

No lies detected.

Trump called Walz "retarded." When the leftwing Foreign Pirate Cover-Up Media pretended to get the vapors, Trump doubled down.

President Trump on Sunday said he meant every word of his Thanksgiving attack on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that he stands by calling the Democrat "retarded" and adding, "Yeah, I think there's something wrong with him," when asked whether he wanted to revise the remark. Trump pointed directly to Walz's record as the reason for his choice of words, arguing that no responsible governor would preside over the kind of refugee policies that have transformed Minnesota in the way he described. "Anybody that would allow those people into a state and pay billions of dollars out to Somalia," Trump said, before launching into a broader criticism of Somalia itself. He told reporters the country "has a name, but it doesn't function like a country," and said Walz's approach to migration shows "there's something wrong" with his leadership, not Trump's assessment of it.

The controversy stemmed from Trump's Thanksgiving post on Truth Social, where he warned that America's "refugee burden" has become a driving force behind what he called growing dysfunction in communities across the country. Minnesota, he argued, is the clearest example. In that message, Trump accused Walz of letting "hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia" take hold of the state, writing that organized gangs are "roving the streets looking for 'prey' as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone."

Posted by: Ace at 04:30 PM | Comments (268) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Trump: We Must Halt Immigration from the Third World

Import third world people, get third world culture and crime.

Maybe it's time for the Cultural Enrichers to enrich the cultures of their own countries.

Trump pitched this on Thanksgiving.

President Trump on Thursday ordered a full halt to migration from all Third World countries and launched an aggressive audit of green cards from 19 nations, saying the D.C. shooting that killed National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom exposed the failures of Biden-era vetting and left the country vulnerable.

The president's order suspends migration from developing nations while federal agencies comb through green cards issued to immigrants from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Federal officials described the audit as a full-scale, rigorous review that could reach tens of thousands of legal residents -- an extraordinary step triggered by Wednesday's ambush near the White House.

...

When a reporter challenged Trump's repeated argument that Biden bore responsibility for Lakanwal's entry, Trump responded: "Are you stupid?" He repeated it several times as she attempted to continue, saying, "They let them in... They came in on a plane with thousands of others who shouldn't be here."

After the exchange, Trump outlined a broader slate of directives that go far beyond the migration pause. He said he would move to end all federal benefits for noncitizens, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic stability, and unwind "millions" of Biden-era immigration admissions -- including those approved using Biden's autopen, which Trump has repeatedly criticized.

Trump argued that years of lenient admissions under Biden fueled social strain across the country, pointing to census figures showing 53 million foreign nationals now in the United States. He said many arrivals came from "failed nations" or situations that placed heavy burdens on schools, hospitals, housing, and law-enforcement resources, warning that Americans have been forced to absorb consequences Washington refused to confront.

Posted by: Ace at 03:30 PM | Comments (249) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Report: Delegate Who Texted with Jeffrey Epstein and Obeyed His Commands Had Previously Had Her Nude Photos Used by Her Own Staff to Blackmail Her

They're all scumbags and crazy whores.

Democrat Delegate Stacey Plaskett, the Virgin Islands' non-voting member of Congress, garnered headlines recently when it came to light that she took direction from sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing.

Her relationship with Epstein is especially notable because Plaskett herself had "private nude images" of her stolen by her own ex-staffers, who used them to attempt to sabotage her re-election campaign. The husband of one of the culprits was, like Epstein, later found dead.

In March 2016, Plaskett asked staffer Juan R. McCullum to fix her iPhone. After snooping around, McCullum found nude images and videos, including one of her husband naked and wearing makeup while their young child was in the room, according to court papers.

It's possible that this is just a silly "Look at me with your lipstick on" photo but I suspect it's more Buffalo Bill than Monty Python.

...

In July 2016, after leaving Plaskett's office to work for Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL), McCullum created an email address and sent the photos to politicians and the media, as well as posted them to Facebook using a fake account. Police traced the accounts to McCullum and found that he had communicated with another former Plaskett staffer, Dorene Browne-Louis, who had gone on to work for the Department of Homeland Security.

"Somebody will pay for how we were treated," he wrote to Browne-Louis.

...

In his messages, McCullum "voiced opposition to Delegate S.P. and attempted to use the communications to undermine Delegate S.P.'s re-election campaign."

Both culprits pleaded guilty. In a victim impact statement, Plaskett told the court that "our family's privacy was invaded, pillaged and we were basically raped by Juan McCullum and Dorene Browne-Louis... Why, because I was mean? I demanded a lot, I demand most of myself."

Plaskett continued, "We got calls from the White House with complaints that McCullum was pretending to be a member of the White House staff, we should have fired him then but I asked him to put his head down and let it blow over."

At least she didn't play the race card.

"I'm so grateful for all the people at home who rallied around me," she wrote. "The women who saw it for what it was. Bringing a black woman down. McCullum you're like some creep who rips a woman's clothes off in public, like the slave seller ripping a black woman's clothes off."

I spoke too soon.

"Then you went further. They tried to first emasculate my husband. Say he was not a man, because there was a picture of him with makeup. Makeup it was obvious he was not happy to be wearing. That he lost in a bet. The worst was that they tried to put in the public that my husband and I allowed our daughter who was around 4-5 at the time of the picture in some perverted unnatural situation. For that reason, I want to physically destroy the two of them."

Plaskett's husband, Jonathan Buckney-Small, wrote in his victim impact statement that he ran into McCullum after finding out about the photos and "NEVER had I felt the pulse the beat the flow my blood asking me to take matters in my own hands that night when you couldn't look me in the eye. It was then it was clear I had a decision I had to make do I go to jail to make myself feel better or do I let time take you do [sic] jail."

So they both indicated they were prepared to kill the "slavers."

And then:

In August 2016, a month after the photos and video were published, Browne-Louis's husband, Gregory Benson Louis, was shot and killed outside the firehouse where he worked.

He was shot execution style:

Gregory Benson Louis, 50, was a supervisor at the Hotel Company fire station in Charlotte Amalie. Louis was shot and killed Thursday night.

According to police, he was seated on a bench outside the fire station when he was shot in the back of the head at about 7:30 p.m. He was declared dead on the scene by emergency medical technicians.

I can't find any articles about his murderer being found, but then, there's not a lot about this murder in the newspapers and not much from the Virgin Islands generally. Maybe he was caught. I don't know.

Plaskett sure seemed to generate a lot of hatred.

Posted by: Ace at 02:30 PM | Comments (263) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Whistleblowers Say Tim Walz Is "100% Responsible" For the Massive Levels of Migrant Fraud in Minnesota

You know Somali fraud in Minnesota is huge when even the New York Times can't cover it up any longer:

Whistleblowers say they told Walz that Somalis were stealing the state -- and the federal government -- blind.

But Walz kept paying out to his foreign pirate voters anyway.

Walz then engaged in reprisals against the whisteblowers.

Tim Walz' own public servants are now breaking ranks and accusing the Democrat governor of presiding over what they describe as sweeping fraud inside the state's social services system -- and retaliating against the very people who tried to warn him. In a post on X Friday, a group identifying themselves as Minnesota Department of Human Services employees declared, "Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota," laying the blame squarely on the governor for what they call years of misconduct, mismanagement, and political protectionism.

The employees said they alerted Walz early about rampant abuse in the state's social programs, hoping he would help them clean it up. Instead, they say, he "did the opposite," unleashing what they call a "cascade of systemic failures" that included monitoring staff, issuing threats, and attempting to discredit reports that exposed wrongdoing. They allege agency leadership handpicked by Walz "willfully disregarded rules and laws to keep fraud reports quiet" and filled top posts with political allies who were "not qualified for their jobs." Staffers who witnessed or documented fraud were "shut down, reassigned and told to keep quiet," the statement said.

The employees publicly named several officials they say have been shielded from accountability: Shireen Gandhi, Jess Geil, Jodi Harpstead, Natasha Merz, and Eric Grumdahl. According to the whistleblowers, these officials helped bury fraud complaints rather than act on them -- a pattern they argue has cost Minnesota taxpayers millions and undermined trust in the state's largest agency.

Walz has pushed back on the criticism, telling The New York Times that his administration "erred on the side of generosity" during the pandemic and disputing claims that concerns about racial optics slowed the state's response. He pointed to more recent fraud-prevention efforts, though the employees say those steps came only after years of ignored warnings.

...

With no confidence left in the state's leadership, the whistleblowers say they are now appealing to federal authorities to intervene. "We can't fight fraud in Minnesota alone," they wrote -- a plea that signals just how deep they believe the rot runs inside the Walz administration.

The whistleblowers posted this public bill of indictment against Walz.

Minnesota Department of Human Service Employees
@Minnesota_DHS

Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota. We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud but no, we got the opposite response. Tim Walz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports. Instead of partnership, we got the full weight of retaliation by Tim Walz, certain DFL members and an indifferent mainstream media. It's scary, isolating and left us wondering who we can turn to.

In addition to retaliating against whistleblower, Tim Walz disempowered the Office of the Legislative Auditor, allowing agencies to disregard their audit findings and guidance. Media and politicians supporting Tim Walz or the DFL-agenda attacked whistleblowers who were trying to raise red flags on fraudulent activities.

This is a cascade of systemic failures leading up to Tim Walz. Agency leaders appointed by Tim Walz willfully disregarded rules and laws to keep fraud reports quiet - even to the extent of threatening families of whistleblowers. These same leaders are not qualified for their jobs, instead getting leadership jobs via Tim Walz's friendship so state government were left floundering. DFL lawmakers refused to acknowledge fraud and deflected any serious conversation to stop fraud. Biased mainstream media such as WCCO and MPR showed absolutely no interest in covering fraud happening in our own state.

Really. You don't say.

MPR is Minnesota Public Radio, I presume. You know, that crusading independent news source that farmers in the boonies rely upon exclusively to learn about their government.

Programs, especially in behavioral health and disability services were built without any guardrails against fraud, all in an attempt to extract more funding from legislature and the federal government.

As staff, we firsthand witnessed and observed fraud happening yet we were shutdown, reassigned and told to keep quiet. Sometimes more. Leadership did not want to appear to discriminate against certain communities and were unwilling to take action, such as stopping fraud, that would have an adverse impact on their image. To date, no single agency leader has been held responsible for their role in fraud whether it's Shireen Gandhi, Jess Geil, Jodi Harpstead, Natasha Merz, Eric Grumdahl or others.

It is a structure created and maintained by Tim Walz who has created an environment of inter-related agencies and institutions including the media - that help foster fraud through retaliation and turning a blind eye in exchange for political gain in the form of high power agency leadership jobs or other perks.

Fundamentally, Tim Walz is dishonest, lacks ethics and integrity, has poor leadership abilities, and has never taken any accountability for his role in fraud. Instead, Tim Walz deflects by blaming national politics for his own failings and distracts the public with inveterate lying. These lies include his reference of a budget surplus under his tenure. Fact is, Minnesota never had a surplus, we had been given federal ARPA funds that were conflated as surplus money otherwise, we'd be in a deficit. And those ARPA funds, which were meant to be temporary funds were used to create more leadership positions for Tim Walz "buddies."

As such, we can't fight fraud in Minnesota alone hence why we're appealing to the federal levels of government. We need all the help we can get as Tim Walz's agency leaders have upped their brazen approach in covering up their knowledge of fraud.

We are grateful to numerous solid politicians (esp the Fraud Committee) and media outlets who are trying to halt fraud. We are also grateful to other whistleblowers who are bravely stepping up.

Thank You NY Times for bringing the plight of Minnesota to the national stage.

Posted by: Ace at 01:20 PM | Comments (476) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Another Biden Bug-Out Terrrorist Arrested, This One Threatening to Blow Up an Army Base

The terrorists were so vetted you guys.

An Afghan national brought into the country under former President Biden's Operation Allies Welcome program was arrested Monday after authorities say he posted a TikTok video that appeared to show him assembling an explosive device and naming Fort Worth as the intended target. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the case this week, with Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin announcing the arrest of Mohammad Dawood Alokozay on terroristic-threat charges. The Texas Department of Public Safety and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force carried out the operation, booking Alokozay into Tarrant County Jail on November 25, according to WFAA in Dallas.

Alokozay's arrival in the United States was part of the Biden administration's mass-parole effort for Afghan nationals following the chaotic 2021 withdrawal -- a program increasingly under scrutiny after a string of violent incidents involving its recipients. His arrest came just one day before another Afghan national allegedly gunned down two West Virginia National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., killing 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and critically wounding 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe. Both attacks, separated by barely 24 hours, have reignited warnings from conservatives about national-security lapses under Biden's refugee policies.

By Thursday, President Trump responded with a sweeping announcement of his own. In a Thanksgiving night video, Trump condemned the Beckstrom-Wolfe attack as "an act of evil, and an act of hatred, and an act of terror," adding that it was "a crime against humanity" and "an act against our entire nation." He said the pair of incidents underscored "the single-greatest national security threat facing our nation" and vowed a full review of every Afghan brought in under Biden's program.

The left is insisting that all of these terrorists were extremely super vetted. Mollie Hemingway doesn't believe that, but adds: If these terrorists were let through by the "vetting" process, then we cannot vet these terrorists at all.

Posted by: Ace at 12:13 PM | Comments (428) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Treasury Department’s Crime Unit Announces Crackdown on Cross-Border Transfers of “Funds Derived from Unlawful Employment” Sent by Illegal Aliens

There has been a flurry of announcements from the Trump administration in recent days regarding its battle against illegal immigration and how to address the tens of millions of people in the U.S. illegally. Amidst the talk of benefits being cut off and visas being suspended, there was another monumental move that was just announced.

Specifically, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) just sent an advisory to money services businesses (“MSBs” which handle international wires stating that the requirement for preparing and submitting a Suspicious Activity Report (“SAR” for “cross-border funds transfers” also applies to “funds derived from unlawful employment” in the United States. In more simple language, this means money earned by someone who may not legally work in this country is prohibited from being wired out of this country. This is a huge development.

The threshold for the SAR reporting requirement is $2,000 in aggregate, which means that “structuring” a series of smaller wires is also prohibited if the total exceeds $2,000. The regulation related to structuring states that “a series or pattern of such transfers that collectively suggest an intent to evade the SAR threshold must be reported.” In other words, the total amount of all wires must be reported. In addition, attempting to structure wires is itself a suspicious activity that must be reported.

As noted by FinCEN, these international wires frequently include payments to the smugglers who brought the “migrants” across the border, which effectively rolls to the drug cartels and crime syndicates. FinCEN calls these syndicates “Mexico based transnational criminal organizations.”

The press release from FinCEN and the Treasury Department is at this link. A few quotes from it are below the link.

“FinCEN Issues Alert on Cross-Border Funds Transfers Involving Illegal Aliens” [Treasury Department FinCEN Press Release – 11/28/2025]

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is issuing an Alert as part of Treasury’s effort to prevent the exploitation of the U.S. financial system by illegal aliens in the United States seeking to move illicitly obtained funds. Annually over the past several years, the United States has witnessed a significant volume of cross-border funds transfers, including remittances from individuals located in the United States, and has taken multiple steps this year to highlight risks presented by cross-border financial activity.

“Money services businesses should be vigilant in identifying suspicious financial activity involving illegal aliens who present significant threats to national security and public safety,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley.

This Alert is consistent with Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. Money services businesses (MSBs) are generally required to file a suspicious activity report for a transaction that involves at least $2,000 and that the MSBs know, suspect, or have reason to suspect is relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation. This includes the cross-border transfer of funds derived from unlawful employment or otherwise derived from funds the MSB knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect were illicitly obtained in the United States.

The full report issued by FinCEN to money services businesses is at this link, including this explanation for their action, “FinCEN has taken multiple steps this year to highlight the risks involved with cross-border financial activity, particularly transactions that benefit Mexico-based cartels, several of which have been designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.”

Freightwaves and its CEO Craig Fuller have done a great job covering the many problems related to the explosive growth of illegal, foreign truck drivers that are behind the wheel on American roads. In a piece over the weekend, Mr. Fuller discusses the impact of this new regulation on the trucking industry and beyond, since much of the unlawful earnings of those foreign truck drivers are wired back to their home countries.

“The Feds drop the hammer on illegal immigration” [Freightwaves – 11/29/2025]

Of the estimated 11–14 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., roughly 60% to 70% regularly send remittances, totaling approximately $160 billion annually—an amount exceeding the GDP of many countries. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador alone receive over $100 billion combined.

By explicitly criminalizing funds derived from unlawful employment, the Administration aims to choke off this massive financial flow. When these flows are severely restricted, the financial incentive to remain in the U.S. shadow economy evaporates, resulting in a collapse of the economic model of illegal immigration.

But what if the employees of companies that do international wires simply turn a blind eye and do not complete the Suspicious Activity Reports required by the Treasury Department? That would be a bad decision. Wires leave an easily traceable trail under Treasury’s purview, and there could be harsh penalties for those who don’t comply. More specifically, the executives of companies who don’t comply could go to jail. As reported by Freightwaves:

FinCEN’s far-reaching powers include the ability to:

• Compel any financial institution to hand over records without a warrant (via National Security Letters).
• Unilaterally freeze assets.
• Impose civil penalties of $250,000 per transaction.
• Criminally prosecute executives for “willful blindness.”

Conservatives seeking to de-incentivize illegal immigration have long advocated for the imposition of severe remittance taxes on foreign wires sent by illegal aliens. This Treasury Department action prohibiting the international wiring of “proceeds from unlawful employment” will have much the same impact.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (377) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

Winter
David Teniers the Younger

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (314) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 12/1/25

Good morning kids. December is here, and as we start the sprint towards Christmas and New Years, why not kick things off with a headline that is sure to warm the cockles of your heart.

President Donald Trump suggested that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) should be removed from the United States, referencing allegations that she “supposedly” entered the country by marrying her brother. “Somalia, where you have a Congressman goes around telling everybody about our Constitution, yet she supposedly came into our country by marrying her brother,” Trump said while speaking to reporters on Air Force One. “Well, if that’s true, she shouldn’t be a Congressman, and we should throw her the hell out of our country.”

Cockles of the Heart status: {_]Warmed {_]Toasty {X]Extra Freakin' Crispy!

It's not just that she all but admits to incest for the purpose of faking her way to citizenship, which is horrible enough. But that she and others of her lineage openly declare their first allegiance is to Somalia, not the USA.

The video has English subtitles during Omar’s statements that she is in Congress to represent Somali Americans’ interests and that the “US will do what we want and nothing else.” 

That she has not been removed from office or at the barest of minimums severely reprimanded or disciplined is a disgrace. Meh, she is a total disgrace and considering to whom and what she has pledged her allegiance, represents a grave threat to our national security and societal coherence, that s what is left of it after decades of dissolution.

So, the President's declaration is all well and good. But what are the odds that he or the appropriate agencies will actually follow through in stripping this filthy bitch of her citizenship and sending her back to the dark age shit hole from whence she came? And even if the process started, the reaction from Leftist/Democrat circles will touch off a furor perhaps not seen since the 2020 summer of love literal firestorms. Sadly and to our great misfortune and shame we are stuck with her and her kind unless there is a massive paradigm shift in both the public's tolerance for the kind of Islamo-Leftist thuggery that resulted in the shootings in DC and in the justice system that is clearly tilted against the American people and geared towards protecting the criminal elements that keep leftists in power and the citizenry cowed into submission.

And speaking of the slaughter o National Guardsmen in DC, how is it that this ghoul who openly boasted of being an eager and willing collaborator in Nazi war crimes has not been long ago sent packing perhaps to face a prison cell in Hungary. I seem to recall that he supposedly has a death sentence hanging over his head in some country for doing what he does best; destroy their currency.

He has used the billions he has made, the seed money of which was what he earned from the Nazis by helping them in their rounding up and shipping off to Auschwitz of Hungary's Jews in 1944. Among them a number of my mother's relatives. And here at home, we have this totally unsurprising report:

Iranian-Run, Soros-Funded Billboards Urge Soldiers to Disobey Orders This is not only sedition; it’s a national security threat.

He and Mark Kelly should only swing from the same noose.

All this while things are seemingly heating up between us and Venezuela.

During a call between Trump and Maduro, the socialist president demanded that he be allowed to maintain control of Venezuela’s military if he paved the way for free elections there, said the Miami Herald, citing sources. Maduro also reportedly sought global amnesty for all of his alleged crimes. Trump’s refusal on both counts was said to be swift as he followed up with an offer that Maduro may not be able to refuse: Leave now or else.

Meanwhile an horrific fire in Hong Kong has many on edge. "Arresting dissidents, insulting civil society, Chicoms are behaving badly in the aftermath of the disaster."

In the wake of Hong Kong's terrible, seven-tower Tai Po fire, which killed at least 128, the Hong Kong people impressed many with their spontaneous charity towards their fellow citizens, setting up donation centers, finding housing for the burned-out homeless, including domestic servants, sheltering the pets, feeding firemen, and more.

Then their ChiCom rulers showed up, and it all got ugly.
I'm not talking about the ordinary people of China, of course, many of whom rushed to donate supplies, too -- or even local officials of nearby Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong. They rapidly lined up fire trucks to help assist the effort -- and apparently were turned down by foolish local officials, although some may have belatedly gotten across the border.

And not too far away, President Trump is potentially getting ready for some action in the far east

Thus, President Trump’s decision to call Prime Minister Takaichi within a few hours of calling President Xi was a clear and unambiguous signal that he will no longer allow U.S. national security to be circumscribed by The Relationship. Trump shattered the narrative so piously put forth by the CCP and its enablers that the China-US relationship is so special and important that it could never be challenged or changed. To those paying attention, President Trump had hinted at his real perspective on The Relationship earlier this year when he stated, “The worst thing Nixon did wasn’t Watergate; it was allowing China to take advantage of this country. He and Kissinger are the ones who opened up China. And it was a terrible mistake. It didn’t have to be this way.”

Have a good day.

And lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY LINKS
• “Somalia, where you have a Congressman goes around telling everybody about our Constitution, yet she supposedly came into our country by marrying her brother,” Trump said while speaking to reporters on Air Force One. “Well, if that’s true, she shouldn’t be a Congressman, and we should throw her the hell out of our country.”
  Trump Suggests Rep. Ilhan "Bro-Fo" Omar Be Thrown ‘Out Of’ U.S. Over Claims She Married Her Brother
  

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:42 AM | Comments (344) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 1 December 2025

Top Story

• Would you like to buy a clue... For $1 million? (AP)
  
  There's a sculpture called Kryptos at the CIA offices in McLean, Virginia, which contains four panels of encrypted text. Three have been decrypted by puzzle-solvers, but the fourth has defied all attempts since the installation was created in 1990.
  
  The artist, now aged 80, has auctioned off his notes and clues to the contents of that fourth panel... For close to $1 million.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (131) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread - November 30, 2025 [Doof]

The Sunday night ONT has arrived. Thanks for stopping by!

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:11 PM | Comments (436) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: Fifth November 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 last November Edition? Big wacky fun this week. My F-150 WeaselMobile farm truck decided to expire and I have been busy finding a replacement (another F-150) rather than writing Gun Thread content. Accordingly, this edition will represent less than my traditional minimal effort.

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 (227) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: Saturated Fat..The Antichrist, Or Just Tasty?

Yeah, I am not a trained food photographer, and I usually think about taking a photo only after I have begun eating, so the photo looks even worse than had I actually planned it. Nobody wants to look at food that I have pawed!

But that dish of Shrimp and Cannellini Beans looked damned good, so I took a flyer, and I was correct! It's in my semi-regular rotation, but I have been furiously reevaluating my entire world of shrimp cookery, so this was a radical departure from the norm.

As I have mentioned in the past...no more high heat for shrimp. Gentle heat for just the bare minimum works far better. These were cooked in butter on low heat for a few minutes, just until they got a bit of color. And when I boil shrimp I have discovered that putting them in simmering (salted) water, then simply turning off the heat and letting them poach for about 90 seconds is enough to cook them but leave them tender. No more rubber bands!

Give it a try; I'll bet you will be converted.

Oh, those beans? lightly brown some garlic in olive oil, them add the beans, some white wine, and whatever herbs you like. I am partial to thyme and oregano. And of course salt and pepper, but you knew that! Then cook them gently for a very long time, until the beans are almost broken down and have only a bit of structure. They become creamy and delicious!

What? A repeat? Well...yes, but it is a delicious dish, and I am constantly fiddling with it, so I figured I could plague you with my cooking compulsion.

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (257) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First World Problems...

It was in the pool!

Old houses with hardwood floors have this peculiar problem, particularly if there is very little or no subfloor. They used to try to fill the gaps between the separating boards with putty mixed with sawdust, or chewing gum, or the blood of their enemies, or whatever. It never works.

Newer hardwood floors laid on subfloor is better! So I guess the only answer is to gut the old part of the house! Remove all of the flooring, add subfloor, then raise the ceilings because of the loss of height, then raise the second floor for the same reason, and then just nuke it from orbit!

Or fire. Fire fixes all ills!

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (179) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mostly Nothing And Open Thread

Hong Kong fire death toll rises to 128, with 200 still missing and 8 more arrested

Residents in Wang Fuk Court have said they repeatedly complained to the city's Labor Department about the flammability of the protective green mesh that was used to cover bamboo scaffolding raised around the buildings, only to be told that the fire risk was relatively low, Reuters reported Friday.

This is exactly the 3rd World sensibility that we are busily importing. Respect for human life is a joke in most of the world, but the West has managed to change that, by elevating the individual to primacy.

Respect for the law, in this case construction regulations, is a shell game in all but the West. Fake the paperwork, use fake and cheap materials, bribe the inspectors, do what you must to maximize profit, and if a few people die? Oh well!

And the state is no better. Building inspectors actively solicit bribes in most of the world! And the regulations written by the regulatory bodies are laughable in their lack of teeth.

But we are busily bringing that mindset to America! Sure, there is corruption in America, and there has always been, but our minimum standards, even with crooked officials are far higher, and more stringently policed than anywhere else. But the breathtaking thievery of the 3rd World is a level that we have never even approached here.

Soon though!

Posted by: CBD at 12:04 PM | Comments (229) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread - 11-30-2025 ["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 (don't knock it 'til you've tried it!). 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, finish off that pumpkin pie, 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 0 December 2025

Top Story

• Year of Linux on the Desktop? Part One: Does Linux actually account for 11% of desktops even in the US - and a higher number globally? (ZD Net)
  
  Probably, yes. You get that number by adding together desktop Linux, ChromeOS (which is Linux) and "Unknown" numbers.
  
  Globally Linux numbers are about 50% higher, and looking at US government website stats, 25% of requests come from some flavour of Linux (including Android).
  
  
  
• Year of Linux on the Desktop? Part Two: Google's AluminiumOS (yes, they spell it with two eyes) brings Android to the desktop. (Thurrott)
  
  And Google has already been working to merge ChromeOS with Android. So this would bring a thoroughly-tested Linux variant with a huge collection of existing applications to the desktop, though half of those apps are Kairosoft games.
  
  And the new Steam Cube is due to launch soon, bringing SteamOS - again, a flavour of Linux - to the desktop.
  
  With Microsoft working tirelessly to destroy Windows, these consumer-oriented Linux versions may bring welcome relief.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (242) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Night "Club ONT" November 29, 2025 [The 3 Ds]

Alright, Christmas Tree... it is timber time. Junior, bring me the saw.

Welcome to Club ONT. A collaboration the 3D's - The Disco, The Dino, and The Doggo. Apparently today was Small Business Saturday. Yet another event I was this many days old before knowing.

Quote of the Weekend

Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want to impress people they don't like.

Will Rogers

Who is feeling festive and enjoying their Thanksgiving weekend? Family still around? Decorations? Leftovers!

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (441) | Trackbacks (Suck)

An Originalist Take on Movies and Memoirs [Lex]

Constitutional purists, in the main, adhere to the judicial philosophy of ‘originalism.’ That is, they do not believe the Constitution and its Amendments are evolving or subject to change in meaning based on the mood of the times. They try to understand the contemporaneous intent of the words by those who wrote them.

In the field of criticism, a close cousin to originalism is textualism or new criticism. The proponents of new criticism, when looking at literature or poetry or film, tend not to want to be distracted by anything but words on the page or images and dialogue on the screen. So it matters little to the textualist if a movie might seem racist by today’s standards or if it is a faithful adaptation of the source material. The new critic eschews these considerations to concentrate only on what he can see on the screen and judges the film by what it is trying to accomplish.

I kept coming back to these models of interpretation when reading Barry Diller’s recently published memoir Who Knew.

Even though I have devoted a large part of my life to cinema, I have never much liked behind the scenes stories or biographies of stars and studio moguls. I knew the name Barry Diller but almost nothing about what he accomplished. And that is because I see many memoirs and tell-alls as distractions. The play is the thing for me.

***
You can read the book to learn about Diller (in his own words) but, briefly, he was an aimless and troubled kid from Beverly Hills who grew up around Hollywood performers and executives. At 19, with no life direction, he called in a favor to get a job in the mail room at the William Morris talent agency. He worked his way up the ranks at William Morris but then leapt over to ABC where he impacted television in profound ways. Next it was on to Paramount where he resurrected that studio in the 1970s. After that, it was Fox, which he also revived. In his later years, he became a forerunner of internet commerce and content.

If you are a film and entertainment historian, you cannot ignore Diller’s legacy, though this begs the question: as one who leans towards textualism when watching movies, should I ignore him?

To give Diller the benefit of the doubt, I set aside the originalist lens to see what he had to say.

Right out of the gate, Diller disappoints. In the foreword, he declares he does not intend the book to be a teaching or business strategy guide (a la The Art of the Deal). The reason he states he wrote the memoir is, simply, because he thinks his life-story worth recounting. ‘Who Knew’ an angst-ridden kid with no education or prospects could succeed as he did.

The wayward-boy-makes-good story is interesting to a point, but what movies inspired him? What novels have moved him? Why did he want to become involved in storytelling--especially at such a grand scale?

Despite his disclaimers, I held out hope I could derive something inspirational from a man who helped shape studios and motion pictures for three decades.

And yet, after 320 pages, I was unsure what attracted him to fictional drama. He repeatedly affirms his love of problem solving, and in the film biz problems abound, but that tells me nothing about his process as a storyteller.

He also is not shy about sharing his distaste for MBA-style financial projections as an approach to crafting a successful film, and he is adamant in his disdain for the practice of packaging stars and material before ideas are hammered out.

I agree with those instincts, but Diller never digs deeper than that. Though he is responsible for some of the great movies in history, he has precious little to say about why they were special or what he understood their dramatic purpose to be.
Oftentimes, he will crow about a hit movie he produced but only to say it did well at the box office or won awards--not why it connected with audiences and what his hand was in setting the table for that connection to be made.

There are nuggets of wisdom in the book, but it is far too little, and as I read on, more and more, I was not only deprived of edification, but I also distrusted Diller.

***
I do not read many memoirs (movie ones or otherwise) because they are, ipso facto, self-serving. Diller confirms this instinct by painting himself in the best possible light. He feigns humility frequently, but like the screenwriting seminars teach us: to write a great villain you must make the bad guy believe he is the hero of the story. I am not saying Diller is a villain, but having dedicated his life to one of the most cutthroat businesses, too often he styles himself as merely an amiable –though driven — fixer.

These moments of doubt I had for his authenticity occurred not just with his professional life but also in the many personal things he reveals. He spends much of the first third of the book discussing his homosexuality, how he had to hide it, be ashamed of it, how it caused him panic and self-loathing. One sympathizes with him, but then, in his thirties he meets the fashion mogul and bon vivant Diane von Furstenburg, and it is a love affair for the ages.

He is smitten with her but clueless about how to be a heterosexual romantic. On her 29th birthday he gets her 29 diamonds; yet, he presents them to her in a Band-Aid box. It is supposed to be an adorable tidbit about his inartful amorousness, but any sympathy I had for him in the early going – as a closeted and confused youth — falls by the wayside as he never seems to mention this again, instead opting for tales of opulent jet setting with Furstenburg.

These personal notes about Diller are probably not germane to my pursuit of a better understanding of movies, but they did confirm my belief that too often Hollywood memoirs and histories are more of the TMZ, gossip-style flavor and thus not very useful to the serious cinephile.

And as for Diller himself, in the end, I concluded he was not really dedicated to telling great stories. TV and movies just happened to be the milieu into which he stumbled. He clearly had a knack for getting things done, and, though he tries to disguise it, there was great appeal in the flamboyant lifestyle his success afforded him.

***
For anyone who wants to be involved with or write about movies, basic cinema history is necessary to learn.

Of course it’s fun to know Kurt Russell was in the running to play Han Solo or to point out the cameos Hitchcock made in his movies, but, in the dark of the theater what good do these asides do for my relationship with and reaction to any given film?

Diller’s memoir and others like might fill in the blanks historically speaking, but they have no pedagogical or etiological value.

It will be a long time before I pick up another book like Who Knew. I would rather watch movies and absorb what I can in the moment.

I recognize it would be difficult for film reviewers and historians to write anything if they employed new criticism or textualism in its strictest sense.
But Constitutional originalism has taught us some of the most important lessons in American and world history. Applying some of its spirit to the study of film might not be that bad of an idea.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:30 PM | Comments (143) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - November 29, 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, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. A spin of the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies (TM) landed on advent calendars.

Are you thinking "I'm not into advent calendars and I can barely count, but I am eager to learn more. I can't wait to get into the content!" I knew it. Enjoy.

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

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, November 29

* * *

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 03:35 PM | Comments (81) | Trackbacks (Suck)