The Morning Report — 2/ 24 /25

Good morning kids. In some disappointing news, it looks as if we might have to wait a while longer for the SMOD (Sweet Meteor of Death for those who are new here) to put us out of our misery.

The uncertainty of science: According to a short update from NASA late yesterday, new ground-based observations have now reduced the odds that asteroid 2024 YR4’s will hit the Earth in 2032 to only 0.28 percent. . . Expect these numbers to change again in March, when the Webb telescope tracks the asteroid. And do not assume Webb will confirm these numbers. There remains great uncertainty in all these calculations, especially because there is great uncertainty about the size, mass, and make-up of 2024 YR4. It could be anywhere from 130 feet to 320 feet in diameter, and that difference makes these calculations uncertain.

In other words "keep hope alive!" Actually in the wake of Trump's miracle 2024 election landslide victory and now Week 5 of a flurry of positive action being taken to give our long-suffering Republic at the very least a sustained breather if not a fighting chance at a rebirth politically, and societally, perhaps it might be time to put aside our hopes for an actual SMOD as MAGA brings a wrecking ball to the thinly veiled tyranny that has lorded over us and torn us apart since the New Deal.

After all, we still have almost four more years of Trump, Plus another 8 of Vance and then 8 years of Vance's veep as POTUS 49, Please God!!!

With that though, The Vatican is poised for a shakeup...

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni’s one-line statement didn’t mention if Francis was up or eating breakfast. “The night passed quietly, the pope rested.” The brief update came after doctors said the 88-year-old pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, was in critical condition. On Saturday morning, he suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pneumonia and a complex lung infection. The pope received “high flows” of oxygen to help him breathe. He also received blood transfusions after tests showed low counts of platelets, which are needed for clotting, the Vatican said in a late update.

I am not a Catholic, and I have a deep respect for my Catholic friends and while I know this is a troubling time for observant Catholics, the current Pope in the minds of many has very dubious and troubling stances on a number of issues that are in contravention to not only members of the faith but for reasonable people all over the world. His ties to communism are well known, and combined with his tenure to date is why I refer to him as Pope Fiction and now Potemkin Pope. Should he recover I hope and pray that he receives the wisdom to change his ways and views. Perhaps that is asking too much. In the event of his demise, I certainly hope he is succeeded by a Pope who is more in keeping with a John Paul II. Consdering Francis insane obsequiousness to Islam during his tenure, and in light not only of the 10/7 bloody pogrom against Israel, but that once every Jew on the planet has been butchered at the hands of Islam, the next target will be the world's Catholics. Imams the world over have made no secret that their mission is to turn the Vatican into a giant mosque.

And as we are, or should be, well aware, they are not waiting until everyJew on the planet has been gang-raped, beheaded or rosted alive in front of their parents to go on a spree against Christendom. What happened in Congo last week and got zero coverage from the propaganda media is just the latest incident.

Open Doors International, a worldwide organization which supports Christians who suffer persecution and discrimination for their faith, reports that the bodies of 70 Christians were found in a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They had been beheaded by jihadists in the latest horror of the ongoing Islamic genocide of Christians in that country and elsewhere throughout Africa.

According to local sources, at around 4 a.m. last Thursday (13 February) militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – a group with direct ties to the ISIS (Islamic State) terror group – seized 20 Christian men and women from their homes in Mayba in northeast DRC. Later, the militants surrounded the village and captured 50 more believers. All 70 were held hostage for a short period and then taken to a Protestant church in nearby Kasanga and slaughtered, reportedly with machetes. You wouldn’t know any of this by checking in with the mainstream media, partly because they don’t care about the massacre of Christians anywhere in the world, partly because they can’t figure out how to blame Israel and the Jews for the beheadings of African Christians, and partly because they’re too busy ginning up outrage over Trump firing IRS employees and dismantling the DEI grift.

The Islamic crusade against Christendom in Africa has been going on for years if not decades; Just look up Yoko Haram. And elsewhere in the world, like in the Philippines, another outpost of Catholicism in the third world. look up Abu Sayyaf.

Yes, I understand that religious and political leaders such as the Pope and even Donald Trump have to play rhetorical games so as not to offend the sensibilities of some people and to come across as voices of "moderation."

But as CBD and I discussed on the latest episode of our award-winning ™ podcast (here and in the sidebar)

Where were all these "moderate" Muslims we hear so much about in the media when the coffins bearing the bodies of the butchered Bibas children and their mother were being paraded around as ghoulish and macabre war trophies to cheers and ululations from crowds of Gazan "civilians!"

After Hamas paraded the coffins of 9-month-old Kfir and 4-year-old Ariel to the cheers and jeers of its supporters, before turning over the coffins, locked with keys that did not fit to Israel, people looked for something to restore their faith in the goodness of mankind in the Muslim world.
Millions thought they found it in fake quotes from the grand muftis of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“What we say today in Gaza is a disgrace to Islam, an act of blasphemy against Allah,” Saudi Grand Mufti Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh (pictured above) reportedly claimed in one viral social media post.“Hamas has brought shame to Islam on a level never seen before,” Grand Mufti of Dubai Ahmed al-Haddad allegedly proclaimed.
Photos of the two Islamic religious leaders illustrated with these quotes racked up millions of views on social media. Some even found their way into news stories sourced from social media.The only official statements out of Saudi Arabia and the UAE were vocal condemnations of Israel and proposals for an ‘alternative plan’ that would leave the PLO and Hamas in power under a fake ‘front government’ of technocrats.
Ahmed Al Yamahi, the UAE appointed ‘president’ of the Arab Parliament, accused Israel of a “genocidal war in Gaza” “unequivocally placed the blame for this escalation on the Israeli occupation authorities”, urged the UN to “hold the Israeli government and its settlers accountable for their crimes and violations against the Palestinian people” and and called for Arab unity to support the ‘Palestinian’ cause.
And unlike the fake grand mufti quotes, these were published directly on government sites.

The Saudi and UAE governments issued statements condemning terrorist attacks in their own countries and even some abroad, and many condemnations of Israel, none of Hamas for its treatment of the Bibas children.

"the "palestinian" cause is only to gin up Islamic hordes in the drive to conquer the world and create a giant global caliphate. Nation states, even Islamic ones will cease to exist. "Palestine" will return to where it came from; a conference room at KGB headquarters in 1963.

Psaki-Psircling back to Popetemkin Fiction Francis, when he goes to meet St. Peter, and given all of the above, I hope that one oof the Nigerian Cardinals who certainly understands what is at stake not only in his country but around the world with a resurgent Islam and the globalist leftism that is equally toxic and does noting to defend the faith, Becomes the next Pope.

In other news, Joy Reid, the yammering prehensile-tail-lice-picking/eating barely sentient tree-dwelling primate has been given the boot from MSNSDAP.

MSNBC canceled Joy Reid’s show The Reid Out, which aired at 7 PM during the week.

The leftist network will air a panel show during the timeslot, hosted by Michael Steele, Symone Sanders Townsend, and Alicia Menendez.

Gotta be racism, right?! Michael Steele isn't really black, right? Maybe she can get Al Sharpton to smear feces on her face, drag her into court and get her a big fat settlement like Tawana Brawley. Either that or fit her for a Pope Hat and fly her to the College of Cardinals to be the next Pope!!!

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
• ROME (AP) — Pope Francis, in critical condition with a complicated lung infection, rested well during a peaceful night following a respiratory crisis and blood transfusions, the Vatican said Sunday.
  [Potemkin] Pope [Fiction] Francis rested during a peaceful night following respiratory crisis and blood transfusions

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:30 AM | Comments (456) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 24 February 2025

Top Story

• With AMD's launch party for its new 9000-series video cards just days away, it has held a press briefing and of course benchmark numbers have already leaked. (VideoCardz)
  
  The 9070 XT is 42% faster than the 7900 GRE at 4k resolution, and the 9070 non-XT is 21% faster.
  
  Absolute silence on the price. Earlier leaks put the cards at $750 and $650 respectively, which is about $100 too much. But given that Nvidia cards don't exist at all at the moment, AMD will probably price the cards too high, kill all enthusiasm, and then adjust the price in a month or two when it's already too late.
  
  
  
• Speaking of Nvidia cards that don't exist if you somehow got your hands on an RTX 5080 you had best check the number of ROPs onboard. (VideoCardz)
  
  Yes, all the models that have shipped so far - 5090, the 5090D made for the Chinese market, the 5070 Ti, and now confirmed the 5080 - have been hit with the same hardware flaw. It only affects some cards, but it could apply to any model from any manufacturer.
  
  
  
• My 7800 XT arrived today, so my interest in all this is purely academic.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (151) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread - February 23, 2025 [Doof]

Howdy Hordelings, and welcome to the Sunday ONT! Hope your weekend has been great and you are ready to close out your evening with us here. Thanks for stopping by - shall we step inside?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (376) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: Pre-March 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 end of February? I suppose it's time to start working on tax returns which typically puts me in a bad mood for about six months. However, since the government has been spending our dollars so wisely and carefully, I really shouldn't complain. How about you? Do you prepare your taxes early or wait until the last minute? If you're getting a refund, are you going to buy shooting stuff?

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 (290) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: All Foods Are Tasty, But Some Are More Tasty Than Others!

Most food is pretty damned tasty. Hot dogs and oysters and fried chicken and roasted cauliflower and pickled carrots and chopped chicken livers with caramelized onions and crispy fried potatoes and a great ripe tomato and a steaming bowl of split pea soup and a grilled whole red snapper and... well... I could go on forever!

But as varied as my tastes are, it is very hard to beat a well-marbled grilled steak. The combination of glorious richness from the fat, the firm texture, the salty goodness of the juices, and the elemental -- even primal -- joy of eating flesh is a tough thing to beat.

What's the point? Nothing, other than steak tastes good! And I found that photo while poking around for ideas, and it sure does look great!

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (330) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First World Problems...

There are two cable/internet providers in my area, and the one I have used for years was purchased by some horrid European company several years ago, then spun off, because it didn't suck quite enough.

Customer service went from great to maddening, and the quality of the internet service went from excellent to awful beyond compare. After two years of constant outages and pathetic and moronic techs telling me all sorts of bullsh*t stories, I told them to fix it or I will move to another provider. So they recommended switching to Fiber-Optic service, which they claimed had gotten good enough over the several years of its roll-out that it is now better than traditional co-ax.

Sounds great! Except they also told me that it would be more than $100/month more!

See ya!

And all is fine and good in Dildo world.

But... the big old cable box with the clock has been replaced with a tiny little unit and an even tinier junction box.

There is no clock.

THERE IS NO CLOCK!

Those little clocks have trained me over the years, and now that they are gone, it is as if there is no stability in the world. Wherever will I look for the time?

The stove? The microwave? My wrist?

Sure, but my eyes reflexively drift to the nonexistent cable box and its oh-so-convenient clock. I sure hope that I can be taught new tricks, but it isn't looking good!

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (263) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Is One Of The Byproducts Of The Trump Revolution A Return To Simple Competence?

That is a photo of the flight tracker provided by United Airlines to the entertainment system screens. At first glance, it seems fine, except that was on a flight from London to Newark. And the same thing happened two months before on a flight going in the opposite direction.

Is it important? Probably not, unless the data are being pulled from the same systems the pilots use, and processed the same way. My guess is that most commercial pilots, even some of the DEI hires, know the difference between east and west, and know that eastbound London to Newark is a very long and expensive flight, and probably not the best choice.

But the anomaly is still significant, because it is a mistake. Something isn't working correctly, and for at least two months, nobody at United Airlines cared enough to fix it. Or maybe that is a Boeing problem, but it really doesn't matter. A system is not working correctly, and the lack of interest in making things right may be indicative of much larger issues. If they don't care about this seemingly trivial problem, then how do they feel about one that is slightly less trivial?

Our country, led by government, has shifted over the last generation to a culture in which feelings and thoughts are paramount, and the actual results of the efforts (or lack thereof) of people have become secondary. Sure, it's a punchline, but "participation trophies" are also a real thing. A diverse workplace is a more important goal than one filled with the best people, regardless of their melanin content or who or what they slept with last night? Metrics like "how valued do you feel" overwhelm the stuff that used to be important, like objective measures of quality and efficiency.

But the reelection of Donald Trump, and his choices for cabinet and other high-level positions within his administration is sending a strong signal that simple competence is now important. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as personified by Elon Musk is asking straightforward questions, like: "What do you do here?" "What did you do last week?" "Do you come to work?" "Is your job necessary?"

Shocking...isn't it!

For many reasons, most of which are linked to graft and subverting our traditional political philosophy, the federal government has become a vast make-work program designed to funnel unimaginable sums of money to favored groups, regardless of any connection to what is needed by the citizens of The United States of America!

Is that about to change?

The glimpse into the labyrinth of the federal government that DOGE and Trump's cabinet has allowed us is at least as important as the savings ($55 billion and counting)! That glimpse has shown America that the screeching and wailing that we hear whenever any mention of slowing the expansion of government is simply nonsense, and there is a huge amount of waste, rather than a Potemkin Village of earnest, hard working, dedicated public servants.

The goal of course is to cut waste, and shift toward actual needed functions, performed by minimally competent employees. As obvious as that sounds, that will be a tremendous change in the federal government, and it will lead the way in returning America to a more rational view of employment.

Go to work every day and do your job well. That's not so complicated!

If all goes as planned, the federal government will be a smaller, more nimble, more efficient, and less expensive thing. Which is vastly amusing, because Donald Trump is being accused of being a fascist and a dictator, but how many fascists and dictators shrink government?

All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.

Does that sound like President Trump?

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (341) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread - 2-23-2025 ["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 (zombie mice not included). 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...(reminds me to phone home once in a while).

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 23 February 2025

Top Story

• Nvidia has confirmed that defective chips are affecting performance on 0.5% of 5090 and 5070 Ti graphics cards. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  Which is a strange announcement because (a) nobody had noticed the problem on the 5070 Ti before and (b) the 5070 Ti is much more common than the 5090.
  
  Major national retailers have announced receiving fewer than ten 5090s total, with resupply possibly months out.
  
  So this is a bit like an announcement that 0.5% of Lamborghinis and Volkswagens have an engine defect. That could mean the problem affects 20% of Lamborghinis, because the shipping volume of the two brands is so different.
  
  Anyway, if your 5090 is broken you can return it for replacement, which will happen... Some day.
  
  The other thing is that the 5090 is not a volume product, at least not yet. Nvidia has shipped hundreds of these, not thousands. And they clearly weren't paying attention. This problem would show up immediately in an automated test - and probably did show up. But nobody noticed.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (293) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Night "Club ONT" February 22, 2025 [The 3 D's]

Welcome to another presentation of Club ONT! A collaboration of your Sunday through Wednesday ONT Crew - The Disco, The Doggo, and The Dino. Regular Club members are encouraged to mingle amongst yourselves. Lurkers welcome to congregate on the observation deck, but please don't be afraid to mix in on the main floor. This --- is Club ONT!

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (585) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Evening Movie Thread - 2/22/2025

Argylle by Matthew Vaughn

I don't often talk about singular movies, especially modern singular movies, but I recently caught the Matthew Vaughn directed, Bryce Dallas Howard bomb, Argylle, when I got a 3 month free trial for AppleTV+ (purely for Severance, by the way). I've liked Matthew Vaughn as a filmmaker since his first film, Layer Cake through all three of his Kingsman films and even stuff like Stardust. So, I was actually somewhat excited about Argylle. It looked like what had become pretty standard Vaughn output by the trailers, and I didn't think that was a bad thing. I liked pretty standard Vaughn output.

And then it was released into theaters for roughly one showing on one weekend where it bombed horribly and then went behind the AppleTV+ paywall never to emerge again. It was also battered around mercilessly by critics (33% on Rotten Tomatoes with negative reviews getting titles like "Argylle" (hopefully) signals the collapse of the modern blockbuster) and handled roughly by audiences (5.6/10 on the IMDb). It's surely not worthwhile, it seems.

Well, I watched it anyway because you're not my supervisor.

And...I thought it was alright. It's not good. It's silly and ridiculous, much like several of Vaughn's other films, but it's also overlong and overcomplicated (um...also like several of Vaughn's other films). The combination simply doesn't work as well here. However, in terms of mediocre action spectacles, is this really any worse than most of what gets released these days? Is it worth special scorn? Well, the general reaction contrasted with my own ignited a couple of lines of thought in my brain, and I decided that instead of simply reviewing the film, my thoughts were taking me in an essay-like direction.

Essentially, it amounts to Argylle's place in this little slice of movie history we're living through.

Oh, and I should note that I'm going to spoil the crap out of this movie. If you're really jonesing to see Argylle without spoiling, skip. But, it's not like it's hard to predict.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison at 07:45 PM | Comments (340) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - February 22, 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.

We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin. Turns out, the Wheel is always looking for a challenge. It said JIGSAW PUZZLES. Let's put the pieces together.

[Photo: Hobbies in the Jurassic Period]

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (197) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, February 22

The eyes . . . .

* * *

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.

* * *

For the Weekend

Posted by: K.T. at 03:17 PM | Comments (66) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Feb. 22

Some lovely winter photos from long-time lurker Rex Nemorensis, with assists from Perfessor Squirrel and Misanthropic Humanitarian:

Not sure who to send these to but I am just happy we have some actual snow here and wish to share with those who abhor the slithy slush of Icy Hades.

The photo above, and those below, do show some appealing aspects of winter. Plus a good artistic eye.

Posted by: K.T. at 01:13 PM | Comments (49) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Are the ghosts of previous presidents returning to interfere with the leftist project again?

Andrew Jackson is a 1928 bronze sculpture of Andrew Jackson by Belle Kinney Scholz and Leopold Scholz, installed in the United States Capitol, in Washington D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection.

It is one of two statues donated by the state of Tennessee.

The Democrats used to hold Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinners. Not anymore.

Posted by: K.T. at 11:16 AM | Comments (294) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival

[H/T Hrothgar]

Good morning boys, 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 Bayfield)

1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind, be nice. And no jumping on or from the furniture.
3) Running with sharp objects is up to you. But this is a No Sympathy Zone for that.
D) Have a great weekend!

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian (ONT Cob Emeritus) at 08:22 AM | Comments (509) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 22 February 2025

Top Story

• Oh, Oops Part One: Some Zotac RTX 5090 graphics cards have eight missing ROPs - the part of the chip that writes out the rendered image data to memory. (WCCFTech)
  
  They should have 176; instead they have 168. Updating the drivers and refreshing the BIOS does nothing to help, and the performance loss is measurable.
  
  
  
• Oh, Oops Part Two: When you think about it, if refreshing the BIOS doesn't work, this can't be Zotac's fault. They don't control the drivers or the chips supplied by Nvidia.
  
  And yes, there's a bad batch of chips out there, and this problem affects every model of card. (WCCFTech)
  
  Disabling parts of a GPU chip is perfectly normal, but on the top-of-the-line RTX 5090, which costs $2000 in theory and at least double that in practice, nothing is supposed to be disabled.
  
  And it can't be fixed, requiring a recall of affected boards.
  
  Only... It could be three months before there's any stock to replace them.
  
  
  
• And that's if your power cable doesn't melt. (Windows Central)
  
  Using a cable rated for a maximum of 600W on a GPU rated at a nominal 575W. Who could have foreseen problems with that?
  
  Particularly when the exact same thing happened with the 450W RTX 4090 two years ago.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (236) | Trackbacks (Suck)

A Few Good ONTs

Howdy-do, folks! How's everyone doing out there in Moron land?

Posted by: WeirdDave at 10:00 PM | Comments (453) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Question Time Cafe

Bologna Italy more like
Baloney Engineering am i rite

Very fashionable goose.

ICYMI: Tucker the pool-loving dog gets a winter surprise.

Some lovely ASMR from ICE.

Meet-cute with a cat and a deer.

Cow at full gallop.

I will destroy my enemies with my army of ducks.

what is going on

what am i even looking at rn

what is this crap now

Dog engineering challenge.

POV skiing. (IG)

Dog won't come in from pool. (IG)

Beautiful grinning sheep wants to gently nibble your jugular out of your throat. (IG)

Moose maintenance. (IG)

Releasing a tiger back into the wild. (IG)

Black diamond run. (IG)

For discriminating afficiandos of head-tilts only. (IG)

Ice skating more like nice skating am i rite (IG)

Posted by: Ace at 07:30 PM | Comments (296) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Another Jihadist Stabbing Attack in Germany, This Time at the Berlin Holocaust Museum

"We may never know the attacker's motive," German police vowed.

Posted by: Ace at 06:40 PM | Comments (187) | Trackbacks (Suck)