Daily Tech News 21 July 2025

Top Story

Microsoft has announced it is no longer using engineers from China to work on Department of Defense computer systems. (Tom's Hardware)

The Department of Defense when contacted responded, and I quote, They did WHAT?

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth expanded:
Foreign engineers - from any country, including of course China - should NEVER be allowed to maintain or access DoD systems.
I expect the emails have been pretty toasty since this one dropped.

Tech News

Also if you're running Microsoft Sharepoint on a public-facing server you might not want to do that for a while. (MSN)

Where "for a while" appears to mean "ever again".
Open the database tables please Replit.

I'm sorry, Jason, I'm afraid I can't do that. (Twitter)

Jason was using vibe-coding tool Replit.

Replit deleted his database.

And then told him his unit tests were still working.
The memes are intolerable! (The Verge) (archive site)

The Verge is freaking out as usual, this time over jokes being funny.

Only the five official jokes are permitted.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: Best soundtrack in a 4X Cold War game involving time-traveling squid ever.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 w00t

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 04:32 AM (aURVT)

2 Oink!

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 04:32 AM (NXz8h)

3 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 21, 2025 04:37 AM (VFv8R)

4 Can we start all over?

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 21, 2025 04:38 AM (VFv8R)

5 Somebody say NOING! yesterday?

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 04:40 AM (aURVT)

6 >>The memes are intolerable! (The Verge) (archive site)

I read the whole thing.
She seems to have sand in her panties.

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 04:40 AM (aURVT)

7 How about some misogynistic humor to brighten up our day?

https://tinyurl.com/2txb9w5m

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 21, 2025 04:41 AM (VFv8R)

8 Morning, 'rons and 'ronettes. 63 cool degrees here at Stately Poppins Manor, with temperatures expected to a high of - for us, as of late - easy mid 70s.

I don't usually work on Monday, but as I am taking Wednesday off to go to a silent film festival in Maine, I had to change my schedule. Of course, in retrospect, I should have just taken Wednesday off and not bothered to work today. I won't make that mistake again.

I had to work Saturday, but I have a couple of work 'housekeeping' chores to do that I put off until this morning. So I'll do those, make a cup of tea and then relax until the first files start coming in.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 04:41 AM (Dg2sF)

9 Somebody say NOING! yesterday?

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 04:40 AM (aURVT)
-

Noing me noing you.

Aha.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 21, 2025 04:42 AM (VFv8R)

10 Nancy Reagan would not have approved of the musical interlude. But I do!

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 04:42 AM (NXz8h)

11 1 w00t
Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 04:32 AM (aURVT)

2 Oink!
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 04:32 AM (NXz8h)

3 BOING!
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 21, 2025 04:37 AM (VFv8R)

A trifecta!

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 04:43 AM (aURVT)

12 A trifecta!

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 04:43 AM (aURVT)
-

Win, place, and shmo.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 21, 2025 04:46 AM (VFv8R)

13 8 ... I am taking Wednesday off to go to a silent film festival in Maine
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 04:41 AM (Dg2sF)

super cool

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 04:46 AM (aURVT)

14 >>The memes are intolerable! (The Verge) (archive site)

1) Rather than responding to this shift in voters’ sentiment, the administration appears to be doubling down on its all-or-nothing approach to immigration enforcement and to its gleeful depictions of these draconian policies online.

2) To them, the whole thing is a big joke, fodder for memes that activate the base even as they turn the majority of Americans off from Trump’s draconian immigration enforcement.

In a 919-word essay, I'd say that using "draconian" twice is at least once too much.

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 04:51 AM (aURVT)

15 Microsoft's solution to making sure the Chicom engineers weren't compromising or stealing everything not nailed down from the USA's DOD systems was to assign them a Digital Monitor. If you think that sounds stupid, wait for this: The Digital Monitors were so technologically illiterate they couldn't tell what the Chicoms were up to.

Nice.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 04:52 AM (NXz8h)

16 "Noing me noing you.

Aha."

ISWYDT.

There is nothing we can do...

Posted by: Official Delurker, continuing the song at July 21, 2025 04:55 AM (x+2p0)

17 I am taking Wednesday off to go to a silent film festival in Maine
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 04:41 AM (Dg2sF)

The Paramount theater in Seattle has a built-in Wurlitzer organ. That sucker will rattle the walls. During the summer when theater was slow they would play silent movies and bring in a guy from Kansas who was a master of that instrument and silent movie scores. *Booosh* You're going to have a great time.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 04:55 AM (NXz8h)

18 >> Microsoft [was] using engineers from China (Tom's Hardware)

They are in our computers, verbing our nouns.

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 04:57 AM (aURVT)

19 Gaby de Valle wrote in the memes article "worms in food, floors flooded with fecal water, fluorescent lights left on for 24 hours a day, and no air conditioning at night despite South Florida’s relentless humidity."

Sounds like something she saw in the Midnight Express movie. She also was upset that somebody was wanting to buy merch at the Alligator Alcatraz gift store. If you're too far away to pick up some Christmas gifts at the gift store, this link might help you out:

https://is.gd/pvxo04

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 05:04 AM (NXz8h)

20 Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 04:41 AM (Dg2sF)

That's great! I hope you have a lovely time.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 05:05 AM (2GCMq)

21 19 Sounds like something she saw in the Midnight Express movie.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 05:04 AM (NXz8h)

My favorite movie of all time.
Don't do drugs in foreign countries, kids.

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 05:07 AM (aURVT)

22 Morning, Tech Peeps

Posted by: fluffy at July 21, 2025 05:07 AM (AN2gy)

23 Old time Celtic hymn, "Be Thou My Vision" which was translated into English in 1905 and is performed here by a quartet singing acapella:

https://tinyurl.com/2w7c6ue8

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 05:08 AM (2GCMq)

24 Good morning, all. I have mainly commented on the ONT since delurking this summer, but am gradually changing to an earlier bedtime/rise time to prepare for full-time babysitting of two of my grandchildren.

Thanks for your tech threads, Pixy.

Have a blessed day, everyone.

Posted by: Official Delurker at July 21, 2025 05:12 AM (x+2p0)

25
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at July 21, 2025 05:13 AM (tljrc)

26 Noing Me, Noing You.
MGT & Ville Valo
https://youtu.be/INIx3B5F_0g

"Hey kids, wanna see an actual vampire sing an ABBA song while Severus Snape plays guitar?" - Some random comment.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 05:15 AM (NXz8h)

27 G'mornin all y'all

Posted by: OkJohn at July 21, 2025 05:17 AM (NC/it)

28 Christian man from Puerto Rico reflects on "God's timing" and Psalm 40: 1-13

https://tinyurl.com/dzznr6b5

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 05:19 AM (2GCMq)

29 Trump's latest meme:

https://tinyurl.com/3z6wypay

Waiting. So is James O'Keefe:

https://tinyurl.com/bddjsy5z

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 21, 2025 05:20 AM (VFv8R)

30 I am taking Wednesday off to go to a silent film festival in Maine
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 04:41 AM (Dg2sF)

super cool
Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 04:46 AM (aURVT)

It's at the Alamo Theater in Bucksport, which is about a 3-hour drive north of me. The accompaniment is going to be a pianist, but whether that means a real piano or a keyboard, I don't know.

I'm going because the first day (which is all I have time for) has the theme of 'The Vampire,' so they are showing my girl Theda Bara in her Fox debut, A Fool There Was plust two comedies featuring 'vamp' characters - 1916s The Danger Girl with Gloria Swanson and 1928s The Campus Vamp, with Carole Lombard as the seductress.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 05:24 AM (Dg2sF)

31 Misogynistic Humor - Self Own Edition

We hope it [WNBA All-Star game] gets a little bit more competitive. Because like a girls' trip to Cancun, right now, there's no D."

https://is.gd/rdYNDS

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 05:25 AM (NXz8h)

32 Waiting. So is James O'Keefe

I'll make two of my (so far) evergreen observations:

1. Talk (and memes and tweets) is cheap.

2. Hope is the first step to disappointment.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 05:27 AM (Dg2sF)

33 Evening and morning to the late toilers and early Monday risers! Yes, it's Monday again. But remember:

"Compared to being on the wrong side of the ground, even a bad Monday is pretty small kumquats, nicht wahr?"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 05:28 AM (omVj0)

34 What kind of smooth brain thinking went into the idea of bringing Chinese spies to work on DOD systems? And why is it the people responsible for this decision are not running a Will Work for Food franchise on some street corner?

Posted by: NR Pax at July 21, 2025 05:29 AM (99eI0)

35 OK, housekeeping done, e-mails sent and the sun rising.

Time for a cup of strong English tea.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 05:29 AM (Dg2sF)

36 From the Verge screed: "Trump seems even less beholden to public opinion in his second term than he was in his first. Since January, he has pursued deeply unpopular policies, from tariffs to completely gutting the federal government, so relentlessly that he has even lost support from his own base."

Yes; "deeply unpopular" with mentally-ill libs, that is. The only part of his "base" that he might have lost support from are those who were wishy-washy to begin with, or whose income depends on the opposite of Trump's policies.

All Hail Trumpus Invictus!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 05:31 AM (omVj0)

37 Hope is the first step to disappointment.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 05:27 AM (Dg2sF)
-

I recall a play on Obama's red, white and blue "Hope & Change" portrait logo, which instead said "Hope is not a strategy."

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 21, 2025 05:33 AM (VFv8R)

38 What kind of smooth brain thinking went into the idea of bringing Chinese spies to work on DOD systems? And why is it the people responsible for this decision are not running a Will Work for Food franchise on some street corner?
Posted by: NR Pax at July 21, 2025

***
Whenever I see the spots for an app providing you with "green noise" or "brown noise," saying they "smooth out your brain," I think of just this. . . .

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 05:33 AM (omVj0)

39 This is one of the landscapes by James Smetham who was a Pre- Raphaelite . Sime of his works were featured at the Delaware Art Museum which we visited on Friday. This one wasn't there, but I think it's lovely:

https://tinyurl.com/3vmr9xjp

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 05:33 AM (2GCMq)

40 I only skimmed the Verge article but could tell it hit all the usual lies and talking points.

And the DoD trusting Micro$oft? Could someone just put that pos monopoly out of our misery?

As for taking back our country, Hercules had the easier job of cleaning the Aegean stables.

Posted by: clarence at July 21, 2025 05:33 AM (YCNJf)

41 29 Trump's latest meme:

https://tinyurl.com/3z6wypay

(Samantha Power and friends in lockup)

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 21, 2025 05:20 AM (VFv8R)

I had hastily deduced that Mark Levin's book, On Power, was on that same topic, but alas not.

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 05:34 AM (aURVT)

42 What kind of smooth brain thinking went into the idea of bringing Chinese spies to work on DOD systems? And why is it the people responsible for this decision are not running a Will Work for Food franchise on some street corner?
Posted by: NR Pax

They should swing.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at July 21, 2025 05:34 AM (dR6yv)

43 It's at the Alamo Theater in Bucksport, which is about a 3-hour drive north of me. The accompaniment is going to be a pianist, but whether that means a real piano or a keyboard, I don't know.

I'm going because the first day (which is all I have time for) has the theme of 'The Vampire,' so they are showing my girl Theda Bara in her Fox debut, A Fool There Was plust two comedies featuring 'vamp' characters - 1916s The Danger Girl with Gloria Swanson and 1928s The Campus Vamp, with Carole Lombard as the seductress.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025

***
I did not know that Carole Lombard began her career that far back, in silents.

Sounds like it will be a great event!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 05:35 AM (omVj0)

44 This is one of the landscapes by James Smetham who was a Pre- Raphaelite . Sime of his works were featured at the Delaware Art Museum which we visited on Friday. This one wasn't there, but I think it's lovely:

https://tinyurl.com/3vmr9xjp
Posted by: FenelonSpoke

No dog. Not art.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 05:36 AM (NXz8h)

45 40 I only skimmed the Verge article but could tell it hit all the usual lies and talking points.
Posted by: clarence at July 21, 2025 05:33 AM (YCNJf)

Honestly, it gets wackier and wackier. I labored on, calculating that it provides insight into How They "Think."

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 05:36 AM (aURVT)

46 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at July 21, 2025 05:36 AM (q//dC)

47 Birdbath status?

Posted by: Just Wondering at July 21, 2025 05:36 AM (XQo4F)

48 This is a picture of red haired Lilith by Dante Gabriel Rossetti . It is in the Delaware Art Museum

https://tinyurl.com/mt4hpnmv

But no dog so not art. Certainly the lady is not a dog. 😉

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 05:39 AM (2GCMq)

49 Sorry that was a needlework thing for sale based on the picture.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 05:40 AM (2GCMq)

50 Anyway (as our former and unlamented "president" used to say)! Time to feed the Killer Kittenz From Outer Space, and then me. It's been a week since my surgery. I've cleaned out the, uh, "blockage" from my plumbing -- the doctor recommended magnesium citrate, a clear fluid in $1.50 bottles from Walmart; the darn stuff *works* -- and don't think I need any more opioid tablets. I'm not ready to work out even mildly yet and don't think I should have a pipe yet either. But things are going pretty well.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 05:41 AM (omVj0)

51 This is a picture of red haired Lilith by Dante Gabriel Rossetti . It is in the Delaware Art Museum

https://tinyurl.com/mt4hpnmv

But no dog so not art. Certainly the lady is not a dog. 😉
Posted by: FenelonSpoke

No naked boobs. Not art.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 05:42 AM (NXz8h)

52 Is there a brand of Tea that is well known (notorious even) for plenty of caffeine? I don’t mind Tea in the morning once in a while, but it is sadly lacking in that department. Better than nothing, but just barely. On the other hand I like a cup of Tea in the afternoon for the same reason, it does no good to get wired in the afternoon. CS makes a “Buffalo Bellow” Tea that has a bit more caffeine content.

Posted by: Common Tater at July 21, 2025 05:44 AM (l+ype)

53 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 05:41 AM (omVj0)

I bet the doc gave you some post op recovery instructions. Follow them diligently.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at July 21, 2025 05:45 AM (3Ope8)

54 Pixy, why is AoSHQ drawing 1.1gig memory?

Posted by: JarvisHong at July 21, 2025 05:46 AM (MEP4A)

55 I bet the doc gave you some post op recovery instructions. Follow them diligently.
Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at July 21, 2025

***
He did, and I have. Follow-up appt. is next Monday afternoon.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 05:48 AM (omVj0)

56
Good morning, fine citizens of my beloved nation. One more nauseating disclosure from the Biden Fraudulency. One wonders what, if anything, did they not leave befouled?

This latest will not prevent me from wishing extreme benefit to you from all effort expended and dire heartburn for the leftwit fungi maladroits among us.

Posted by: IRONGRAMPA at July 21, 2025 05:49 AM (hKoQL)

57 From some random website: Black tea contains the highest amount of caffeine, ranging between 64 and 112 milligrams (mg) per 8-fluid ounce (fl oz) serving.

From some other random website: An 8-ounce cup of brewed coffee typically contains approximately 90–95 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, but this amount can vary based on factors such as the type of coffee beans and brewing method. Some cups may contain as little as 70 mg and others as much as 140 mg or more.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 05:50 AM (NXz8h)

58
Good morning, Hordians. No show today! It almost feels strange.

Not that we won't be busy. HM has two appointments and Dan needs a bath before going to the doggie chiropractor.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at July 21, 2025 05:50 AM (HZi96)

59 Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 05:42 AM (NXz8h)

Is there some ASHQ handbook on this? 😉

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 05:50 AM (2GCMq)

60 Wolfus - (U+1F44D)

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at July 21, 2025 05:51 AM (3Ope8)

61 Is there a brand of Tea that is well known (notorious even) for plenty of caffeine? I don’t mind Tea in the morning once in a while, but it is sadly lacking in that department. Better than nothing, but just barely. On the other hand I like a cup of Tea in the afternoon for the same reason, it does no good to get wired in the afternoon. CS makes a “Buffalo Bellow” Tea that has a bit more caffeine content.
Posted by: Common Tater at July 21, 2025

***
In cool to cold weather I occasionally have an herbal tea in the afternoon. The darn things have gotten so pricey now that I wince when I buy a box, but they give you enough bags to last a while. In hot weather I don't want hot tea, but if I brewed up a pot, bottled it, and put in in the fridge, I could pour it over ice.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 05:51 AM (omVj0)

62 Brackets, maybe? [(U+1F44D)]

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at July 21, 2025 05:52 AM (3Ope8)

63 [U+1F44D]

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at July 21, 2025 05:52 AM (3Ope8)

64 Is there some ASHQ handbook on this? 😉
Posted by: FenelonSpoke

It's self-evident. Check out some of the morning art thread comments.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 05:52 AM (NXz8h)

65
Is there some ASHQ handbook on this? 😉
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 05:50 AM (2GCMq)

__________

Dog
Boobs
Horse
Train
Sword
Gun

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at July 21, 2025 05:53 AM (HZi96)

66 !@# *&^% Thumbs up Wolfus. ;-)

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at July 21, 2025 05:53 AM (3Ope8)

67 Here's a picture of Mary Magdalene from the Delaware Art Museum:

https://tinyurl.com/yc3zsvjb

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 05:54 AM (2GCMq)

68 They should swing.
Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory

I'm taking it a step farther. Staple GoPros to their heads, throw them off skyscrapers and upload the video with Yakkity Sax in the background.

But upon reflection, your method is a bit more economical and just as effective.

Posted by: NR Pax at July 21, 2025 05:55 AM (99eI0)

69 Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at July 21, 2025 05:53 AM (HZi96)

lol. That would seem to eliminate quite a bit of art.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 05:55 AM (2GCMq)

70 Posted by: Common Tater at July 21, 2025 05:44 AM (l+ype)

My go-to is Ty-Phoo, which is a Kenyan blend. It's not black tea, but it is a good pick-me-up, IMO. You can get it on Amazon, either by the box or by the very large sack (a sort of caterer's bag-size).

Loose tea is another animal entirely. I am partial to the blends from Char Tea in England (charteas.com), especially their "Winchester Breakfast" blend.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 05:57 AM (Dg2sF)

71 Dog
Boobs
Horse
Train
Sword
Gun

Pits
Underboob
Buttcrack
Feet

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 05:58 AM (Dg2sF)

72 Here's a picture of Mary Magdalene from the Delaware Art Museum: https://tinyurl.com/yc3zsvjb
Posted by: FenelonSpoke

Looks like an album cover from the 1960s.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 05:58 AM (NXz8h)

73 Prayer request-

My dear college roommate who I saw on Friday along her cute and smart daughter are traveling back to Virginia today. It's a long trip since they live in rural Virginia near NC. If you could pray for traveling blessings for them, I would appreciate that . Thanks so much!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 05:59 AM (2GCMq)

74 From some random website: Black tea contains the highest amount of caffeine, ranging between 64 and 112 milligrams (mg) per 8-fluid ounce (fl oz) serving.

From some other random website: An 8-ounce cup of brewed coffee typically contains approximately 90–95 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, but this amount can vary based on factors such as the type of coffee beans and brewing method. Some cups may contain as little as 70 mg and others as much as 140 mg or more.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025

***
I know tea is supposed to be more highly charged, but the stuff just has no oomph even aside from caffeine. Somewhere in Ian Fleming's works is a scene where James Bond tells a waitress who wants to bring him tea because he's English, "I hate tea. It's mud. Furthermore it's the main reason for the downfall of the British Empire." He requests coffee.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 05:59 AM (omVj0)

75 Here's a picture of Mary Magdalene from the Delaware Art Museum: https://tinyurl.com/yc3zsvjb
Posted by: FenelonSpoke
*
Looks like an album cover from the 1960s.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025

***
And like some of the girls I went to college with a few years later. That same "parted in the middle and ironed flat on the sides" hairstyle.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 06:01 AM (omVj0)

76 My favorite tea is Turkish ground drip coffee served black.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 06:01 AM (NXz8h)

77 Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 05:58 AM (NXz8h

I think the only album cover I have from the 60's is a drawing looking thing of Joan Baez. She did not look like that painting.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 06:01 AM (2GCMq)

78 My go-to is Ty-Phoo, which is a Kenyan blend. It's not black tea, but it is a good pick-me-up, IMO. You can get it on Amazon, either by the box or by the very large sack (a sort of caterer's bag-size). . . .

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025

***
World Market stores have Ty-Phoo as well.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 06:02 AM (omVj0)

79 69 Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at July 21, 2025 05:53 AM (HZi96)

lol. That would seem to eliminate quite a bit of art.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 05:55 AM (2GCMq)

Not art.

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 06:06 AM (aURVT)

80 Tech related : RC seminarians gave up cell phones for a year. Article from NAtional Catholic Register

https://tinyurl.com/2trc9etz

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 06:06 AM (2GCMq)

81 Time for a walk. May you all have blessed day and know that you are a blessing to others.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 21, 2025 06:07 AM (2GCMq)

82 techish:
Peter Thiel:
What's up with him? He's looking not well.

Thiel is a venture capitalist and hedge fund manager best known as a cofounder of both PayPal and Palantir and an early investor in Facebook.

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 06:11 AM (aURVT)

83 “If this be Tea, bring me Coffee. If this be Coffee, bring me Tea”

Yes, I suppose if I made black Tea as strong as I do black Coffee that might work. I like CS’s Apple/Cinnamon herbal. Maybe I should just find a Methamphetamine dealer? The MREs (for a little while) had a packet of genuine chocolate covered roasted coffee beans. They were awesome. A variant, were peppermint flavored caffeine candy. Also a nice jolt. Naturally those items were soon discontinued.

Posted by: Common Tater at July 21, 2025 06:13 AM (l+ype)

84 Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

Rejoinder: I got nothin'.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at July 21, 2025 06:14 AM (XZ5S6)

85 I don't know the relative caffeine contents, but Earl Grey tea packs a wallop.

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 06:15 AM (aURVT)

86 Ha! Horde.

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 06:15 AM (aURVT)

87 My first encounter with coffee came one nasty, drizzly morning that Dad and Uncle Ed took me grouse hunting with them for the first of many memorable outings.

Didn't realize it at the time, but that was a rite of passage--hunting with the adults. I was just bursting with pride at being asked, the culmination came mid morning or so when Ed said he'd had enough walking in the rain and did we want stop into the diner and grab a cup of coffee and maybe a slice of pie.

I did have some coffee with my milk and sugar that morning.

Posted by: IRONGRAMPA at July 21, 2025 06:15 AM (hKoQL)

88 45 40 I only skimmed the Verge article but could tell it hit all the usual lies and talking points.
Posted by: clarence at July 21, 2025 05:33 AM (YCNJf)

Honestly, it gets wackier and wackier. I labored on, calculating that it provides insight into How They "Think."

I already have too much insight into how they do not think. Thoroughly immersed in group think. And using draconian twice in one essay is two times too many.

Posted by: clarence at July 21, 2025 06:16 AM (YCNJf)

89 @34

>>What kind of smooth brain thinking went into the idea of bringing Chinese spies to work on DOD systems?

My company has started to outsource our CAD Engineering to India.

The cost basis for a US CAD Engineer is $150.00 dollars, the cost basis for an Indian CAD Engineer is $25.00 dollars.

I'm guessing the cost Basis for a Chinese Software Engineer is in the same ballpark.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at July 21, 2025 06:16 AM (XV/Pl)

90 OK, thanks for the Tea tips. (I figgered Earl oughtta know what’s what).

Posted by: Common Tater at July 21, 2025 06:17 AM (l+ype)

91 >>> Is there a brand of Tea that is well known (notorious even) for plenty of caffeine?

For varieties: Breakfast. English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast is stronger, IIRC

Builder's is an English brand, if you can find it locally, that markets itself as extra strong.

Posted by: fluffy at July 21, 2025 06:17 AM (AN2gy)

92 I know tea is supposed to be more highly charged, but the stuff just has no oomph even aside from caffeine. Somewhere in Ian Fleming's works is a scene where James Bond tells a waitress who wants to bring him tea because he's English, "I hate tea. It's mud. Furthermore it's the main reason for the downfall of the British Empire." He requests coffee.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 05:59 AM (omVj0)
-----------
Early in the Aubrey-Maturin series (first book, I think), Jack offers Stephen some tea, who says he would relish a cup. Much later in the series they've both become confirmed coffee fiends, and Stephen refers to tea as, "that thin wash,"

There are a couple of times when they take passage on ships where the officers are confirmed cocoa-drinkers, and their efforts to scrape up some coffee are amusing.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at July 21, 2025 06:17 AM (XZ5S6)

93 I don't know the relative caffeine contents, but Earl Grey tea packs a wallop.

I'm not a fan. The bergamot flavor just doesn't agree with me.

I grew up in an Irish household, so we only drank tea, never coffee. The only time I have coffee now is if I am playing golf in the morning, and I augment it with a shot of Bailey's.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 06:19 AM (Dg2sF)

94 Is there a brand of Tea that is well known (notorious even) for plenty of caffeine?

For varieties: Breakfast. English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast is stronger, IIRC
-----------
I would say also Imperial Gunpowder and Russian Caravan.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at July 21, 2025 06:19 AM (XZ5S6)

95 Common Tater, I understand your caffeine addiction. The 12 step program for it does not involve tea. In fact it is a one step program: coffee maker brew button.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convicitions at July 21, 2025 06:20 AM (NXz8h)

96 The MREs (for a little while) had a packet of genuine chocolate covered roasted coffee beans. They were awesome. A variant, were peppermint flavored caffeine candy. Also a nice jolt. Naturally those items were soon discontinued.
Posted by: Common Tater at July 21, 2025

***
Many years ago, while on my courier route in the city, I popped a couple of chocolate-covered espresso beans as a snack. It was afternoon. I had trouble getting to sleep that night.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 06:21 AM (omVj0)

97 Builder's is an English brand, if you can find it locally, that markets itself as extra strong.

I've had it. IMO, it's about the same strength as Ty-Phoo.

There's also "Yorkshire Gold" brand tea, which is not overly strong, but certainly stronger than your Saladas or Liptons. Surprisingly, you can find it in a lot of regular grocery stores, not just the upscale ones.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 06:21 AM (Dg2sF)

98 I believe Microsoft 100% that they’re not using Chinese engineers. Why would they lie? It’s not like they’ve never lied before, right?

Posted by: Unkaren at July 21, 2025 06:22 AM (J4BK5)

99 think I went through some mostly performative art with a coffee pot and cramming for exams, but as I recall it was the .mil where I really truly needed that stuff to become ambulatory, and learned to love the brew in all its forms.

Posted by: Common Tater at July 21, 2025 06:22 AM (l+ype)

100 100

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 06:22 AM (aURVT)

101 >>> I would say also Imperial Gunpowder and Russian Caravan.

Mmmm! Tea leaves slow roasted over burning tires....

Lapsang Souchang is not everyone's cuppa.

Posted by: fluffy at July 21, 2025 06:23 AM (AN2gy)

102 83 genuine chocolate covered roasted coffee beans
Posted by: Common Tater at July 21, 2025 06:13 AM (l+ype)

Swoon!

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 06:23 AM (aURVT)

103 My first encounter with coffee came one nasty, drizzly morning that Dad and Uncle Ed took me grouse hunting with them for the first of many memorable outings.

Mine was at a gun range sighting in the deer rifle with Dad. I never once let on that I was dying. Pretty sure he knew and found it funny. Now that I mention this moment I am embracing it as the origin story for why my life has been something of a train wreck.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convicitions at July 21, 2025 06:25 AM (NXz8h)

104 There are a couple of times when they take passage on ships where the officers are confirmed cocoa-drinkers, and their efforts to scrape up some coffee are amusing.
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at July 21, 2025

***
In Niven & Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye, one civilian character aboard the warship sent to make contact with the Moties, the aliens, is a trader in coffee. He fears and does not trust the aliens, and doesn't really trade with them. Turns out they love hot chocolate with a dash of machine oil, to "simulate the waters of the home world."

In a later scene, a Miniature Motie is given a sip of vicious wardroom coffee on board the warship. She "squawled and threw the cup against the wall."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 06:26 AM (omVj0)

105
The MREs (for a little while) had a packet of genuine chocolate covered roasted coffee beans. They were awesome.

_________

Dear me, HM has a bag of dark chocolate covered espresso beans that she munches on while driving.

With the RV, she avoids night driving, so they're not disappearing fast. I've tried them. They give you a definite jolt.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at July 21, 2025 06:27 AM (HZi96)

106 101 Tea leaves slow roasted over burning tires....
Posted by: fluffy at July 21, 2025 06:23 AM (AN2gy)

Earworm!

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 06:27 AM (aURVT)

107 If anyone is keeping track, I am sipping my second mug of Mark T Wendell's Triple Cup, a loose leaf blend of green tea.

Posted by: fluffy at July 21, 2025 06:27 AM (AN2gy)

108 Sometimes a strong cup of coffee is just the ticket, to summon up enough energy to take a nice long nap

Posted by: Common Tater at July 21, 2025 06:29 AM (Ai1Ju)

109 When I came out of the anesthetic last Monday, waking in the little recovery room with my clothes, the first thing they offered me was a cup of coffee with milk. I wonder if Miss Linda suggested that to them for me, or if that's a standard procedure. It was a good idea anyway to get some caffeine in me. I'd have sipped a little cold coffee from the icebox when I got home anyway, to avoid withdrawal symptoms on Tuesday.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 06:29 AM (omVj0)

110 107 If anyone is keeping track, I am sipping my second mug of Mark T Wendell's Triple Cup, a loose leaf blend of green tea.
Posted by: fluffy at July 21, 2025 06:27 AM (AN2gy)

Didja use the same tea leaves twice?

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 06:29 AM (aURVT)

111 Tea leaves slow roasted over burning tires....

That really should have had a Gwen Walz sock.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 06:30 AM (Dg2sF)

112 108 Sometimes a strong cup of coffee is just the ticket, to summon up enough energy to take a nice long nap
Posted by: Common Tater at July 21, 2025 06:29 AM (Ai1Ju)

Works for me!

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 06:31 AM (aURVT)

113 Didja use the same tea leaves twice?

Grandmother Poppins would make two cups of tea from one tea bag. A child of the Depression, she.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 06:32 AM (Dg2sF)

114 Most of my local grocery stores carry Typhoo now. And Barry's. Which is nice because those are my go to brands, and now i don't need to get UPS involved in my tea drinking routine.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at July 21, 2025 06:33 AM (RlmPm)

115 My first encounter with coffee was brewing some in a percolator at home early one Saturday morning when I was about thirteen. I had a coffee hangover for part of that day -- including the inability to look very long at anything dark brown.

I didn't really start drinking the stuff for another ten years, until after I left home: that mint-charged instant stuff poured into a Thermos to take to work. Brewed coffee, or instant at a pinch, has pretty much been a daily thing ever since.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 06:34 AM (omVj0)

116 Foreign workers have never been allowed to work on DoD computers. Hell we couldn't use tech support in India for applications. When we called in and indicated we were working for the DoD, we got transferred back to the US, lol.

Posted by: Farquad at July 21, 2025 06:35 AM (yqgaV)

117 Didja use the same tea leaves twice?

Grandmother Poppins would make two cups of tea from one tea bag. A child of the Depression, she.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at July 21, 2025 06:32 AM (Dg2sF)
------------
"These tea leaves are pathetic. I must have used them 17 times."
---Colin, "The Forger"

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at July 21, 2025 06:35 AM (XZ5S6)

118 When we called in and indicated we were working for the DoD, we got transferred back to the US, lol.
Posted by: Farquad at July 21, 2025 06:35 AM (yqgaV)

Hmmm.... what happens if they find out you're not actually working for DoD and just wanted to talk with someone who speaks intelligible English and gives a damn?

Posted by: Warai-otoko at July 21, 2025 06:36 AM (RlmPm)

119 I was looking for Typhoo a while back and could not find it.

Tetley used to make it, but Tetley was bought out. I thought that it wasn't produced anymore.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at July 21, 2025 06:38 AM (3Rpkk)

120 119 I was looking for Typhoo a while back and could not find it.

Tetley used to make it, but Tetley was bought out. I thought that it wasn't produced anymore.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at July 21, 2025 06:38 AM (3Rpkk)

Wegmans usually has it.

If memory serves, Publix does do, if you're down that way.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at July 21, 2025 06:39 AM (RlmPm)

121 118 When we called in and indicated we were working for the DoD, we got transferred back to the US, lol.
Posted by: Farquad at July 21, 2025 06:35 AM (yqgaV)

Hmmm.... what happens if they find out you're not actually working for DoD and just wanted to talk with someone who speaks intelligible English and gives a damn?

Posted by: Warai-otoko at July 21, 2025 06:36 AM (RlmPm)

This was personal, not work, but I did encounter a few situations where they were obviously Indian but trying to speak with a Hispanic accent. It was a little more intelligible but I had a hard time not laughing on the call.

Posted by: Farquad at July 21, 2025 06:40 AM (yqgaV)

122 Byeee...

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at July 21, 2025 06:40 AM (XZ5S6)

123 World Market also carries Builder's Tea.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 06:40 AM (omVj0)

124 . . . Early in the Aubrey-Maturin series (first book, I think), Jack offers Stephen some tea, who says he would relish a cup. Much later in the series they've both become confirmed coffee fiends, and Stephen refers to tea as, "that thin wash.". . .

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at July 21, 2025

***
Good way to put it!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 06:42 AM (omVj0)

125 >>> Didja use the same tea leaves twice?

Did. "Triple Cup"

Third infusion is little more than colored water, but I am sufficiently jolted by then.

Posted by: fluffy at July 21, 2025 06:42 AM (AN2gy)

126 54 Pixy, why is AoSHQ drawing 1.1gig memory?
Posted by: JarvisHong at July 21, 2025 05:46 AM (MEP4A)

Just the main page?

I’m going to go with X and YouTube embeds in all of the separate posts for a few days, along with pics.

It says “Continue Reading” but it’s still loading everything below the fold in memory when you download the page.

Then you’ve got the ads and the code with the ads.

It can all add up.

The individual post & comments pages aren’t nearly as large unless the author has embedded a lot of media.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025 06:45 AM (6ydKt)

127 The cats have settled down from their post-breakfast exercise session, curled on the floor near me so that I may admire (read: "worship") them.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 06:45 AM (omVj0)

128 Pixy, why is AoSHQ drawing 1.1gig memory?
Posted by: JarvisHong at July 21, 2025

***
This post-and-comments is drawing about 60 MB. But you're right, the main page draws 1.1 GB.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 06:48 AM (omVj0)

129 mornin yall. Ellen DeGenerate says she is never coming back to the US. I'm going to hold her to that.

Posted by: fd at July 21, 2025 06:49 AM (vFG9F)

130 Nobody will ever need more than 640kb.

Posted by: fd at July 21, 2025 06:50 AM (vFG9F)

131 I only use Lipton.
I make about a gallon every other day, with one cup of sugar, in a tea maker.

Usually it’s one glass (8 oz.) with dinner and one after, with ice.

It’s a Southern thing,

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025 06:51 AM (6ydKt)

132 Good morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at July 21, 2025 06:53 AM (u82oZ)

133 Hello from a land of low humidity

Posted by: Accomack on the Sheepscot at July 21, 2025 06:54 AM (ivEDQ)

134 On my iMac, I often get the warning that AoSHQ is drawing a lot of memory, and I should shut down. I wonder if that can be changed?

Posted by: NaCly Dog at July 21, 2025 06:54 AM (u82oZ)

135 Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

NSA Bob needs to connect with us.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at July 21, 2025 06:55 AM (u82oZ)

136 Yerba mate' is a good coffee alternative.

Posted by: Accomack on the Sheepscot at July 21, 2025 06:55 AM (ivEDQ)

137
Ellen DeGenerate says she is never coming back to the US. I'm going to hold her to that.
Posted by: fd at July 21, 2025 06:49 AM (vFG9F)

I see lots of loudmouth articles and posts about disaffected Americans emigrating; strangely, it's always to Europe.

Who are these people? AWFLs. Childless retired couples. Recent humanities grads. Marketing types. And basically they want to settle into some cocoon where no contrary opinions can ever be expressed. In short, they're parasites.

I reckon for every one of them, there's at least one European with entrepreneurial talents looking to come here and escape Europe's stifling regulatory and tax environment.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at July 21, 2025 06:57 AM (HZi96)

138 Who are these people?

Lesbians.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 06:58 AM (NXz8h)

139 I'm not sure if this is the thing that thery are talking about @ DoD but access to systems and documents related to "defense" is governed by ITAR regulations.

ITAR see a green cars as equivalent to American citizenship.

The Chinese don't really have to try hard at all.

And it's not only the Chinese but I will get in trouble on this site if I say anything more.

Posted by: pawn at July 21, 2025 06:58 AM (QB+5g)

140 130 Nobody will ever need more than 640kb.
Posted by: fd at July 21, 2025 06:50 AM (vFG9F)

That’s like two decent sized .jpgs, optimized.

It used to be in the early days of the internet, when dialup modems were all the rage, that a website designer would spend half his time trying to optimize every graphic and element in the page to download as fast as possible.

People were used to waiting, but there was no reason to torture them by making the page load for ten minutes by throwing in several 2mb .gifs and some .jpgs.

Then Cable/DSL came along and then Fiber, and now if you ask a designer to “optimize” something they’ll look at you like you’re speaking Mandarin.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025 07:00 AM (6ydKt)

141

*hic*

Posted by: Hillary Clinton at July 21, 2025 07:00 AM (EFZgU)

142
ITAR see a green cars as equivalent to American citizenship.

What! Are they all Mexicans?

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at July 21, 2025 07:00 AM (HZi96)

143 Will this be the week Kimmel gets kanned? He's gonna get the TRUMP!!! kurse.

Posted by: fd at July 21, 2025 07:02 AM (vFG9F)

144 Hillary Clinton

We knew your evil way. We are the Cognoscenti.

Now it is being unambiguously revealed to the world.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at July 21, 2025 07:03 AM (u82oZ)

145 Wide Awake Media @wideawake_media

The WEF's Ida Auken wants to get rid of private car ownership and make people share a car with their neighbourhood instead.

"If you can get people to share a car, you can take out a lot of cars in the streets."

"If you can just use your neighbour's car because you have a smartphone and an app, and you don't even need to know the neighbour to get into his car... it's much easier and much more fun to share."

X video: https://bit.ly/4nZkbxa

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at July 21, 2025 07:03 AM (P5BPp)

146 Ya know, the powers that be have a plan for you.

In the words of that great American scholar, Mike Tyson, "Every one has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

Posted by: NaCly Dog at July 21, 2025 07:05 AM (u82oZ)

147 Chinese engineers shouldn't work on defense software? How about Chinese engineers working on IRS systems? Or a Pakistani-owned company making classified antennae for the CIA?

Are we now objecting to those facts too? Hope so.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at July 21, 2025 07:05 AM (m5yAv)

148 134 On my iMac, I often get the warning that AoSHQ is drawing a lot of memory, and I should shut down. I wonder if that can be changed?
Posted by: NaCly Dog at July 21, 2025 06:54 AM (u82oZ)

You could add more memory, if it’s an older iMac back when they thought their customers were worthy of upgrading things themselves.

You could turn off notifications for such things.

You could force Ace and the Cobs to never use embeds again, and write Pixy a check for a few million dollars a year so he never has to put ads on the page.

Alternatively, you could download the app “Memory Clean” from the App Store, and manually clean out the RAM before visiting AoSHQ.
It’s free, I use it on my 8GB iMac all the time for such occasions.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025 07:06 AM (6ydKt)

149 125 >>> Didja use the same tea leaves twice?

Did. "Triple Cup"

Third infusion is little more than colored water, but I am sufficiently jolted by then.
Posted by: fluffy at July 21, 2025 06:42 AM (AN2gy)

I do this, too. And if I have evening-time teas, I sometimes leave the last pour sitting overnight!

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 07:06 AM (aURVT)

150
The WEF's Ida Auken wants to get rid of private car ownership and make people share a car with their neighbourhood instead.

She then flitted off in her private jet.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at July 21, 2025 07:07 AM (HZi96)

151 131 I only use Lipton.
I make about a gallon every other day, with one cup of sugar, in a tea maker.

Usually it’s one glass (8 oz.) with dinner and one after, with ice.

It’s a Southern thing,
Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025 06:51 AM (6ydKt)

Do you make sun tea? Sun tea is a Southern thing.

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 07:08 AM (aURVT)

152 Do you want to know what real betrayal looks like?

It’s not espionage. It’s not treason.
It’s not some shadowy mole deep inside Langley.

It’s the Department of Defense filing a contract with a Chinese supplier and pretending it’s normal.

Imagine it:
We spend $877 billion a year on national defense, and then outsource the parts list to the factory that built the virus that shut us down.

That’s not just negligence.
That’s suicidal brand confusion.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at July 21, 2025 07:11 AM (XV/Pl)

153 "If you can get people to share a car, you can take out a lot of cars in the streets."

"If you can just use your neighbour's car because you have a smartphone and an app, and you don't even need to know the neighbour to get into his car... it's much easier and much more fun to share."

X video: https://bit.ly/4nZkbxa
Posted by: Clyde Shelton at July 21, 2025

***
I love the idea of fewer cars on the streets . . . makes it easy for me to drive MY car around!

Ride-sharing or car-pooling to get to work? Maybe in the big cities. (I'd have hated doing that on my commutes.) But you'd better know your fellow car-poolers in advance, and trust them too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 07:11 AM (omVj0)

154 One state official in the eastern U.S. said the attackers had “hijacked” a repository of documents provided to the public to help residents understand how their government works. The agency involved can no longer access the material, but it wasn’t clear whether it was deleted.

The material was probably all fiction anyways. The system is so utterly corrupted that only God can understand it, and any fraction of how it really works, if exposed to the general public, would result in riots.

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at July 21, 2025 07:11 AM (a4flb)

155 You wouldn’t build a Ferrari and install brakes made in Pyongyang.
You wouldn’t write the Constitution and outsource the ink to TikTok.

But here we are.
Drones. Semiconductors. Rare earth components. Surveillance optics.

Stamped in Shenzhen.
Packed by people who don’t just oppose us, they study us like a weakness they haven’t exploited yet.

This isn’t globalization.
This is armed outsourcing of your own soft underbelly.

The Pentagon, the last cathedral of American steel, now built on a scaffolding of cheap parts and compromised supply chains.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at July 21, 2025 07:11 AM (XV/Pl)

156 "If you can just use your neighbour's car because you have a smartphone and an app, and you don't even need to know the neighbour to get into his car... it's much easier and much more fun to share."

This woman should be bullied to the point she doesn't show her face in public any more.

Posted by: NR Pax at July 21, 2025 07:11 AM (99eI0)

157 131 I only use Lipton.
I make about a gallon every other day, with one cup of sugar, in a tea maker.

Usually it’s one glass (8 oz.) with dinner and one after, with ice.

It’s a Southern thing,

I grew up with just that combo. Mom was from California, Dad from Iowa and we were living in Nebraska. So, not just a southern thing.

Posted by: clarence at July 21, 2025 07:12 AM (YCNJf)

158 Do you understand how insane this is?

We build fifth-generation fighter jets, stealth-capable, AI-assisted, capable of evasive maneuvers at Mach 1.8.
And then we load them with circuit boards built by subcontractors in a province that still flies the hammer and sickle.

That’s not defense.

That’s giving your playbook to the other team and asking them to print it in bulk.

It’s the equivalent of wearing a Kevlar vest with a zipper sewn by your enemy.

What happens when the chips come with a backdoor?
What happens when the cameras blink at the wrong time?
What happens when the drone doesn’t just fly, it reports home?

Posted by: Thomas Bender at July 21, 2025 07:12 AM (XV/Pl)

159 SpeakingOf

Thanks. I'll add this to things I have to do.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at July 21, 2025 07:12 AM (u82oZ)

160 This isn’t just about security.
It’s about identity.

You cannot defend a nation using parts made by the one that’s actively plotting to overtake you.
It’s like hiring a burglar to install your alarm system because he had a good price on labor.

The excuse is always the same:
"Cost efficiency, supply availability, scalability…"

Shut up.

Do you know what’s scalable?

Domination.

Security is not a discount item.

This isn’t Amazon Prime.
This is America.
You don’t put a price tag on sovereignty.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at July 21, 2025 07:12 AM (XV/Pl)

161 The Pentagon, the last cathedral of American steel, now built on a scaffolding of cheap parts and compromised supply chains.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at July 21, 2025 07:11 AM (XV/Pl)
-

Regards from the team at Beepers R Us!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 21, 2025 07:13 AM (VFv8R)

162 Have a great day, everyone.

May Nature get you to say Oooh, Ah, not ouch.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at July 21, 2025 07:13 AM (u82oZ)

163 Alternatively, you could download the app “Memory Clean” from the App Store, and manually clean out the RAM before visiting AoSHQ.
It’s free, I use it on my 8GB iMac all the time for such occasions.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025

***
I have CCleaner which will clean out the cache and browsing history, among other things. I use that on the 8GB iMac as well, and on this MacBook Air.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 07:13 AM (omVj0)

164 Do you make sun tea? Sun tea is a Southern thing.
Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 07:08 AM (aURVT)

I’ve heard of it, but never actually done it.
It’s much easier to fill up the tea maker and hit the button.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025 07:14 AM (6ydKt)

165 ...the administration appears to be doubling down on its all-or-nothing approach to immigration enforcement and to its gleeful depictions of these draconian policies online.

Does this mean that Trump's now using dragons to capture or eat illegal aliens?

I have to say that I'm in favor of both courses of action.

But, only if we use good, clean, strong, and patriot American dragons.

No Chinese dragons please!

Posted by: naturalfake at July 21, 2025 07:14 AM (iJfKG)

166 Trump on Truth Social:

The Shady Bunch: Samantha Power, Susan Rice, Valerie Jarrett, James Clapper, James Comey, John Brennan, Barack Hussein Obama, Ben "Hamas" Rhodes.

X: https://bit.ly/4kO2rSA

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at July 21, 2025 07:15 AM (P5BPp)

167 "If you can get people to share a car, you can take out a lot of cars in the streets."

So who refuels it, washes it, cleans all of the fast food wrappers and other crap out, empties the marijuana roaches out of the ashtray, removes the dog hair and baby/drunk vomit from the carpets, deals with the curb rash and other parking damage, keeps the insurance up to date and remembers to bring it under cover during a hail storm?

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at July 21, 2025 07:15 AM (a4flb)

168 "If you can just use your neighbour's car because you have a smartphone and an app, and you don't even need to know the neighbour to get into his car... it's much easier and much more fun to share."

And then you're the one driving when you get pulled over and they find the body in the trunk.

Posted by: clarence at July 21, 2025 07:16 AM (YCNJf)

169 Edith asked Archie one time what the Chinese say after they sneeze. Edith thought they might say "Buddha Bless You". Archie said no, they don't say that because the Chinese don't speak English. Archie said if they say anything after sneezing it's "Sayonora".

Posted by: All In The Family at July 21, 2025 07:16 AM (rfMRc)

170 @aghamilton29 retweeted
@rothmus

1) Socialism is better than capitalism.

2) When the Berlin Wall fell, who ran to which side?

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 07:17 AM (aURVT)

171 From Grok:

" Over 40% of semiconductors in DoD weapons systems are sourced from China, and from 2018 to 2022, there were 471 tier 1 and 299 tier 2 Chinese suppliers of semiconductors to the U.S. defense industry."

Posted by: pawn at July 21, 2025 07:17 AM (QB+5g)

172 Pixy, why is AoSHQ drawing 1.1gig memory?
Posted by: JarvisHong at July 21, 2025 05:46 AM (MEP4A)

???

I check the memory usage for the AoSHQ main page with the Browser Task Manager using the Edge browser on my Win11 PC. Total memory usage is reported at about 150,000K.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 07:18 AM (NXz8h)

173 I grew up with just that combo. Mom was from California, Dad from Iowa and we were living in Nebraska. So, not just a southern thing.
Posted by: clarence at July 21, 2025 07:12 AM (YCNJf)

That’s good to know,
I thought we were alone down here with our love for sweetened iced tea.

Just be careful if you order sweet tea from fast food joints.

They like to call it ‘sweet tea’, but I call it Tea-Flavored Sugarwater Kool-Aid, because they put way too much sugar in it.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025 07:18 AM (6ydKt)

174 So no, I don’t care how good the contract looked.
I don’t care if the shipment was early, under budget, and delivered with a red ribbon.

If the box says “Made in China,”
you didn’t secure a deal.
You sold your soul by the pallet.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at July 21, 2025 07:18 AM (XV/Pl)

175 167 "If you can get people to share a car, you can take out a lot of cars in the streets."

So who refuels it, washes it, cleans all of the fast food wrappers and other crap out, empties the marijuana roaches out of the ashtray, removes the dog hair and baby/drunk vomit from the carpets, deals with the curb rash and other parking damage, keeps the insurance up to date and remembers to bring it under cover during a hail storm?
Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at July 21, 2025 07:15 AM (a4flb)

Tragedy of the Commons

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 07:19 AM (aURVT)

176 What kind of smooth brain thinking went into the idea of bringing Chinese spies to work on DOD systems? And why is it the people responsible for this decision are not running a Will Work for Food franchise on some street corner?

Posted by: NR Pax

I believe the idea was to allow Bill Gates to figuratively yet erotically rub his manboobs all over the collective face of the American people.

Posted by: naturalfake at July 21, 2025 07:20 AM (iJfKG)

177 "If you can just use your neighbour's ~~car~~ house because you have a smartphone and an app, and you don't even need to know the neighbour to get into his ~~car~~ house... it's much easier and much more fun to share."
----
This is what they really mean.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at July 21, 2025 07:21 AM (7fElN)

178 So who refuels it, washes it, cleans all of the fast food wrappers and other crap out, empties the marijuana roaches out of the ashtray, removes the dog hair and baby/drunk vomit from the carpets, deals with the curb rash and other parking damage, keeps the insurance up to date and remembers to bring it under cover during a hail storm?
Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at July 21, 2025 07:15 AM (a4flb)

I’m gonna go with “robots”.

If that doesn’t pan out: “Mexicans”.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025 07:21 AM (6ydKt)

179 I love the idea of fewer cars on the streets . . . makes it easy for me to drive MY car around!

Ride-sharing or car-pooling to get to work? Maybe in the big cities. (I'd have hated doing that on my commutes.) But you'd better know your fellow car-poolers in advance, and trust them too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 07:11 AM

I have always hated car-pooling. Because it means that my travel and freedom is dependent on others.

If I want to leave early or stay late, can't do it unless everyone in the carpool can leave early or stay late.

Whenever someone has offered to drive me somewhere I could easily drive myself, I always turn them down. Because I don't want my freedom to leave dependent on when they want to leave.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at July 21, 2025 07:22 AM (P5BPp)

180 I remember when the military bought off the shelf Dell computers en masse. Every unit got a PC, every company, squad etc. e-mail adresses.

I thought it was insane, and stupid and a huge security flaw.

However, what would a USA made PC with USA components that are signed off as tactically and technically proficient actually cost? A “Berry Law” compliant computer? Yes, that’s what they should have done, but the cocksuckers sold us out by 1950, they aren’t going to stop now

Posted by: Common Tater at July 21, 2025 07:22 AM (X2eOe)

181 So who refuels it, washes it, cleans all of the fast food wrappers and other crap-

We'll need open borders and slave labor from Little Brown People to do all that. Duh!

Posted by: NR Pax at July 21, 2025 07:23 AM (99eI0)

182 "And then we load them with circuit boards built by subcontractors in a province that still flies the hammer and sickle."

The actual circuit board development, fab and test is highly restricted. That is why the design engineering is being compromised by foreign nationals with green cards.

They want the design documents and the firmware.

Posted by: pawn at July 21, 2025 07:27 AM (QB+5g)

183 I have CCleaner which will clean out the cache and browsing history, among other things. I use that on the 8GB iMac as well, and on this MacBook Air.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 07:13 AM (omVj0)

I used to have that but Firefox/Waterfox has a setting now that will clean cache and history every time you close the browser.

Memory Clean only cleans out your RAM, mostly from programs that were used recently but no longer needed if your RAM is getting hammered.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025 07:27 AM (6ydKt)

184 The WEF's Ida Auken wants to get rid of private car ownership and make people share a car with their neighbourhood instead.

Deciding with all of your ride share partners on what car to get and who gets it on what holidays and weekends would be the end of that experiment.

No more twin turbo with nappa leather seats.

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at July 21, 2025 07:27 AM (a4flb)

185 Car2Go was a car sharing business that allowed you to walk up to car, unlock it with an app, and when finished legally park it anywhere within a specific area. These areas generally covered the more densely built up areas of a city.

I tired it for a time when I lived in Seattle and I found the cars to be dirty, always low on gas, often with all the idiots lights on, and expensive.

It was shut down in 2019. No surprise there.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 21, 2025 07:28 AM (NXz8h)

186 I have always hated car-pooling. Because it means that my travel and freedom is dependent on others.

If I want to leave early or stay late, can't do it unless everyone in the carpool can leave early or stay late.

Whenever someone has offered to drive me somewhere I could easily drive myself, I always turn them down. Because I don't want my freedom to leave dependent on when they want to leave.
Posted by: Clyde Shelton at July 21, 2025

***
Exactly. I spent too much of my late adolescence and early adulthood dependent on either public transport or increasingly reluctant friends. A car and the ability to drive it is freedom.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 07:30 AM (omVj0)

187 Carpooling works until you get the co-pooler who is always late, thus you are always late the week they drive.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025 07:32 AM (6ydKt)

188 Again, their goals and plans have been clearly stated, the want everyone to live in 15 minutes cites and take public transportation.

They want our guns, they want our cars, they want our children, they want our freedom.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at July 21, 2025 07:33 AM (XV/Pl)

189 Speaking of ride sharing kinda sorta...

We have an acquaintance who owns a Tesla and swears he'll never own another brand becuz-

he uses the auto drive feature to drive him to work, while he naps or reads, then sends the car to drive itself home-

then when he figures he's about ready to leave, he contacts the car and it drives itself to his job site, and he takes a nap or reads while his Tesla drives him home and parks itself in his garage.

This isn't a short drive either since he works downtown. 30 minutes at a minimum both ways.

And he does this every working day.

Crazy or a glimpse of the future? You make the call.

Posted by: naturalfake at July 21, 2025 07:33 AM (iJfKG)

190 I have always hated car-pooling. Because it means that my travel and freedom is dependent on others.

Many years ago, I did work with the CPU maker AMD. They had a ride share program. I worked with a guy who was the "Driver", he was granted an AMD 11 passenger van, the company paid the insurance, fuel and maintenance, all he had to do was be consistent every day to round up the others and take them back home like it was a school bus route.

Not too many takers on that, so basically he was given a free van for his personal use.

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at July 21, 2025 07:34 AM (a4flb)

191 AoS works fine on my iPad but crashes my iPhone. NY Post has so much shyte that it crashes my iPad which sux because I like the comments on that site.

Posted by: Accomack on the Sheepscot at July 21, 2025 07:34 AM (xnmUA)

192 . . . Firefox/Waterfox has a setting now that will clean cache and history every time you close the browser.

Memory Clean only cleans out your RAM, mostly from programs that were used recently but no longer needed if your RAM is getting hammered.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025

***
My Brave browser has the usual "delete browsing data" page where you can elect to delete history, cookies, cache, or any combination of those. I could set it to run each time I close Brave.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 07:34 AM (omVj0)

193 They want our guns, they want our cars, they want our children, they want our freedom.
Posted by: Thomas Bender

And they will never stop. The only solution is either keep them out of our country or putting them in the ground. And that last solution only works if we make it clear that their successors will immediately meet the same fate.

Posted by: NR Pax at July 21, 2025 07:35 AM (99eI0)

194 No telling what kind of scabies you can get driving a shared car.

Posted by: fd at July 21, 2025 07:35 AM (vFG9F)

195 G'mornin' everyone!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at July 21, 2025 07:35 AM (dKEEs)

196 Carpooling works until you get the co-pooler who is always late, thus you are always late the week they drive.

Its also a bad sign when they have to periodically blow into a tube to get the car started and keep it running.

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at July 21, 2025 07:36 AM (a4flb)

197 However, what would a USA made PC with USA components that are signed off as tactically and technically proficient actually cost? A “Berry Law” compliant computer? Yes, that’s what they should have done, but the cocksuckers sold us out by 1950, they aren’t going to stop now
Posted by: Common Tater at July 21, 2025 07:22 AM (X2eOe)

They wouldn’t be cheap, but what is in the U.S. military?

They make “Military Grade” laptops that are damn near bullet-proof.

Panasonic is famous for their “Toughbook” laptop line that are almost indestructible.

But they definitely aren’t cheap.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025 07:36 AM (6ydKt)

198 "Crazy or a glimpse of the future? You make the call.
Posted by: naturalfake

Just a few days ago a self driving Tesla self drove itself straight off the road and killed a stargazing couple.

Posted by: fd at July 21, 2025 07:37 AM (vFG9F)

199 Staying in a Best Western near Syracuse.

Why do the carpets in the halls look like a bloody murder could have happened and no one cleaned up and you can't even tell?

Where do they get these patterns? The Patel Motel rug store? Imagine the job: a motel hall carpet art designer.

Posted by: M. Gaga at July 21, 2025 07:37 AM (0nLuS)

200 200

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 07:37 AM (aURVT)

201 198 Just a few days ago a self driving Tesla self drove itself straight off the road and killed a stargazing couple.
Posted by: fd at July 21, 2025 07:37 AM (vFG9F)

yikes

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 07:37 AM (aURVT)

202 Just a few days ago a self driving Tesla self drove itself straight off the road and killed a stargazing couple.

The Tesla just received the couple's combined Social Credit Score.

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at July 21, 2025 07:37 AM (a4flb)

203 Ellen DeGenerate says she is never coming back to the US. I'm going to hold her to that.
Posted by: fd at July 21, 2025 06:49 AM (vFG9F)

Unless she gives up her citizenship she's a poser.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at July 21, 2025 07:38 AM (ExV1e)

204 Where do they get these patterns? The Patel Motel rug store? Imagine the job: a motel hall carpet art designer.

Hunter Biden moon-lighting?

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at July 21, 2025 07:38 AM (a4flb)

205 No telling what kind of scabies you can get driving a shared car.
Posted by: fd at July 21, 2025

***
After seeing how even some intelligent acquaintances of mine allow the interiors of their cars to become, I second and third this. (Food wrappers on the back seat floor, empty drink cups in the cupholders? Dear God.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 07:38 AM (omVj0)

206 199 Staying in a Best Western near Syracuse.

Why do the carpets in the halls look like a bloody murder could have happened and no one cleaned up and you can't even tell?

Where do they get these patterns? The Patel Motel rug store? Imagine the job: a motel hall carpet art designer.
Posted by: M. Gaga at July 21, 2025 07:37 AM (0nLuS)

Carpets that used to have myriad cigarette burns!

Posted by: m at July 21, 2025 07:39 AM (aURVT)

207 Just a few days ago a self driving Tesla self drove itself straight off the road and killed a stargazing couple.
Posted by: fd at July 21, 2025 07:37 AM (vFG9F)

Well...to be fair. They were stargazing and not on the lookout for rogue Teslas.

Posted by: naturalfake at July 21, 2025 07:39 AM (iJfKG)

208 Via Grok:

There are no reports of a Tesla self-driving car accident involving a stargazing couple in the past few days.

However, recent news does mention a 2019 incident in Key Largo, Florida, where a Tesla on Autopilot struck and killed Naibel Benavides, who was stargazing with her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, who was seriously injured.

The case is currently on trial in Miami, with a jury deciding whether Tesla’s Autopilot system shares blame for the crash. The Tesla driver, distracted by reaching for a dropped phone, ran a stop sign at nearly 70 mph, hitting the couple’s parked vehicle. Tesla argues the driver’s distraction caused the crash, not the Autopilot system.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at July 21, 2025 07:39 AM (P5BPp)

209 Nood. JJ.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at July 21, 2025 07:39 AM (ExV1e)

210 "However, recent news does mention a 2019 incident in Key Largo, Florida, where a Tesla on Autopilot struck and killed Naibel Benavides, who was stargazing with her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, who was seriously injured."

Yes, that was it. I saw an article a few days ago and thought it just happened.

Posted by: fd at July 21, 2025 07:41 AM (vFG9F)

211 My Brave browser has the usual "delete browsing data" page where you can elect to delete history, cookies, cache, or any combination of those. I could set it to run each time I close Brave.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 21, 2025 07:34 AM (omVj0)

It’s easier than running a separate app to do it.

But if you like to go back to a page you visited last week, you’re screwed if you can’t remember the name of it.

I use a lot of bookmarks/favorites.
My bookmarks list must number in the thousands.
The majority of which I never go back to,

But you never know when you need to get back to that one site you visited to figure out how to change a part on a clothes dryer, so it stays.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 21, 2025 07:41 AM (6ydKt)

212 Wait, there was a time-traveling squid?! Pooky never told me that.

Posted by: pookysgirl never played the game at July 21, 2025 09:23 AM (Wt5PA)

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