rravenwood

Trump and his cult reminds me more and more of what A.E. van Vogt called "The Right Man"
 
 

THank you all. A quick update, while there is a concussion, that appears to be the worst that has happened after they did the Catscan and X-rays.

My 1st attempt at Japanese milk bread

And our media.  I'm frustrated with the "both sides are just as bad~!" bullpuckey reporting.

I deal with questions of mutant detection technology by having it not exist. Even the existence of "mutant power genes" was debated in science until some aliens who are really good at genetics confirmed their existence (and would you mind if we enslaved you so we can exploit them? We promise you'll still get a higher standard of living, so rationally it's a good deal...) Mutant power genes still require slow, finicky lab tests to identify. Very often, saying someone has "mutant powers" really means, "We don't know why they have powers."
 
But then, I also don't do the whole "anti-mutant prejudice" thing in my campaign, either. Most people think being a mutant is the ultimate in dumb luck. (Not so much for the occasional defective mutants, such as the guy who gets super-strong muscles but not super-strong bones, or the pyrokinetic who isn't immune to fire. But there are now treatments for Obstructed Mutation Syndrome, from biotech captured from the aforementioned aliens.)
 
I don't feel obligated to copy Marvel in everything.
 
Dean Shomshak

Gordon Lightfoot certainly did not need that song for his career. And he brought it to the families of the drowned sailors before he released it to ask for their approval. They all considered it a fitting tribute.
 
Detroit's Maritime Church rings its bell every year on the anniversary of the wreck, once for each sailor lost. Last year they added an extra stroke of the bell for Gordon Lightfoot after his passing.
 
(Sorry, that got my Canadian up a little.) 😌

It’s a Good Time to Start Worrying About Christian Nationalism
 

While this is a bit of crankiness, given the subject matter, I'm putting it here.
 
I had to drop off a package at the local post office, and I noticed a little stand on the sidewalk, with a big sign saying, "Defend Trump". I was going to ignore them, but as I was getting back into my car, one of them waved me over. Probably not his best idea. After I asked why are we defending a billionaire, his response was, "well, they're trying to take it away."
To which I responded, "Good. He deserves it." I then gave him a short rundown of how he stiffed a company I worked for ("I don't know the details of that"). So, then I explained to him about how Trump Tower was built using undocumented workers. I finished by saying that he is dangerous, should never be near the presidency again, and that he should be locked up. I then wished them a good day, and left. As I was getting back in my car, the gentleman I had been talking to looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
 
 
 

I'll have to figure out how to watch this. Sanada played the lead in one of my favourite movies: Tasogare Seibei (The Twilight Samurai), a jidai geki about the life and tribulations of a low-ranking samurai in the tail end of the Edo period.

The Americans Who Need Chaos
 
 

The Curious Link Between Blindness and Schizophrenia
 

I knew there were reasons I liked crocodiles.

Same.  That's why I posted it.

A little close to home, that one is.

In N Out isn't publically traded, so they don't have the 'can't let the shareholders value drop' driver (also a reason why the quality of product is better).  I don't think they franchise either (for the same reason - quality).

A Momentary Lapse of Reason: Remixed & Updated (Surround mix) by Pink Floyd, followed by Ammonia Avenue (5.1 mix) by the Alan Parsons Project, and now A Trick of the Tail (5.1 mix) by Genesis. Music for puttering about the house and reading newspaper sites.
 
 
 
 

From The Economist: The bad news is that climate change is forecast to reduce the area where current favored coffee spe ies can grosw. The good news is that there are losts of other species of coffee, with other favored climate ranges. Agronomists are hard at work studying them, with an eye to replacing/supplementing coffea arabica and coffea robusta, or crossbreeding to create a hardier plant. Your morning cuppa joe can be saved -- BY SCIENCE!
 
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/01/23/can-scientists-save-your-morning-cup-of-coffee
 
 
Dean Shomshak