Open Thread - Thurs 20 Nov 2025 - Fun Stuff!
Fun Stuff!
Recently I found a new (to me) website full of satire, sarcasm and some really laugh inducing articles. It's called The Hard Times. It's 'Punk News Coming Your Way'. And it's pretty darn funny.
It's like The Onion, but with a different slant. I saw a link to an article about a black metal vocalist moonlighting as a face painter, and HAD to visit. And it was worth it!
So here's a bit more fun from the site: 'Trump Lowers Ozempic Cost So SNAP Recipients Can Afford to Suppress Appetite' I love the last line: 'At press time, Trump was preoccupied watching a child drown in a lake as he stood motionless. '
And this article on Fetterman: If he were worth the effort, I would hate that guy for how much he's gone against everything he said he was for when he ran but, he's not worth the effort. Still, this article made me laugh and snicker in agreement, 'Fetterman Liberal Again After Second Fall'.
And finally, an older article for the travelers amongst us (and everyone else): '24-Year-Old Metalhead Passes for 48-Year-Old Dock Worker '. I ain't young enough to be the metalhead or the dock worker, but I sure like the idea of traveling that way! 
Dogs!
Now, another interesting thing that was very cool to read about: the domestication of dogs, and service dogs. I, for one, really do believe it's possible, maybe probable, that humans and dogs domesticated each other, but that never really occurred to me to phrase it that way until I read the article linked above. Now, it's just a possibility, but it seems like a change in human brains, a cognitive revolution which gave our brains more function and ability, happened about the same time as dog domestication. If so, if this did happen, it's possible that dogs and their domestication were related to it. As the article says,
But if it was at the same time, that would be pretty intriguing. Once dogs were around, suddenly people didn’t have to worry about being surprised by an animal attack in the middle of the night, because dogs would warn them of impending danger. With dogs, humans could hunt rabbits and birds more easily. And with dogs, they didn’t have to worry about trying to hear and smell and see things that were difficult to hear and smell and see—such as wild animals or other tribes—because the dogs would do that for them. It’s an interesting theory, and if it’s true it means that dogs and humans started becoming closely connected a long, long time ago.
An image from the forum frieze at the House of Julia Felix in Pompeii. At the left center is a beggar, probably blind and holding a stick, with his dog, being given alms by a woman and her son. From pompeiiinpictures.com.
Also, I learned that some of the first evidence of service dogs, pictorial evidence, comes from Pompeii/Herculaneum. That is awesome! Just think, about 2000 years ago, a dog leading a blind man was depicted on a frieze. So maybe service dogs doing that weren't that uncommon at the time? I dunno. I dunno. Such a rabbit hole of learning!
Ok, here's the open thread! What's up, whatcha doing? Reading? Thinking? Listening to? Remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!
Comments
Happy Thursday!
Winter is coming, isn't it? I like the changing of the seasons!
How's everyone doing? What's up? What have you read or learned that funny, weird, stupid, whatever? Let us know!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
I don't follow this individual but I did come across this.
I have a number of fanciful notions
.
...that I have made a rational decision to categorize as truth. Believing they exist makes the landscape of reality more colorful and amusing to me. One of my notional beliefs is similar yours. I believe that Homo sapiens were civilized by packs of dogs. In my version, dogs delivered modern humans from early self-awareness to the threshold of collective consciousness. (Of course, humans still have a long way to go, when it comes to evolution. I think that's why most dogs have a very concerned look on their faces.)
I love your version of this...
As I thought further about dog and human domestication, thought about packs, about living in a group which helps all members, I realized that dogs/wolves probably did that first. Perhaps watching how they did that, and having some of them (the dogs) help, made humans expand on their pack behavior and learn more and more about their world.
Recently I've been having a hard time with sleeping. This is because we've allowed the last of our old feral cats to spend her last months inside. And she yells and hollers when she wakes up, like at 3 am, which wakes me up... 3 am 6 am 9 am... it's kinda regular. Anyway, Nikko, my dog, has, hard to believe, taken over dealing with this. Cat yells at 3 am, Nikko goes and comforts her, he comes back onto my bed, we fall asleep again. Same at 6 am. And when I'm oversleeping because of being so tired, he now gets up on the bed with me, curls up next to me (so he's touching me) and gently watches over me. He doesn't wake me up, he just watches and naps. He was not 'trained' to do any of this. He's just observant, smart and very, very dedicated to his pack. I think all dogs are/were the same and if humans let the dogs learn those humans would learn from the dogs.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Today is the anniversary
.
of Duane Allman's birth in 1946.
Only lived to be 26.
A fine example of his slide guitar style.
also
Norman Greenbaum is 83 today.
Remember this?
Thanks for the OT Sima!
Zionism is a social disease
And what some consider the most perfect guitar
song ever written:
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Yeah, that is a favorite!
.
starting to dig into music history.
On this date Malcolm John Rebennack Jr.
(aka Dr. John) was born in New Orleans.
Influenced by Professor Longhair at a young age,
he eventually became known as 'The Night Tripper'.
Zionism is a social disease
Thank you!
I'm a bit too young to know about Duane Allman, although I've heard his work and heard of him. So I did a rabbit hole dive, cool! And I love the song Spirit in the Sky...
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning, sima!
Thanks for finding us a fun website to check out!
Of course, the actual msm news headlines are usually pretty damn funny, too! For example, the timeline for releasing the Epstein files is being determined. Today? Next week? The day after the mid-term elections? 65 years from today, as all of the perps and girls will be dead, Israel may not exist, maybe redaction won't be necessary then and the government can save a fortune on black ink?
Ok, I have a question: Suppose you told your spouse good night, and the response was "I will make you some eggs for breakfast in the morning and sprinkle them with arsenic." Would you, at the age of 82, 100% disabled, a 52 year marriage, go see a lawyer and get a divorce? Well, I'll be discussing the matter with the prospective client today.
Thanks for the OT, chica!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Sounds like a case of bad humor
.
wouldn't touch that with a 39 and a half foot pole.
Note the reference to arsenic.
Zionism is a social disease
My knee-jerk reaction would be to tell her
to be sure to wear some old lace while doing so.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I see what you did there
HA!
Zionism is a social disease
I had a criminal case many years ago
wherein a wife was suspected of studying up on oleander and it's uses, but she claimed she was fascinated by their beauty. The husband divorced her ass, but she was not indicted, and he remained alive and well.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Ya, the files will be released...
In 58 years! Hahahahah.
As for the divorce, I would... I dunno. Was the spouse just using sick humor? Or was this a long term thing and the victim was just at end of their tolerance? Maybe being alone, even at 82, would be such a gift... Whatever, I hope it turns out for the best for both of them!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning, Sima
The Hard Times looks fun.
Did someone say domesticated dog?
MAGA
Morons
Are
Governing
America
That meme made me...
Laugh and laugh! Hahaha! Thank you!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Courtiers and man's best friend
Sima, your reference to John Fetterman and discussion of man's best friend, reminded me of this old Korean saying. I don't know if it's of Chinese origin or not. It's a common theme in court politics in popular historical Kdramas. This is from the naver dictionary which had the Chinese characters as well for the old four character idiom.
It's a very bitter saying expressing the contempt for persons who use others who are loyal and then betray them. Throwing something away like the people who voted for you? While browsing I found this pleasant image of the proverbial hare with the tiger. I have a weakness for these whimsical tigers.
I remembered the other CIA/drug trafficking subject matter author, I had forgotten until recently, Doug Valentine, who wrote Strength of the Pack, and Strength of the Wolf. I haven't read them, but read Hotel Tacloban, his first book, which described his father's experience as a POW held by the Japanese during WWII. He has podcasts over at his website, on his books. I'll be trying to find the best one, it will take a while.
Thanks for the OT, Sima! I'll check out Hard Times after my chores today. Was there a newsprint Hard Times years ago?
語必忠信 行必正直
I had not heard that saying before..
It's a good one to know. Very appropriate!
As for the Hard Times, I think it started in 2014, so not likely there would be a print version. However, it does say on their site, amidst a bunch of satire, that it started in 1976. (I'm thinking that's someone's birthday, but who knows?) That's about when punk started too!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning Sima, thanks for the OT and the link.
The rain is back, but only a light rain this time, started last night and carried over to this morning.
We planted some blue lake bush beans (starter plants) on September 28 & 29, and harvested some beans yesterday, leaving a lot of smaller ones on the plants to pick later, so roughly 60 days, as advertised.
Just put together the dough for a pizza dough tonight and refreshed my starter. Sort of eats the very early morning, but I need a full day rise to have a good crust by dinner time.
Installed a WiFi repeater/extender yesterday to get better coverage in driveway and back yare - we've needed one for years now. It works fine, but you log into it, the device's net - with your phone to set it up. May be coincidence, but I can't now activate WiFi calling on my phone and internet has been weird, but the weirdnss is likely the whole cloudflare thing. It's hard to do diagnostics when the network itself is so effing random and wonky. Gaah!
Just had a 3.2, meh, and, speaking of comedy, saw a headline sayng Trump and Vance weren't invited to Cheney's funeral. Whatever can that mean? It's hard to believe that they are too decent, or, conversely, that they could possibly be too corrupt and evil. This could be the mystery for the ages. We'll perhaps know if either one of them goes out and shoots somebody in the face instead of stabning them in the back, but it just doesn't compute.
Don't really have much to say, haven't romped through my news feeds yet and things are a bit quiet here after running around and procuring and fiddling with the WiFi repeater and connected devices amidst yard-work and everyday chores yesterday.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Working on a dough today as well
.
Another from Duane and Dickie
from eat a peach
good luck with the net
Zionism is a social disease
Apropos Cheney: My wifee tells me that Biden went
but Clinton and Obomber didn't but she doesn't know if they simply chose not to attend or weren't invited.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Good things happen to bad people
.
per Richard Thompson
Zionism is a social disease
Oh yeah, the Fairport Convention Dude ;-)
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Supposedly they were invited, but...
didn't go. That's what https://apnews.com/article/dick-cheney-funeral-attendees-photos-1f83e5d5... says, at least.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Pizza dough!
Hubby makes that too, from our own starter. It's delicious but it does need a fairly 'long' time to mature.
It's too cold here, we can't plant beans in September like you do. But, we've got a ton of frozen beans from this year's harvest, so that'll have to do.
Tomorrow we are supposed to get a visit from the phone/internet company repair people. Because the new router they brought us last time has not fixed the problem. Their external 'system monitor and repair' keeps saying it's fixed, but the fact that our internet goes out every time someone calls us says it's not fixed. Gah. And it seems to have started going out when someone calls our cell phones, so wifi is involved as well as the land line? I hope your wifi repeater and cloudflare problems get solved. Ensh%ttification! It's everywhere.
As for Cheney's funeral, I've not got much to say. I wouldn't have invited Trump and Vance either, ewww. But then, I wouldn't go if I were invited either. Hah.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
I don't do the whole hard-core pizza dough thing,
and don't even do an overnight rise like I do for bread. I just mix appropriate amounts of flour, recently refreshed starter, salt and olive oil into a dough like I was making flatbread or quasi naan with oil instead of milk, cover it and leave it on the counter until an hour or two before baking and then spread and stretch it to fit the pan, prebake for about 7 minutes so it doesn't get too soggy and then load it up and bake it. It's close enough for us.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Excellent info!
...scribbles notes...
Many thanks!
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
A sampling from a local pol
.
Over the last several months, reports from billionaire-funded centrist advocacy groups, like WelcomePAC and Searchlight Institute, have insisted that Democrats stop talking about climate change—either in their campaigns or while governing. Climate change has little resonance for voters, they claim, comparing the polling on reliably unpopular policies like “create a carbon tax” with reliably popular policies like “lower the gas tax.”
Unfortunately, this message appears to be reaching its intended audience. In just the last week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul approved a new gas pipeline that President Donald Trump has been championing, while Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro dropped his state’s effort to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
The idea that Democrats should abandon the most existential fight human civilization has ever faced is a particularly bizarre lesson to draw following Democrats’ huge wins this November, when many of the party’s victorious candidates explicitly championed clean energy investments and accountability for fossil fuel company profiteering as solutions to rising energy costs.
He apparently identifies as a democrat.
He does have some good points, have met him personally previously.
There is more involved if anyone is interested.
Meeting with the democracy group in a couple hours.
Zionism is a social disease
Hola QMS. Smells and seems planned to achieve
the intended result. this
is total crap,
they should try would you prefer crazy extreme weather and storms with more heat stroke deaths plus frequent power outages and brown-outs versus encouraging more solar and wind power "Create or increase tax" is always going to be a no, and reduce any tax will be a yes, as will be higher prices versus ower prices.
it should be a win-win with 1/2 couched in the negative (higher insurance costs, higher water bills or water scarcity,, higher heating and cooling bills, etc. versus subsidies for solar and wind)
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Shifting horizons
.
an unending play on sensibilities
is there an app for that?
so the masses do not have to think
about specifics. So much easier.
Critical thinking skills can be dangerous
to your mental well being. Hiccup.
Zionism is a social disease
Climate Change...
This is so true,
Climate Change is the most important thing, for the whole damn world, every animal, every plant...
I've lived on my farm for a bit over 30 years. When I moved in, there was a seasonal pond, I called it Wintermere, which grew because of the stream which flows through the lowlands here. Every season the stream would make the pond, which lasted from early fall to end of spring. Thousands, and I do mean THOUSANDS, of water birds adored this pond. They used it for migration, for winter living, for early mating. The number of breeds which visited was huge, this wasn't just mallards. There were sea birds, endangered pelicans, etc. And the pond was full of fish, frogs (the singing in the spring was amazing!), bugs... whatever.
Then, the pond slowly disappeared. It would fill up later in the fall, and empty earlier in the spring. But before that happened, the birds disappeared. Climate change? Humans drying up their migration ponds? New houses everywhere up the coast of the Pacific? And other atrocities? 20 years ago, there would have been a huge symphony of birds calling right now, as I type this. Now, it is just silence, and has been for years. After the birds disappeared the pond started to do the same. Right now it's about 1/4 of the size it used to be. There are no birds on it.
And that, is climate/environmental change. RIGHT THERE!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
We have to stop talking about it...
Some rich guy sez it doesn't matter anymore. So that must be true, right?
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Hear you amiga
.
If we pay attention
living close to the land
we detect the changes
from season to season
You know the birds and other wild
critters (to say nothing of vegetation)
notice what is going down and adapt
accordingly. Humans, not so much.
Zionism is a social disease