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Saturday Open Thread - 9/5/26: Odds and Ends

Submitted by on the cusp on Sat, 09/05/2026 - 7:00am

Good morning, good people! Hope you are all in fine fettle this Saturday morn.

I have some good news. I have compared 6 to 8 grocery items purchased for 3 weeks, and have seen no rise in costs. In fact, jalapeno peppers lowered by 3 cents per lb. this week. So far, diesel price hikes have not passed on to shoppers to have goods delivered by the big trucks. The shelves are well stocked, although pricier items are no longer offered. It is subtle, but noticeable.

We made it through Eduourd easily, although the town 13 miles away flooded in numerous places. I shut down the office Wednesday and Thursday, just in case my secretary couldn't make it back home. I didn't miss any business. People were staying home. A creek a couple of miles away flooded and a bridge was impassable for a day, but I didn't have to use that road until today after it cleared.

Friday Night Photos Rose Garden Edition

Submitted by Socialprogressive on Fri, 09/04/2026 - 5:00pm

Happy Friday everyone. Welcome to Friday Night Photos your once a week escape from the day to day insanity of the world we live in. Post any photos, memes, music or whatever else you find of interest that helps tune out the madness.

Early last month I went to the Balboa Park rose garden with the macro lens looking for bugs but didn't have a lot of success. One of the nice things about the 105mm macro lens is it also makes a good portrait lens and while I didn't find a lot of bugs I did find a lot of beautiful roses. While editing, on some of the blossoms that I liked the shape, texture, and placement of the petals I cropped in close to better illustrate said shape, texture and petal placement. And just for something different I converted some from color to black and white and some to sepia. The second four images are the color versions of the first four images.

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Open Thread - 09-04-26 - AI Generated Reality

Submitted by JtC on Fri, 09/04/2026 - 6:00am

Myriad are the ways that herd our minds into pens of conformity.

From the ancient act of reading entrails, to modern subliminal perception, the design is our minds.

From the Shaman to Bernays, the goal is the same, only the tactics have changed.

The internet is a tool. Like all tools they can be used or misused, depending on the operator. The same can be said of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Combining the two in the hands of a system that is set to manipulate can be an insidious amalgamation of deception.

The latest iteration of this ageless practice of menticide is narrative control, in conjunction with AI.

It can be seen in AI written articles and AI bot controlled comment boards across the web. The bots have become so sophisticated that it's difficult to distinguish whether the writer or commenter is human or binary code.

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Open Thread - 09-03-26 - Fear

Submitted by JtC on Thu, 09/03/2026 - 8:00am

I wrote this back in June and never published it. Is there any doubt, after what we've been through since at least 9-11-2001, that fear is a weapon?

What is the essence of terrorism? FEAR.

Fear is the most primal of emotions, without it we wouldn't have made it beyond the trees we climbed down from so many epochs ago. Fear induced paranoia hastens awareness, puts one on their toes, makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand up, initiates the fight or flight impulse. It's a must for survival, that we are here is a testament to that fact.

Fear at the right time and the right amount is beneficial. Excessive fear, not so much.

Excessive fear will wear one down, both psychologically and physically.

That's exactly how iron fisted power wants you to live, in fear.

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