Weekend Open Thread

| March 29, 2024

I tried to use AI image generator to create a Good Friday theme. The first attempt, with Bing, resulted in nothing. Bing appeared to be “drunk”, so I tried Gab’s AI image generator. The first attempt resulted in an image showing two crosses and a “T” on a mantle. All three had Jesus, but the one on the “T” was covered. The “T’ was also shorter in height. My second attempt resulted in a sepulcher with a cross on top of it. Jesus and others were standing near it. Meme Generator delivered. Enjoy the weekend of weekends!

Category: Open thread

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Commissioner Wretched

First!

Hack Stone

This game is rigged.

Commissioner Wretched

I know it seems that way sometimes …

Hack Stone

Hack Stone didn’t even have time to paste his standard comment.

ChipNASA

I just came to see CW kick everybody’s ass. 😂🥹😘
20 minutes late as usual, but I’m here.
Fuck all y’all goober faces.
I hope the Easter bunny shits your Easter basket. 🧺 Those aren’t raisins or chocolate treats. I know every single one of you except OAM have been naughty and don’t deserve any treats.
OK, now that I’ve been a grumpy bitch to everybody, I actually hope you do have a nice treat and some quality time with family and friends or good food and good drink for this Easter weekend.
God bless you all….(You fucktards needed it…. ) 😘💩🍆🤡🫡 🖕

Last edited 9 months ago by ChipNASA
Hack Stone

Dang, got distracted.

MustangCPT

Third

Commissioner Wretched

Early drop on the WOT … getting out early for the holiday?

KoB

Damn! Too long on my nap. A Kong Rat to you, CW. Well played, Good Sir

Commissioner Wretched

Many thanks! Got Lois Lane out of the office just in time to see the WOT drop early this week. Just lucky, I guess. (Lois or the early drop … both, I suppose.)

Commissioner Wretched

And now the old Commish is up to eight in a row! Two more to become a certified (certifiable?) Double Ace. Will it happen? Well, not if Hack Stone and the King of Battle have anything to say about it!! But it’s all good. My benevolent rule continues unabated.
For the masses, a trivia column, as usual. And be sure to be in this space next week whether I’m FIRST or not! It’s the annual April Fool’s column next week. Try it. You’ll like it.

DID YOU KNOW…?
Which NASA space flight began the tradition of astronauts wearing official mission patches?
By Commissioner Wretched
didyouknowcolumn@gmail.com
Copyright © 2024

And another month goes by.

Yes, the month of March has marched past, and we’re now 1/4 of the way through 2024.

So how’s your year going? Mine’s going as well as can be expected.

Maybe the rest of the year will be better; maybe it’ll stay about the same. We won’t consider the possibility that it could be worse, not here anyway.

What’s always good is the trivia, so let’s dive into this week’s collected tidbits!

Did you know …

… the penguin is the only bird that can swim, but not fly? (Down there around the South Pole, what is there to fly to?)

… about 55% of the world’s milk drinkers drink goat’s milk? (Not baaa-a-ad.)

… shoe salesmen used to use x-ray machines? Before the potential risk of long-term exposure to x-rays was fully understood, salesman at shoe stores would use an x-ray machine to photograph a customer’s feet, thus helping the customer purchase a properly fitting pair of shoes. (There’s room here for a line about “life is full of little trade-offs,” but I’m not going to do it.)

Commissioner Wretched

… comedian Groucho Marx wore a mustache because of a game show? Before Marx (1890-1977) hosted his classic You Bet Your Life on television beginning in 1950, it was a hit quiz on radio from 1947 on. When the producers wanted to move the show to television, they asked Marx – who had become famous in movies for wearing an enormous greasepaint mustache and frock coat – to wear the same things on the television show. Marx informed the producers, “That character is dead,” and refused to do it. Without a mustache, though, Marx was unrecognizable, so the producers asked him to grow a real one – which he did, and kept for the rest of his life. Additional trivia note: Marx never wanted a contestant to leave the show empty-handed. He pushed for – and got – a simple question worth a few bucks if the contestants lost everything, and his “Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?” became a part of television history.

… professional athletes used to moonlight in entertainment? Back in the halcyon days before being a pro athlete equaled being a millionaire, ballplayers were not paid very much, and during the off-season, they didn’t get paid anything at all. So a lot of pro athletes turned to the stage to find money. Babe Ruth (1895-1948), for instance, spent a lot of his off-season time on the vaudeville stage, singing. If you care to call it that. Other athletes took on regular jobs during the down times. For example, Brooklyn Dodger great Gil Hodges (1924-1972) moonlighted in the off season as a hardware salesman – in Brooklyn. (In most cases, as entertainers, they were great baseball players.)

Hack Stone

Recent professional athletes also have side gigs to supplement their income. Michael Vick ran a successful dog training business that he ran from his home.

e.conboy

Dog ‘training’? Did Mikey really call it ‘training’? Rumored around here those were dogs trained to take no prisoners…

Commissioner Wretched

… the first NASA space flight to have an official mission patch was Gemini 5 in 1965? Crewed by Gordon Cooper (1927-2004) and Charles “Pete” Conrad (1930-1999), the mission was to be the longest time men had spent in space – a total of eight days. Cooper and Conrad thus developed a mission patch featuring a Conestoga wagon with the words, “8 Days or Bust” on it. NASA management liked the patch but didn’t like the slogan, fearing that setting the duration record would detract from the other objectives of the flight. They also were concerned that, if the mission were to somehow have to end early, having the legend on the patch would make the flight seem a failure, so they removed the words from the official version of the mission patch. The Gemini 5 mission did stay in orbit the full eight days, but problems with the then-new fuel cells caused several experiments to be cancelled. Conrad said later, “I wished I’d brought a book.” Additional trivia note: NASA retroactively approved mission patches for all previous flights in the space program, and they are available for purchase as souvenirs. But no mission patch actually flew until Gemini 5.

… automobile turn signals were invented in 1929? More than two decades after cars first hit the market (and the streets), a man named Oscar J. Simler (1887-1968) invented and patented the device that sends a flashing signal from a lever on the side of the steering wheel to the lights in the front and rear of the car. But the turn signals didn’t hit the market until 1939, and not until after World War II were they broadly adopted by car manufacturers. Prior to that, drivers used hand signals out the window to show their intentions. (Which made signaling a turn in the rain pretty aggravating, I am sure.)

Commissioner Wretched

… a famous actor is distantly related to one of our best presidents? Actor Tom Hanks (born 1956) claims distant ancestral ties to the nation’s sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). The tie comes through the family of Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln (1784-1818). Tom Hanks is Lincoln’s third cousin, four times removed. Lincoln’s great-great-grandfather, John Hanks (?-1740) is the actor’s (take a deep breath now) great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. (Everybody has a claim to fame, it seems. You should see mine.)

… female canaries do not sing? (Oh, the temptation here … the temptation …)

… one entertainer sold more war bonds in World War II than any other person? Singer Kate Smith (1907-1986) was single-handedly responsible for selling more than $600 million in war bonds. Smith’s 1938 rendition of “God Bless America” is still the standard today. (And that was enough to finance a few days of the war, adjusted for inflation.)

… breathing can use up calories? Well, it depends on the temperature. At a temperature of -40˚ Fahrenheit, you use 14.4 calories per hour breathing. Additional trivia note: -40˚ Fahrenheit is the only temperature that occupies the same spot on the Celsius scale. Forty below zero Fahrenheit is also forty below zero Celsius. (Pretty chilly thought, eh?)

Now … you know!

Hate_me

Beg pardon, sir, but the Cassowary is another flightless bird that can swim:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pYr3zYwImfM

In fact, most – if not every – extant Ratite species (including ostriches, kiwi, emus, & rheas) has been observed swimming.

Last edited 9 months ago by Hate_me
David

And as long as we are on it…Grant’s Tomb contains the remains of both President and Mrs. Grant. It should technically be the Grants’ Tomb.

SFC D

Technically… no one is “buried” in Grant’s tomb. They’re entombed.

Anonymous

And not “yo’ mama” either, for that matter, as the slang became after Groucho’s trick question.

Hate_me

Apples and oranges. To claim one type of bird is the only one that can swim but not fly is categorically wrong. To argue that Grant’s tomb holds more than one Grant questions the grammar but does not negate the idea that Grant is, in fact, entombed there.

Hack Stone

Damn shame that Ulysses S. Grant did not die recently, because according Alex at Senior Health Benefits, thanks to recent legislation passed in his State (they never seem to mention which State or the legislation number), President Grant would have qualified for full coverage for his funeral, burial and cremation expenses.

Commissioner Wretched

I stand corrected and thank you! I’ll note the correction in a future column.

Hack Stone

Since once again Hack Stone was denied his title of First Comment on This Ain’t Hell Weekend Open Thread, he will need to constipate on promoting the proud but humble woman owned business that sells out dated and overpriced Red Hat Software. First up, we are proud to announce that we are the exclusive corporate sponsor for this weekend’s Fundraising Fun Run across the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Saturday morning. The fun does not stop there, later that afternoon we are hosting a Chili Feed to raise awareness on the dangers of doing personal favors for Phil Monkress. Participants are encouraged to bring their own toilet paper.

A Proud Infidel®™

Just tell the runners to keep an eye out so they don’t step in any Phildo or Giduck! 😁😀

Green Thumb

A slow death is worse than that.

Hack Stone

Psul of The Ballsack really stepped in it. Ten years of his blaming his circumstances in the Adorable Deplorables instead of politely declining Phil’s request to do his dirty work for him. Running a Black Ops mission to protect Phil Monkress’ imaginary military career was probably not in the job description for senior executive at the Reston Virginia branch of All Points Logistics.

Hack Stone

Great news, Adorable Deplorables! Hack Stone just received a call from Mark at Senior Health Benefits. Hack Stone was excited to inform Mark that thanks to recent legislation passed in his state, he now qualifies for full coverage on his funeral, burial and cremation expenses. Then Mark inexplicably hung up.

Mick

On station.

ninja

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy dance to the tune “Billie Jean”…

Brilliant!

2 Minutes.

ninja

“Mother Just Gave The Best Rant You’ll Hear Today Against Woke Culture in Classrooms at H.S Board”

“Mother From The Wake County Public School District in S.C Gave a speech to remember against the woke ideology impacting kids in classrooms across the country.”

3 Minutes Worth Watching!

SFC D

Bravo, ma!

A Proud Infidel®™

AMEN!!!

Graybeard

Yes Ma’am! Preach it!

ninja

“Have You Ever Seen the Rain – [CCR] Grab a Guitar (Pune Mâna Pe Chitară)”

Wow…!!

3 Minutes

ninja

Graybeard

Cool, man!

KoB

Welcome Home…to all that were there…
comment image

ninja

KoB:

THANK YOU So Much For Sharing This…

SALUTE TO ALL.

That includes our TAH Members and Their Families.

Never Forget…

ninja

Speaking of Vietnam POW, we found 3 recent obituaries of folks who had claimed they were Vietnam POWs…and they weren’t.

We will try to post.

Green Thumb

All-Points Logistics should get into the cemetery business.

rgr769

Like I have commented before, the VA, many years ago, reported that they had received over 13,000 purported Vietnam veterans claiming they were POW’s of the VC or NVA. I bet the number is even higher now.

ninja

2 Minutes of Pure Bliss…And So True!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULk8-DGC7Hs

“Walk Like A Joe Biden” – (Walk Like An Egyptian Parody)

ninja

ninja

“Paint It Black” by the Harp Twins & Wolfgang Twins

3 Minutes!

SFC D

I will see your two harps and raise you three pipes:
https://youtu.be/HXm8JdC4k4c?si=t6F74wR6z61p8PEV

Eggs
ninja

SFC D and Eggs:

Bravo To You Both!

However…😂🤣😅😆

“If AC/DC Wrote Stayin Alive..”

https://youtu.be/NaIPg34EAgQ?si=nMGW6VfSXbmqVGEo

Green Thumb

Pretty bad ass actually.

Green Thumb

Cool.

SFC D
Eggs
SFC D

We’re an odd bunch.

President Elect Toxic Deplorable Racist SAH Neande

The day my blood pressure doesn’t rise at least 5 points when listening to the pipes, check my pulse. WOOF!
(and the ladies are easy on the eyes, too)

RGR 4-78

They kilt that one.

Graybeard

I’ll raise y’all a mandolin, guitar, and vocal from Grandpa, Ramona & Alicia Jones
https://youtu.be/EQ7JgU51HM0?si=MwHZ6bbTxtUva3Nj

Eggs

How about Blackberry Smoke kickin’ Man of Constant Sorrow up a notch?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4JbAMyLToeI&pp=ygUnYmxhY2tiZXJyeSBzbW9rZSBtYW4gb2YgY29uc3RhbnQgc29ycm93

ninja

Our Very Own Beloved AW1Ed posted this before..

Well Worth Repeating!

47 Seconds…Enjoy!

AW1Ed

This one as well.
*grin*

ninja

Yep…Great Minds Think Alike…We Both Posted It!!

Thank You!

😎🫡

Amateur Historian

Happy Friday! Hope everyone had a good week. So, after much delay, here is my analysis on VJ Day. I do imagine most of you have encountered this sentiment before (either IRL or online.).:

To come to a good understanding of the use of the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I thought it would be a good idea to present both the Japanese and American viewpoints on the topic, with the Japanese going first:

Amateur Historian

Here’s a 2nd one:

Amateur Historian

Now, the summary of the Japanese feelings towards the bombings is one of reconciliation and forgiveness between the US and Japan. This and other feelings about the matter I feel are valid. I can’t say I wouldn’t feel the same as the Japanese do if the Russians during the Cuban Missile Crisis decided to wipe a few of our cities off the map.

But, with that being said, it would be remiss for me not to point out that when talking about the bombings in terms of American War Crimes, Japanese War Crimes do not seem to factor into the conversation, at least when talking about it in the US with the Mainstream Media. This is a problem when discussing the bombings and it always makes it look like we nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki for no good reason. As it stands, half of the modern day American perspectives on the use of the bombs against Japan tends to line up with the Japanese perspectives. This isn’t necessarily bad, depending on what context the speaker is going for. But I do think it is important to present the justifications and thought processes of the Truman administration’s decision to use the bombs, without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. Here is The Infographics Show on the subject:

Amateur Historian

Now, Infographics makes a mistake here. He called Hiroshima and Nagasaki civilian targets even though earlier he made the case that Japanese Civilians were being trained and prepared for combat. You can’t really have it both ways, being that when civilians start actually fighting in a battle, they void their protected status as non-combatants under the Geneva and Hague Conventions (some might make the point that when the bombs dropped, no civilians were taking part in combat and were therefore non-combatants. And that is true, but they were very likely to take part in the fighting once Operation: Downfall took off, invalidating any decision to not drop the bombs as the civilians you just spared are now a part of the banzai charges against your troops.) There were virtually no civilians left in Japan because of this. After the IJA and IJN were obliterated, every Japanese civilian encountered could be a potential combatant:

Amateur Historian

Now, when the Japanese Government surrendered, they had a more difficult time than any other government should’ve had in getting their military to stop fighting, with the Imperial Military outright refusing and even executing a unsuccessful coup against the government. It was only after Emperor Showa (Hirohito) exercised his influence and made them surrender that the war finally came to an end. Here’s Potential History on the subject:

Amateur Historian

So, to finally cap off the entire Pacific Campaign, I’ll talk about what the war meant as a whole. Throughout many wars in human history, there has mostly been no clear cut good guy vs bad guy dynamic, with many nations having various reasons for going to war and their own propaganda calling their own cause righteous (with various levels of lying and rationalization.). World War Two was different, though. The Allies were mostly a positive force for the general welfare of all mankind (the Soviets being an obvious exception to this, but you get my point) whereas the Axis couldn’t give a flying rat’s ass for the welfare of anyone who wasn’t them. In the Pacific Campaign, this is very evident that when the US Military and her Allies took back civilian centers from Japanese control, the brutality and savagery that was used as an active policy against them stopped.

Now, I would like to bring this series to a close by using a real-life event during the Pacific Campaign as an analogy. The event I wanted to use happened on the USS Missouri (BB-63) during the Battle of Okinawa:

Amateur Historian

This burial at sea of an enemy of our nation represents the final setting of the Rising Sun. At the end of which, Japan’s surrender will be signed on the Decks of the Mighty MO, bringing an end to a war that been defined by brutality and darkness. And then for it to bring about an occupation by a military who cared not for revenge or the furtherance of bloodshed, much to the surprise of the defeated. Have a good weekend.

ninja

Amateur Historian:

Thank You for sharing.

While stationed at Japan, had the opportunity to visit Hiroshima.

All we can say is “Wow..”. It was truly a very sobering experience.

Amateur Historian

You’re welcome. I’ve never been to Japan myself, but I really do want to go.

I do hope the Japanese government doesn’t severely restrict tourism though, on account of certain foreigners making complete asses of themselves while over there.

Amateur Historian

And I just realized I made a slight mistake:
I forgot to attach this to the opening paragraph:

1000001980
Sapper3307

What could go wrong?

short-history-of-japan-samurai-nuclear-explosion-weird-girl
Amateur Historian

😆 🤣 😂

Amateur Historian

Well, that took a little bit. When I first started sharing history videos here, I had no idea what form it would take or how I would do it. I just wanted to do it because history has always been a passion of mine. Now, my postings about the Pacific Campaign are over, but certain events in that campaign were skipped over (Iwo Jima off the top of my head) and I don’t know if I’ll do a post about them later. But I’ll figure it out as time goes on.

So, what I’ll be doing now as far as my posting here will be slightly different to what I have been doing thus far. I’m not going to say and give it away, but here’s a hint: Does anyone like movies?

A song I like:

Green Thumb

The False Commander “Phony” Phil Monkress (CEO of All-Points Logistics”) works balls.

Hack Stone

This weekend Phil Monkress will be juggling balls while dressed in a bunny costume.

Ten years and change later, Phil Monkress is still on top of the shitpile known as All Points Logistics, while the idiot he cajoled him not defending his lies lost his job, his home, his life savings, his reputation and any chance of ever holding a real job again. To sum it up, you fucked up Psul, you trusted Phil.

Green Thumb

And Phil Monkress’ wife walked off after the divorce with a nice pile of cash and a ton of Native America, Law Enforcement and Navy SEAL items.

After all of Phildo’s claims of innocence, she still split.

What does that tell you?

Hack Stone

Did she get Paul’s rug that he was unable to retrieve from the Reston office of All Points Logistics when they canned him?

Green Thumb

I imagine her dog is pissing on it as we speak.

Sapper3307

We drink wine this weekend.

434095435_837156938445867_2320502787575552148_n
A Proud Infidel®™

Fifty-sump’n and I award myself another Honorary First.

((((OVER))))

Will Giduck suddenly claim to have been at the site of the terrorist attack in Russia as well? Ukraine? Oh well, he’s full of Phildo and we all know it.
Epstein did not kill himself.

Devtun

Illegal parasite turned TikTok squatter, Leonel Moreno, has been apprehended by ICE. Guess he should have kept his mouth shut & head down. Old saying: Don’t poke the bear.
Illegal migrant who went TikTok viral urging others to squat in people’s homes arrested by ICE | Fox News

Hack Stone

Hack Stone may not have scored the highly coveted and rarely awarded honor of First Post for This Ain’t Hell Weekend Open Thread, but he is the first among the residents of his HOA to cut his lawn in 2024. As current ruler over Weekend Open Thread, will Commissioner Wretched bestow the title of Alpha Male on Hack Stone? And Hack Stone exerts his toxic masculinity by cutting his own lawn, he doesn’t hire some lawn service. That would be like paying some guy to schtup your wife because you just can’t get it right.

Hate_me

Is it wrong that it’s Good Friday and I find myself actively rooting for the Jews*?

*against Hamas

Amateur Historian

Jesus was a Jew, so you’re good 👍

Graybeard

Read the Book of Revelation aka The Revelation of St. John.

Rooting for the Jews puts us on the winning side.

Hate_me

I’m not sure if “the winning side” is argument enough, but I always try to choose “the right side.”

President Elect Toxic Deplorable Racist SAH Neande

“I aim to misbehave”

Odie

Once again, not first but present.

Amateur Historian

Currently physically occupying an empty space.

SFC D

Then it ain’t empty, now is it ? 🍺

Sapper3307

Love it!

434833894_10233848956906388_7076852431807674522_n
MarineDad61

March 25, 2024

[[ Stan Fitzgerald steps down as head of Veterans for Trump
after the Daily Mail revealed his history as a conman
and new complaint about his fundraising work ]]
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/stan-fitzgerald-steps-down-as-head-of-veterans-for-trump-after-the-daily-mail-revealed-his-history-as-a-conman-and-new-complaint-about-his-fundraising-work/ar-BB1kvcof

Last edited 9 months ago by MarineDad61
MarineDad61

Oh boy.
This website went down for a few hours today,
then came back up again,
and THIS story was edited / changed.

https://veteransfortrump.us/stan-fitzgerald-steps-down-as-veterans-for-america-first-president/

Graybeard

https://www.gocomics.com/bc/2024/03/29

Not everyone will understand today’s B.C. comic

Graybeard

Somberly Rejoice in Good Friday.

Update: My brother is doing OK although still having some complications from the cystoscopy to remove the kidney stone.

We had a Tennebrae service at our church yesterday – a very good time for reflection on Christ’s Passion.
Looking forward to a joyous Easter service Sunday, after which the GB Clan will gather to celebrate 3 March birthdays in conjunction with the Resurrection of our Lord. Finished mowing the jungle grass so that we can have a chance of finding the Easter Eggs.

God bless and keep you all.

Prior Service

So as you celebrate Easter, know that your president has proclaimed it to be the transgender day of visibility. Because the most miraculous observance we know of should be smeared by this fecal matter.

MustangCPT

Some turds just won’t stay flushed:

IMG_0230
A Proud Infidel®™

Who is that asswipe?

MustangCPT

I don’t know if the guy in the picture is him, but the company is owned by one Gregory Isaac Tambone, who was featured here many years ago. Apparently, he’s still in business with his bullshit tactical equipment store.

MustangCPT

This is the third time an alumnus from these hallowed pages has showed up on my LinkedIn feed. I had Heavy Chevy show up with some post from his bullshit company, The Centre around 10 years ago. Gretchen Evans showed up a year or so ago. Now this fucking clown. If I see anything from All Points Logistics or FirsTech Solutions, I’m deleting my LinkedIn.

Odie
Anonymous

Bingo. Democrats don’t care about the appearance of impropriety on their part any more. They don’t even care about hiding their impropriety anymore.