An excellent fresh-from-the-factory ice cream store opening about three blocks from home portends an especially satisfying if nutritionally perilous summer ahead.
3.16.2022
Arrrrgh
New Republican bill would allow American citizens to seize Russian vessels by force
The bill, introduced on Feb. 28 by Rep. Lance Gooden from Dallas, would require President Joe Biden to issue letters of marque and reprisal for the seizure of yachts, planes or other property owned by those on the Treasury Department's list of sanctioned Russians.
Letters of Marque, as Wikipedia explains here, were authorizations to conduct government-approved piracy.
Popular among Europeans from the late Middle Ages up to the 19th century, cruising for enemy prizes with a letter of marque was considered an honorable calling that combined patriotism and profit.
This very old (but seemingly, in the modern world, novel) idea seems perfectly in sync with the kind of crowd-sourced warfare we're now engaged in. According to msn:
In recent weeks, at least 380 companies have announced their withdrawal from Russia in an effort to mount pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a running list being updated by Yale School of Management's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld.
And hundreds of thousands of hackers have banded together to fight Russia.
Why not let everybody in on the act?
It was once said a Third World War would blow us all back into the Middle Ages. That assessment seems optimistic today—but still…
[I find the idea pretty disturbing, myself. It's like gathering around a giant powder keg and passing out free matches. But hey, that's just me.]
3.15.2022
But leprechauns?
This inflatable Irish pub is a party venue that brings the traditional bar home
Aspiring inflatable Irish pub owners or renters can find The PaddyWagon Pub and similar inflatable bars from resellers and rental partners on Inflatable.Pub – an online inflatable pub marketplace, which has retail partners in 24 U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Chicago, Jacksonville, Cape Cod and Cleveland.
Have we reached peak absurd yet or is there still more?
Elon Musk says Vladimir Putin can "bring his bear' to their fight For Ukraine
On Monday, Musk publicly challenged Putin on Twitter, calling him out and tagging the Kremlin in the process.
Oughta do it
The MacOS and iOs upgrades announced today contain a boatload of security fixes — so, good idea to get around to it soon.
The upgrades also include a cool "universal control" feature that allows an iPad to be used as a second display for a Mac (and some other combinations); a new voice for Siri (American 5); some new emojis (I have no idea which ones are new—I don't even know which ones are old).
What is a new buzzword?
Today's Hottest Speculative Fiction Authors Answer Our Burning Questions
[From Goodreads.]
"Speculative fiction" includes, it seems, both sci-fi and "fantasy." Which makes a certain sense if you assume any fiction falling outside those categories is…not speculative?
Me, I'm speculating otherwise.
Wait, why didn't somebody tell me?
US aircraft carrier, site of a 1972 race riot at sea, on way to scrapyard
International Shipbreaking Limited of Brownsville, Texas, bought the ship last year for less than a dollar from US Naval Sea Systems Command
Hey, I can't afford one of those big Russian yachts (or even a big U.S. one either) but I could have squeezed this into my budget easily.
I wonder what the parking fee would be.
3.14.2022
Here's the scariest thing I've read today (so far)
"Indeed, the administration is also leaking assiduously that it is considering alternative forms of aid [to Ukraine]. Undoubtedly, steady increases in rhetorical bombardments, permanent deployment of Vice President Kamala Harris to Europe to boost our allies’ confidence, ramped up White House and Pentagon press briefings and longer telephone calls from Biden to Zelensky are all under active consideration."
[John Bolton in the New York Post.
Yes, that John Bolton. I said scary, didn't I?]
Is there a NATO section too?
Russia takes Putin’s war into space
Rogozin, a close Putin ally, has also refused to launch a UK satellite company’s payloads, stopped supplying Russian-built rocket engines to US customers and even threatened to cut ties to NASA and disconnect the Russian section from the ISS.
3.13.2022
If you're hating the right people (and you're in the right place) you're good
Amid Russia-Ukraine conflict Facebook and Instagram loosen some restrictions on hate speech
The policy change will only apply to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Polynia, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine and allows users to speak out against the invasion even with terms that were previously prohibited by the app.
Bowing to the current fad…
White House briefs TikTok creators on Ukraine
…of comparing everything about Ukraine to WWII…Chamberlain and Munich, Hitler and Poland, FDR and Lend Lease, Russia and Stalingrad…I'm trying to picture Winston Churchill on TikTok.
Just doesn't seem to work.
Can't wait to hear the conspiracy theory about this one
US Customs officers seize about 300 leeches in Philadelphia
“Customs and Border Protection officers and agriculture specialists often encounter unique and interesting things, like this jar full of icky bloodsuckers."
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