Nothing could be finah than to be in Carolina

5-foot iguana found wandering loose in North Carolina

"The weather may be warm and humid, but this is not Florida," police said on social media. "This iguana must have gotten confused."

How disappointing is this?

Interdimensional portals: A March 2024 post from anonymous X user @prolotario1 claimed that "Q," believed by QAnon followers to be a government insider, had warned of an interdimensional portal opening during the April 2024 solar eclipse. (Actually: No interdimensional portal opened during the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse.)

Personally, I am crushed.

[From a NewsGuard newsletter.] 

The NYTimes fashion department weighs in

Stormy Daniels as We Had Never Seen Her

She was in all black, in a scoop-neck jumpsuit with cropped black trousers, chunky high-heel boots and a long shawl-like cardigan with a hood enveloping her now famous body. Her blond hair was caught up in the back with bits escaping to shield her face, and she was wearing black-frame glasses and little makeup.

As circuses go, this one's near the top of the list.

Daniels is now just one small step below Joan of Arc at the Times.

But at least he's not vaccinated (or doesn't want you to be)

R.F.K. Jr. Says Doctors Found a Dead Worm in His Brain

About the same time he learned of the parasite, he said, he was also diagnosed with mercury poisoning, most likely from ingesting too much fish containing the dangerous heavy metal, which can cause serious neurological issues.

“I have cognitive problems, clearly,” he said in the 2012 deposition.

 Clearly.

Now, what kind of fish do those other two guys eat?

If you're tempted now, even slightly…

A Trillion Cicadas, They’re What’s for Dinner

“The romance! The kismet! The synchronicity that this is all occurring in my lifetime!”

…I'm guessing you won't be by the end of the summer, not if you live in one of the places that will be invaded by these crunchy bugs.

But don't let me stand in your way.

An election year is an election year

America Doesn’t Need Momala Harris

Now, with her approval rating at 36 percent, Democrats seem resigned: “With or without Biden, Democrats are stuck with Kamala Harris,” declared one recent op-ed.

But every one seems insufferably longer than the last. 

181 days to go.

Not saying it's exacty the same, but…

U.S. paused shipment of thousands of bombs to Israel amid Rafah rift

…still sounds tippy tippy-toe close to the principle charge in Trump's first impeachment.

In the words of Wikipedia…

Trump's first impeachment took place after a formal House inquiry found that he had solicited foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election to help his re-election bid…that Trump withheld military aid and an invitation to the White House from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in order to influence Ukraine to announce an investigation into Trump's political opponent Joe Biden…

An end to the Middle East war will likely help Biden's re-election bid…

OK. Not saying, but tippy-toe close to it.

Gotta be a lesson here somewhere

Indonesians protested illegal and unregulated fishing practices in 2020 in front of China's embassy in Jakarta

 And published in a German newspaper.

With signs in English.

Who do you think they were talking to?

Yep, I'd sleep with the light on too

'Monster' in N.C. toddler's wall turns out to be 50,000 bees

Ashley Class said she and her husband initially thought their daughter was merely imagining the presence of a monster in the closet of her farmhouse bedroom.

Following up

Boeing calls off its first astronaut launch because of valve issue on rocket

United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno said an oxygen pressure-relief valve on the upper stage of the company’s Atlas rocket started fluttering open and close, creating a loud buzz.

Oops.

NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX a decade ago to ferry astronauts to and from the space station after the shuttle program ended, paying the private companies billions of dollars. SpaceX has been in the orbital taxi business since 2020.

[H/T Lynn C Dot] 

May

 

Remember Boeing?

After years of delay, Boeing to try again with Starliner space capsule

The flight is intended to see how the spacecraft performs in space with a crew onboard.…Along the way, the crew members will test manually flying the spacecraft before it docks autonomously with the station. NASA and Boeing will also be eager to see how the spacecraft’s heat shield and parachutes work as it brings Williams and Wilmore back to Earth after about eight days.

Seeing if miscellaneous parts fall off is seemingly not on their list of things to do.

In other exciting aviation news, the U.S. Air Force is testing an AI-controlled jet fighter based on the F-16 airframe.

Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning for an AI-enabled fleet of more than 1,000 unmanned warplanes, the first of them operating by 2028.

As presently envisioned, the plane will be able to fly, engage in fighting other aircraft, and drop bombs all by its AI-powered self.

The F-16 is manufactured by Lockheed-Martin.

Those historians: Right on top of things

College protests. A Trump trial. Raging wars. Is everything ‘on fire’?

Historians confirm that this is a troubled and exceptional era.

Which seems like a perfect time to pitch a new book by Erik Larson. It's called The Demon of Unrest.

Larson is a superlative storyteller who's written a batch of riveting historical tomes, also described at the link just above.

It will appear on our books list before too long. I'm only about half finished with it now. But I (and don't we all?) know how it ends.

Meanwhile…

The Adults Are Still in Charge at the University of Florida

Actions have consequences. At the University of Florida, we have repeatedly, patiently explained two things to protesters: We will always defend your rights to free speech and free assembly—but if you cross the line on clearly prohibited activities, you will be thrown off campus and suspended. In Gainesville, that means a three-year prohibition from campus. That’s serious. We said it. We meant it. We enforced it. We wish we didn’t have to, but the students weighed the costs, made their decisions, and will own the consequences as adults. We’re a university, not a daycare. We don’t coddle emotions, we wrestle with ideas.

Also, here. 

Wait, what!

After Period of Chastity, Hollywood Movies Embrace Sex Again

I seem to have missed a whole era here.

[The article is from the New York Times.]