Given the wide variety of planets in our own solar system and some even stranger moons, there seems to be alot to learn about even our solar neighborhood, let alone the flocks of exoplanets now being found. I really hope we don't curtail our exploration of the universe. If the USA is short-sighted, then at least there are other nations and entities in the search for more knowledge. Big Al

This one is one of my favorites. I never learned it all the way - but I still like to muddle through it. So beautiful.

NPR on the topic: https://www.npr.org/2025/12/26/nx-s1-5649395/public-domain-2026-copyright-betty-boop-pluto

Absolutely disgraceful.

Those who forget the past...

Thanks all!

Finally got around to making crumpets. I thought about trying to do DIY rings from tuna cans but today's cans are don't lend themselves to being made into a ring. The old ones were a open cylinder with a sealing lid on the top and one on the bottom. You could remove both and get a serviceable ring. The body and the bottom of the new cans are a single piece and only the top lid can be easily removed. Picked these up at a thrift shop: [image: 20251230_171152.jpg] Interesting little beggars. Like English muffins, they are cooked in a skillet but the batter is more like pancake batter than a dough, hence the need for a ring. The leavening agent is baking powder (or soda, depending on the recipe). I think my baking powder is old and has lost its oomph. I didn't get the numerous bubbles one expects in a crumpet. Still, they were pretty tasty and not bad for my first attempt: [image: 20251230_171135.jpg] eta: This King Arthur recipe looks better than the one I used. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2020/03/23/sourdough-crumpets Will try it out for round 2 of crumpets.

Someone on the overnight thread (that I frequent) posted this video last night as a point of possible interest to the members. Turns out, it's not Sir David Attenborough at all, it's AI posing as him. A fake! It pisses me off that this is allowed. Meanwhile, the "creators" (thieves, imo) rake in ad revenue for themselves and YT. Link to video

Thanks for the link to that video, @wtg. I did have that option enabled, but while I was on that page I noticed at the bottom of the screen it said I'd opted to never save passwords for google and earthlink. I don't remember doing that, but I deleted both sites and it appears that might have been responsible because I use my Google account to log into Disqus. Ok then, I'm on Brave for another trial run! eta, it didn't last long. It continues to log me out of Disqus if I so much as refresh the page or open a new tab. Ugh. eta, I might be on another trial run. If I turn off fingerprinting for that specific website, it seems to behave.

@wtg said in “I’m a very aesthetic person”: it’s just shameless self-promotion. Or a huge branding exercise at the expense of the American public Both.

On a related note…Hard to believe this is the first baby born in this little Italian town in the last 30 years. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/26/italian-village-first-baby-in-30-years

This is an annual event not far from me, a celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe. https://www.chicagocatholic.com/photos/-/article/2025/12/23/frigid-temps-no-match-for-guadalupe-pilgrims

This must excite so many hi-tech villains and intelligence apparatus.

[image: 1767003209739-20251229_083604-resized.jpg] Hellebore are blooming