Possible explanation for republicans' ability to remain alive while having their heads so far up ...

As much as I loathe much of what Reagan did, this is a poignant ad, and one which apparently has orangeman in a tizzy. Link to video

Russian military planes briefly violated Lithuania’s airspace Thursday evening, the Lithuanian president said, condemning what he called a blatant breach of the territorial integrity of his European Union and NATO-member country. Lithuania’s foreign ministry planned to summon Russian Embassy representatives in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius to protest the violation, President Gitanas Nausėda said in a post on the social media platform X. “This is a blatant breach of international law and territorial integrity of Lithuania,” Nausėda wrote on X. “Once again, it confirms the importance of strengthening European air defence readiness.” There was no immediate comment from Moscow. https://apnews.com/article/lithuania-russia-military-planes-airspace-f9d31aa920ee91c95103d902967d3b24

@Axtremus said in Robots getting the jobs: It's the AI engineers who are training your replacement. In this case, it's basically the same thing. The AI pilots in the article are training those AI robots, and eventually, they'll train themselves out of their own jobs.

I looked at the prices of listings at the park across the street with land leases. That park is out of the question for me personally because the average asking price is $150,000. The Board of Governors has the same contractual right to evict you for rule violations as management does here. So it is a weakened land lease with the HOA breathing down your neck. Board of Governors is a pretentious term. Also you can't get a 50 year land lease. The land lease is 50 years but its start date is retroactive to date the leases were originally offered. The danger to residents of lot rent mobile home parks, higher end, perfectly maintained ones, connected to municipal utilities, like mine, and rural mobile home parks alike, in all states is that they are being bought by hedge funds. The lot rents are being increased dramatically, and water and garbage removal are being charged as separate fees on top of the lot rent increases. I've decided that if this happens here (and it probably will because the owner is in his '80's and his children have no interest in the park meaning of course they're going to sell) I will be able to absorb the rent increase and new fees. My ability to adjust (very many people in every state are being evicted after these sales because they don't have the necessary income to manage-- and it's sad because many of them are elderly) combined with the terrible state of the market make me think staying here would be the best choice. My favorite house (stunning renovation, luxury kitchen, luxury bathroom, peaceful energy, on a quiet street, next to an empty lot--I've linked to in another thread) was $59,500 asking during the pandemic, taken off the market and relisted many times without selling, was at $29,500 asking when I found it. It was relisted three days ago at $27,000 asking. That's a steal. I was told by the woman who had the listing previously that realtors haven't been very interested in this house and haven't tried very hard with it. I think I've figured out why. I think the reason it's a hard sale is down to the fact that it's only 600+ sq ft. That's 200 sq ft less than any other unit in the park. It's the only 1 bedroom in the park. It would be perfect for me and allow me to pay $27,000 cash and be done with it. I can make it work financially because of the money I will save. I've decided to buy a Hyundai Accent from the last generation Hyundai sold the Accent in the US. There many in pristine condition with around 40k miles for no more than 17k. This will be a cash sale and likewise I will be in a position where I can afford the insurance (I've been told car insurance in Florida had risen dramatically), gas, and maintenance. I will buy my place on the first day possible but I'm buying the car immediately. It made my day to find out the house hadn't been sold. My roommate is having a very hard time and taking it out on me or trying to every chance he gets. It's been a long haul. I'm not taking anything for granted. But the settlement of my father's estate can't last forever.

A concise narrative of the theft from the NYT now that the dust has settled. Link to video

Link to video

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xbSkJo3vS3E79hcP6 A Georgian textured yellow gold chain necklace Description A Georgian textured yellow gold chain, the belcher-style link chain with each round link featuring a textured star motif design, the clasp in the form of a hand, the hand extending from a coiled snake, with a rub-set ring with a redish pink gem on the index finger holding a ball, circa 1800, measuring approximately 124 x 0.5cm, gross weight 45.9 grams. I had trouble linking the page. This is on Necklaces> page 1 124cm Georgian long chain. Magnificent! A "long chain" is "a thing" in jewelry. I love them. I noticed a listing for a Victorian chain and it has the hand motif clasp too. I thought that was interesting. This is a long chain I'd like to buy. The price has increased $300 in about a year but there have been similar price increases in lower price point stock gold items at Cartier too. I believe this can fairly be said to relate to the increase in gold prices recently. This item probably reaches my personal limit of what I would pay for a piece of new or vintage jewelry. https://www.vancleefarpels.com/us/en/collections/jewelry/other-collections/vcarp7u600---trace-chain-70-cm.html

@Rontuner said in AWS outage and the peril of Smart Things: to get the lights on in the piano room, she had to call her husband at work to control from his phone... Good grief!! Nothing in our house is "smart" -- yet. I'm dreading dealing with it when it's time for something new, esp. something major like the HVAC system. Our current one has a programmable thermostat, but that's it, it's not connected to anything (other than itself). The thought of having a bed malfunction because of an Amazon outage would make me go crazy. Well, if nothing else, now everyone knows what AWS stands for. I learned about it some years ago when I learned that AWS was the underlying infrastructure of basically all of the internet pages of the uni where I worked at the time. I remember thinking it seemed like a bad idea to have a public uni so reliant on a company like Amazon. When our course learning management system was down this week of over 12 hours, I was reminded of that...

I need to listen again with good headphones. But even on my phone it sounds gorgeous!!!

More cancer news, mRNA vaccines and cancer. How mRNA Vaccines Can Help Fight Cancer Turning "cold" tumors "hot" https://erictopol.substack.com/p/how-mrna-vaccines-can-help-fight?publication_id=587835&post_id=176787765&isFreemail=true&r=1v8sh2&triedRedirect=true

Local reporting from the Daily Herald. A family-run Palatine cafe is closing because of a drop in customers due to immigration enforcement in the area, the owners said. Chappie's Cafe, 754 W. Euclid Ave., will serve its last meal Nov. 2. The business has seen great success despite opening four years ago during COVID, said Judith Martinez, who owns the cafe with her husband, Omar Garcia. But things began to change about three to four weeks ago, when federal agents arrived and started to approach customers, she said. Two masked agents encountered customers while they were eating breakfast and asked to see their papers but took no one into custody. Agents visited about a week later. This time, Martinez locked the front door when she saw them driving around the parking lot. They then confronted her in the back of the store. “Right away, they told me, ‘Who are you? I need to see your papers. I need to see your passport. I need to see your legal status,’” she said. There were two cars parked in the back, without license plates, she said. “I was afraid and I was nervous, but I'm a U.S. citizen,” said Martinez, who was born in Mexico but later came to the United States and was naturalized. Her husband is also an immigrant but is here legally, she said. She kept asking the agents why they were there, but they avoided her questions and soon left. Beside the looming threat of federal agents keeping customers away, food costs have risen sharply, making the decision to close easier. Local reporting from the Daily Herald. https://archive.is/BlJSB

What has Trump done for you lately? Gave George Santos a Get Out of Jail Free card. Asked for $230 million of taxpayer dollars for himself. Tore down the East Wing of the White House. Will the greatness never end???

"I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday's HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time," Ingrassia posted in an online message. "I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout the process and will continue to serve President Trump and the administration to Make America Great Again!" https://www.npr.org/2025/10/21/nx-s1-5581714/paul-ingrassia-nomination-withdrawal

Imagine having a budget of 1.7 million to hire an architectural firm to buy whatever kind of lot/ land and steer all of your budget into something you could think of as your dream house. It wouldn't take me a minute to decide to do that instead of buying some AI looking monstrosity.