W
Great episode about various Chicago workers. Bridge tenders, prop and costume people at the Lyric Opera, city rat control workers...lots more.
I loved this segment on gilders who paint signs. It was almost a lost art.
https://www.pbs.org/video/the-chicagoans-reviving-gold-leaf-sign-painting-g0jbd6/
If you can catch the show on Passport, check it out!
@Steve-Miller said in I bought myself a Christmas present:
I’m hoping for cornbread!
Finally, we have achieved cornbread! Came out perfectly.
I used this King Arthur recipe for sourdough cornbread.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-cornbread-recipe
I really like the way the butter is prepared. You put a stick of butter in a 10" cast iron pan, put it in the oven, and set it for 425 degrees. In 15 or 20 minutes, the butter has melted, foamed, and is starting to brown a bit. You take the pan out, let it cool a little, and then pour most of the butter into the batter you've already prepared, leaving a tablespoon or so in the pan to brown the cornbread as it bakes and to keep it from sticking.
Great way to use up some discard. And you get totally delicious cornbread.
When narrative outpaces evidence.
https://quillette.com/2026/01/10/when-narrative-outpaces-evidence-the-minnesota-ice-shooting/
Finally.
On Tuesday, a Lake Tahoe-based non-profit called Bear League stepped in to help Johnson by shooting at the bear with paintball guns, which drove it from under the house.
“I couldn’t believe it was so fast,” Johnson told KTLA. “These guys went in, they crawled in behind him and, boom, he was out.”
The bear tried to come back two days later but was met with a deterrent – an electrified mat that covered the crawl space’s entrance, according to KTLA. Johnson added that since the bear’s removal, he’s been able to assess the damage it left, which includes a ruptured gas line.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/09/bear-under-california-home-evicted
He just keeps blowing things up.
The US and its partner forces have carried out large-scale strikes against Islamic State (IS) group targets in Syria, the US Central Command (Centcom) has announced.
US President Donald Trump directed the strikes on Saturday, which are part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, in retaliation to the IS group's deadly attack on US forces in Syria on 13 December, Centcom wrote on X.
The strikes were conducted in an effort to combat terrorism and protect US and partner forces in the region, according to Centcom.
"Our message remains strong: if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice," Centcom said.
The US and its partner forces fired more than 90 precision munitions at more than 35 targets in an operation that involved more than 20 aircraft, an official told CBS News, the BBC's US partner.
Here's the segment on Smerconish.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/10/us/video/what-reasonable-force-actually-means
I was surprised that he thinks a conviction is unlikely, especially after I read the use of force guidelines that he presented. Seems to me that the ICE agent broke a lot of rules.
I hope that Minnesota does its own investigation, as I don't trust the FBI, ICE, and the DOJ to be unbiased. Their track record on other cases (like the ones in Chicago) is not good.
@jon-nyc said in The last real place on the internet:
I’ve stopped selling stuff.
I haven't stopped yet but am heading in that direction, doing more and more give away. Diminishing returns when it comes to the energy expended to sell and money earned.
Whether sold or given away, we've met some interesting people as we downsize our possessions.
Why cancer can come back years later — and how to stop it
Researchers are targeting dormant tumour cells that might explain why some cancers reappear long after successful treatment.
The first part of Smerconish's show this morning was about the Minnesota shooting. He looked at it from the position of what the use-of-force guidelines are for the ICE agent. That is the standard against which the incident needs to be evaluated. He talked a bit about CBP and ICE guidelines and also those of various local (non-federal) police departments. Sort of "generally accepted practices".
Here are a couple of documents on use of force. One is for ICE, the other for CBP.
ICE (see policy statement on page 62): https://imlive.s3.amazonaws.com/Federal Government/ID255426897069329047495080324203699905714/2.2.1_Attachment 21 - ICE Firearms and Use of Force Directive and Handbook.pdf
It will be interesting to see if these suddenly get updated. I've downloaded both; I'm sure lots of other people have, too.
I'll post a link to the show later if it shows up online. He also interviewed someone who is an expert witness in cases like these.
@CHAS Ha! I have never seen the movie, but that clip came up as I was perusing other movie dance scenes. Glad you posted it.
What a delight!
Why you should trust me
I spent two years on Williams Sonoma’s e-commerce team immersed in cookware specifications, manufacturing and performance. Afterwards, I became the resident cookware expert at The Spruce Eats, where I tested, researched, interviewed other experts and wrote about kitchen tools and appliances. For the last five years, I’ve also tested, reviewed and written about cookware for Food52, Food & Wine, The Kitchn and more.
https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter-us/2026/jan/09/best-induction-cookware
@bernard Loved Cinderella and used to watch it every year. It was recently streaming somewhere and I watched it for the first time in decades and it still enchanted. And Victor, Victoria…so much fun!!
Careful. Your dog might be listening to your conversations.
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/08/nx-s1-5667604/genius-dogs-learn-new-words-eavesdropping
More analysis of the agent’s cell phone video. Remarkable that he managed to take a video, draw his weapon and fire it multiple times, successfully hit his target, called her a f**king bitch, all without dropping his phone.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/09/us/ice-shooting-minneapolis-renee-good-cell-phone-invs
Forget the AI, but being able to change your email address and keep all the stuff from your old address seems potentially useful.
Gave up on eBay years ago and was never on FB, so no Marketplace.
Craigslist is the only place I sell stuff.
Here is MacKenzie’s entire essay.
https://yieldgiving.com/essays/we-are-the-ones-we-ve-been-waiting-for/
Fred and Leslie.
Link to videoFred and Eleanor.
Link to videoFred and Cyd.
Link to video