Recent posts

#71

Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...

Last post by Recusant - June 29, 2026, 08:32:42 AM

I thought this was entertaining and surprisingly good for a Vox article. The future of MAGA is unclear, but it's hard to see unending radicalization as a viable path.

"The MAGA stars freaked out by their own movement" | Vox

In 2017, US Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) offered what remains one of the most insightful explanations of Donald Trump's rise from any elected official. Massie, a Tea Party libertarian in the Rand and Ron Paul mode, was wondering why so many of his supporters could back an un-libertarian candidate like Trump. His conclusion was grim.

"They weren't voting for libertarian ideas — they were voting for the craziest son of a bitch in the race," Massie said. "And Donald Trump won best in class, as we had up until he came along."

Last month, the "craziest son of a bitch" took Massie down. Trump — miffed by Massie's stance on the Epstein files and the Iran war — endorsed his challenger in Kentucky, and the popular libertarian was pushed out of a seat he'd held for nearly 14 years.

Massie conceded. But at no point, during the race or afterward, has he taken the logical next step: reflecting on how his own actions caused the problem. Massie's years of vocal support for Trump, and his boundary-pushing Tea Party politics, had helped turn the GOP into the political chaos agent he once bemoaned.

Massie is the poster child for a particular kind of conservative now emerging in Trump's second term: influential Trump allies who have sounded the alarm about the right's direction, but who steadfastly refuse to acknowledge that their own actions in the Trump era may have had something to do with it.

The examples are mounting. Joe Rogan, who regularly sells his audience on conspiratorial mistrust of official narratives, is now denouncing conspiracy theories about the assassination attempts on Trump. The pundit Ben Shapiro has gone to war against right-wing podcaster Candace Owens, who he now calls an antisemitic crank — while barely acknowledging that he himself played an instrumental role in Owens's rise. You can even see this happening with Trump himself, who has spent his presidency battling rumors about an elite pedophile network run by Jeffrey Epstein that he helped stoke earlier, and which arose from a MAGA movement he trained to see conspiracy at every turn.

It's a real-life version of the famous sketch on Tim Robinson's show I Think You Should Leave, where a hot-dog-shaped car crashes into a storefront and a man in a hot dog suit says, "We're all trying to find the guy who did this."

The "hot dog men" — and yes, they're almost all men — are easy to mock. But their growing ranks point to something serious: that right-wing political machine is spinning out of control in ways that even some of its most aggressive and radical voices recognize as dangerous. And as the right searches for new leadership before Trump himself fades into history, nobody on their side has shown any proven ability to contain or redirect its worst impulses.

[Continues  . . .]

#72

Politics / Re: Dominionists in the United...

Last post by Recusant - June 29, 2026, 08:23:38 AM

This may all be blown out of the water in the near future. AI is already messing with higher education, and it could well become a significant element in primary schools. Still have to teach the tykes to read I suppose, but what happens after that . . .

#73

Politics / Re: Dominionists in the United...

Last post by Icarus - June 28, 2026, 04:09:46 AM

It appears that much of the Texas legislature is composed of narrow minded and  sorely misled knotheads.

I will go out on a limb and say that I believe that it is almost obligatory to have students read some passages from the christian bible.  It is a piece of history although it is highly doubtful that it is a reliably historic collection of books.

Required reading ought to include classics writings like Tale of Two cities, The rise and fall of the Roman empire, etc. history of the English speaking people and others are every bit as important to the students intellectual development. Have them  read B. Russel too. The teapot proposition is as believable as Genesis.

#74

Politics / Re: Dominionists in the United...

Last post by billy rubin - June 27, 2026, 11:25:20 PM

the supremecourt will find nothing wrong with it.

its texas, after all. thi sis business usual.

in related news,  the texas governor has labelled a proposed islamic cultural community as a "sharia city" in order to gather prejudice against musliims into a useful force.

https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-signs-law-banning-sharia-compounds-in-texas

i cant find anything to support or contradict the notion the community members would agree to be bound by sharia law.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPIC_City,_Texas

#75

Politics / Re: Dominionists in the United...

Last post by Dark Lightning - June 27, 2026, 05:43:25 PM

We'll have to see how our corrupt SCOTUS handles it when the inevitable lawsuit reaches them. Our local rag has some chuckle-brain who wrote in and complained how the city school district is pushing Islam on the students. That guy must be smoking some strange shit.

#76

Politics / Re: Dominionists in the United...

Last post by Recusant - June 27, 2026, 04:30:14 PM

In a Christian nation we teach children the Bible in our public schools!

"Backlash as Texas Approves 'Unconstitutional' Mandatory Bible Lessons in Public Schools" | Common Dreams

As education officials in Texas ban hundreds of books that run afoul of their interpretation of Christian morality, the State Board of Education on Friday approved a required reading list that forces the state's more than 5 million public school students to read from the Bible.

The Republican-controlled SBOE voted 9-5 with one abstention to approve the list, which includes passages from the Book of Exodus as well as the Shepherd's Psalm and the myths of Adam and Eve and David and Goliath.


As education officials in Texas ban hundreds of books that run afoul of their interpretation of Christian morality, the State Board of Education on Friday approved a required reading list that forces the state's more than 5 million public school students to read from the Bible.

The Republican-controlled SBOE voted 9-5 with one abstention to approve the list, which includes passages from the Book of Exodus as well as the Shepherd's Psalm and the myths of Adam and Eve and David and Goliath.

"We're going to stop watering down American history. We're going to teach the truth. Our nation was founded as a Christian nation, and Texas is a Christian state," Republican board member Brandon Hall—who is also a youth pastor at Cavalry Baptist Church in Springtown—said during a Thursday press conference in Austin.

That "truth" omits or marginalizes climate change, US imperialism, women's history, the genocide of Indigenous peoples, slavery, and racism.

Evelyn Brooks, the only Republican SBOE member to vote against the required reading list, told CNN on Friday that she believes the board's move is "unconstitutional."

[. . .]

Public schools "exist to educate students with diverse faith backgrounds, as well as those who adhere to no faith doctrine," the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) said Friday. "Public schools are not Sunday schools, and elected officials have no business using state power to elevate one religion above all others. A required reading list that overwhelmingly favors Christian texts while excluding the writings and literary traditions of other faiths, not to mention the perspectives of millions of nonreligious Americans, sends an unmistakable message about who belongs and who does not."

FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor asserted that "a mandatory public school reading list should never function as a Bible lesson."

"Texas is telling millions of children that one religion deserves the government's seal of approval, while everyone else is an afterthought," she added. "That's government-sponsored religious favoritism—and the First Amendment strictly forbids it."

[Continues . . .]

#77

Sports / Re: F1 and Indy Car (mostly F1...

Last post by Recusant - June 26, 2026, 10:24:05 PM

Sports fans can be very enthusiastic in their support. Sometimes it gets ugly.

"Long-Time Sports Reporter Quits After Abuse From Fans" | Daily Beast

Sky Sports Formula 1 reporter Rachel Brookes, 51, is leaving the broadcaster after 14 years, weeks after opening up about the "horrific abuse" she received online following a controversial interview with driver Max Verstappen.

Brookes announced on X that she is leaving Sky U.K. ahead of this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, saying she is moving on to "exciting new ventures" while stressing that Formula 1 "still has my heart."

Her departure comes after she reflected on the online backlash she faced following the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, where she questioned Verstappen about his collision with George Russell.

Speaking on the Road to Success podcast, Brookes recalled the abusive messages she received after asking whether the contact had been deliberate. While fellow broadcasters praised the question, some of Verstappen's supporters accused her of being biased against the Red Bull driver and flooded her social media accounts with hateful comments.

[Continues . . .]

The incident in question was over a year ago. I don't follow F1 really closely but I recall hearing about it, and Verstappen admitted that he'd let his emotions affect his driving. But die-hard fans see things their own way.

#78

Sports / Re: World Cup - 2026

Last post by zorkan - June 25, 2026, 12:27:27 PM

Turns into a scammers' paradise.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scotland-fans-left-devastated-cruel-37343815

I don't suppose greedy FIFA will refund any money to the devastated fans.

#79

Sports / Re: World Cup - 2026

Last post by Recusant - June 25, 2026, 04:11:49 AM

Memo to football USA style.

Dating back to 1866, football has been a game of 90 minutes comprising 2 halves, each lasting 45 minutes.
An American commentator yesterday was heard to say "That's the end of the 3rd quarter."

That's inexcusable. That dolt was being paid (no doubt rather well) and you'd think he'd make an effort to have a grasp of the basics of the sport.


I honestly don't know whether previous World Cups have had the sort of problem described below. From what I gather, the ticket resale market is particularly powerful in North America as opposed to Europe or elsewhere.

Throughout this euphoric, dramatic World Cup series, which has brought domestic and international tourists to North American cities from Vancouver all the way down to Monterrey, there has been one unfortunate motif: fans unable to access the pricey tickets that they purchased in advance, whether through StubHub or SeatGeek or FIFA's official ticketing platform. Many of the aggrieved fans I spoke with had chosen StubHub in particular, as it commands a larger share of the customer-to-customer resale market and represents a chance, at least, to get something cheaper than what FIFA would allow. Or so it seemed, until they finally tried it for themselves and saw their purchases disappear altogether.

[source]

[Abstract:]

#80

Science / Re: Neanderthals in the News

Last post by Recusant - June 25, 2026, 01:06:24 AM

There are still new things being learned about our robust cousins.

"Surprising diversity found among Europe's last Neanderthals" | Phys.org

A new study published in Nature provides the most detailed picture to date of Neanderthal diversity in Western Europe shortly before their extinction.

By analyzing genetic data from 27 Neanderthals from present-day Belgium and France, researchers found that late Neanderthal populations were more genetically connected and diverse than previously thought. The study also found no evidence of recent gene flow from modern humans into these groups and challenges the idea that progressive genetic decline was a major factor in their disappearance.

[Continues . . .]

The paper is open access:

"Genetic diversity of late Neanderthals in northwestern Europe" | Nature

Abstract:

Archaeological, osteological and genetic evidence suggests that Neanderthals lived in small groups; however, less is known about whether these groups were part of isolated communities or belonged to larger, well-connected populations.

The dense concentration of broadly contemporaneous Neanderthal sites in the Meuse Basin, Belgium, provides a rare opportunity to study regional populations at high resolution. Here we generated genetic data from 27 Neanderthals who lived less than approximately 52,500 years ago from ten archaeological sites in Belgium and France, including a high-coverage genome from a 45,000-year-old individual from Goyet, Belgium.

We show that most of these individuals are more closely related to one another than to other contemporaneous late Neanderthals in Europe. Further, some of these individuals carry DNA from a Neanderthal lineage predating the split of late Neanderthals. Although these Neanderthals overlapped temporally with early modern humans in northwestern Europe from around 47,000 years ago, we find no evidence of recent gene flow from modern humans.

They also do not show the genetic signatures of mating among close relatives found in Altai Neanderthals, suggesting that they lived in larger or better-connected groups. Moreover, genetic load did not accumulate over time, arguing against progressive genetic deterioration as a driver of Neanderthal extinction.