Saturday: Hili dialogue

October 4, 2025 • 6:45 am

Welcome to CaturSaturday; it’s October 4, 2025, shabbos for Jewish cats, and National Cinnamon Bun Day, outstripped only by pie as a sweet breakfast food.  Cinnamon rolls should be served warm with a nice, sugary glaze, plenty of cinnamon and butter inside, and the larger the better. Here’s a description of a good one from AI (my bolding); you can see a photo of this half-ton+ roll here.

The world’s largest cinnamon roll weighed 1,149.7 pounds and was created by Wolferman’s Gourmet Bakery in Medford, Oregon, in April 2018 to set a Guinness World Record. This massive pastry was baked in a custom-made, 6-by-9-foot stainless steel pan and was made from over 800 pounds of dough. It was displayed at the Pear Blossom Festival, where slices were sold, and also sold a limited-edition, five-pound version of the roll to celebrate the achievement.

Here’s the biggest one you can actually eat; this fellow has 75 minutes to polish off this behemoth, which weighs between 11 pounds. Can he finish?

It’s also International Vodka Day, World Animal Day, and National Taco Day.

Here’s a photo contributed by a reader who went to Pinker’s discussion of his new book in Oxford last Wednesday. Note the cowboy boots: these are custom boots made by Lee Miller of Austin, Texas, in my view the best bootmaker in America (I also have a pair of customs from Miller):

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the October 4 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*The government is still shut down: a vote in the Senate failed for the FOURTH time:

The Senate adjourned for the weekend after failing for the fourth time to take up either party’s proposal to reopen the federal government, virtually guaranteeing the shutdown will extend at least until Monday.

Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, said his party would not bow to Democrats’ demands to tie a spending extension to health care concessions. That meant that unless some breakthrough occurred that appeared highly unlikely, the soonest a vote could take place to end the shutdown would be Monday.

The House, for its part, will not return as scheduled next week, Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday. He suggested to reporters that he was not inclined to bring lawmakers back until the Senate had passed the Republican stopgap spending measure.

This means that it will be at least a week from Monday until both houses of Congress pass any compromise bill.  For the present it’s gridlock. And take a gander at the “trolling” part below.

Here’s what else to know:

  • Maximizing pain: President Trump’s strategy is intended to maximize the pain of the shutdown and target political foes. The White House was readying a plan to potentially lay off droves of civil servants. The administration also paused or moved to cancel billions of dollars in approved funds, including more than $7.5 billion in awards terminated by the Energy Department, mostly for projects in states with Democratic governors and senators.

  • Trolling: Speaker Mike Johnson brushed off Mr. Trump’s goal of using the shutdown to hurt to his political opponents. “Are they taking great pleasure in that? No,” Mr. Johnson said of the funding cuts, which have targeted cities run by Democrats. “Is he trolling the Democrats? Yes. I mean, yes, because that’s what President Trump does, and people are having fun with this. But, at the end of the day, the decisions are tough ones.”

  • Workers sue: The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest labor union for federal workers, sued the Trump administration late Friday over blatantly partisan language that it said was inserted without consent in the out-of-office emails of furloughed workers during the government shutdown.

  • Dueling plans: Unlike many past shutdown stalemates, the current fight is not over any policy provision or funding item that Republicans included in their spending plan. Instead, Democrats want Republicans to add more than $1 trillion for health care programs and limits on Mr. Trump’s spending power. Read about the plans ›

The gub’mint still be closed, folks.

*If you lived in Chicago, you’d know that our public-transit system is in a mess.  The various trains, subways, and buses are not part of one central system, much of it (especially the “el”) is in rottten shape, and in much of the system public transport is scarce. But never mind that—if you’re Trump and want to punish our Democratic enclave. The Prez just decided to withhold several billion dollars in transportation aid to Chicago, apparently for no reason other than it’s a Democratic town in a Democratic state.

The Trump administration on Friday froze $2.1 billion in Department of Transportation funding for two projects to improve Chicago’s transit system.

The DOT in a statement blamed Congress’ two Democratic leaders — Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries — for the federal government shutdown, which the department claimed would slow a review of the Chicago projects to ensure they do not involve “unconstitutional practices” related to the race or gender of construction workers.

That statement echoed a Trump administration talking point that Democrats in Congress are refusing to vote for a short-term funding agreement that would reopen the government because they insist on providing health-care benefits for “illegal immigrants.”

Democrats call that claim a lie designed to distract from their goal of continuing the offer of enhanced Affordable Care Act health insurance plan subsidies to more than 20 million Americans.

“At a time when federal agents are sowing chaos in Chicago, the Trump administration is holding bipartisan funding hostage,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a social media post on X after the DOT’s announcement.

“It’s attempting to score political points but is instead hurting our economy and the hardworking people who rely on public transit to get to work or school,” wrote Pritzker, who, like Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, is a Democrat.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought first announced the freeze on the Chicago projects on Friday morning.

. . .Trump said on Thursday that the shutdown had given him an “unprecedented opportunity” to cut what he called “Democrat Agencies.”

Vought on Wednesday revealed that the Department of Transportation was freezing $18 billion in federal funding for two major infrastructure projects in New York City. Both Schumer and Jeffries are from New York City.

Later that same day, Vought said that the Department of Energy had cancelled nearly $8 billion in funding for climate-related projects and other efforts in 16 states, all of which were won by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

In my 6 decades of life when I have been politically aware, I’ve never seen a President punish states in this way, based solely on their political leanings.

*Following a two-month-long trial, musician Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced yesterday after being convicted on for two counts of transportation of women to engage in prostitution (the most serious charges had been dropped)  He faced 11 years in prison, while the prosecution wants a sentence of 14 months, most of it already time served since Diddy was jailed in September of last year. The compromise favored Combs, who was sentenced to 50 months, with 14 of those already served. And he could serve substantially less for good behavior:

Sean “Diddy” Combs received a 50-month federal prison sentence Friday, after a nearly two-month sex abuse and racketeering trial ended in July with the jury clearing him of the most serious charges but convicting him on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

Combs broke down in the Manhattan courtroom as his six adult children pleaded with Judge Arun Subramanian to pass a lenient sentence, arguing that he has transformed into a better person since his arrest in September 2024. Prosecutors wanted Combs imprisoned for more than 11 years, after arguing at trial that he used beatings, blackmail, drugs and his vast influence in the music industry to abuse two girlfriends for years at “freak-off” parties. The defense team said Combs deserves no more than a 14-month sentence, most of which he has already served as he has been jailed during the trial and after his conviction.

“I lost my self-respect,” Combs said earlier in the day, delivering his prepared remarks in slow, halting sentences. “I hate myself right now. I’ve been stripped down to nothing.”

Prosecutors did not call any of their key witnesses from the trial to speak during the sentencing hearing. The best-known alleged victim, the singer and actress Cassie Ventura, pleaded for a long sentence in a letter sent to the court this week: “I am so scared that if he walks free, his first actions will be swift retribution towards me and others who spoke up about his abuse at trial.”

*Sadly, this week’s news-and-snark report in the Free Press is not by Nellie Bowles, but by Will Rahn, who says that Nellie is in Saudi Arabia at the Riyadh Comedy Festival (yes! It’s real!). Whether Nellie is actually there is a matter of some doubt, but I’ll accept it. At any rate, Rahn’s column is called “TGIF: Shut it down,” and I’ll steal a few items from it.

→ Why did the government shut down?: The federal government ran out of money just after midnight on Wednesday, after Democrats refused to agree to a stopgap funding measure that would allow budget negotiations to continue for seven more weeks. Yes, that’s right. I understand how government shutdowns work, thank you very much.

The stated goal of the top Democrats in Congress—Hakeem Jeffries in the House and Chuck Schumer in the Senate—is to use the shutdown to force Republicans to extend healthcare subsidies and roll back Medicaid cuts included in the “big, beautiful” GOP budget bill signed into law earlier this year. But how a shutdown will do that is unclear, particularly if voters ultimately blame Democrats for the disruption.

Historically speaking, government shutdowns are political stunts that never really deliver for the party demanding them. In 2013, for example, Texas GOP senator Ted Cruz led a Republican effort to shut down the government because he wanted Obamacare defunded. Those were the Tea Party days, if you remember that cute little movement that had everyone clutching their pearls at the time. Anyway, the 2013 shutdown didn’t work. Trump’s first term featured two significant shutdowns that were also ineffectual.

So why is this happening? Here’s how Jared Golden, a centrist House Democrat from Maine, put it: “This government shutdown is the result of hardball politics driven by the demands far-left groups are making for Democratic Party leaders to put on a show of their opposition to President Trump.”

That sounds about right.

→ Harvard hires Professor LaWhore Vagistan: I make fun of Hegseth for his anti-woke theatrics and then the New York Post drops a headline like this. Now, I’m not in any position to judge LaWhore Vagistan, the drag name for someone otherwise known as Kareem Khubchandani. Perhaps LaWhore Vagistan is an above-average professor. But if there are any kids reading this, please understand that college is a waste of time and money. You can watch LaWhore Vagistan at home for free. Or here’s a radical idea: Don’t do that either. You just live in a world without LaWhore Vagistan educating you, except of course on the 1912 Treaty at Slutsville between Sir McPenis Tartan and Eileen Dover.

Also, nobody likes Harvard graduates, and Boston sucks. And I say that as someone who probably has dozens of marriageable cousins scattered about that blighted city’s various Irish ghettos.

Notice that LaWhore is a “visiting professor” at Harvard, hired to teach in the Gender Studies and Sexuality Program. Normally Vagistan is a “Tufts University associate professor of theater, dance, and performance studies [who] has authored the books ‘Decolonizer Drag’ and Ishstyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife’ and is debuting his newest tome this fall — ‘Lessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties’.” Have a look at the pictures, and ponder what the hell Harvard is doing.

→ Speaking of AI videos: Meta and OpenAI have both announced tools that will apparently allow users to mimic the kind of special effects we normally associate with Hollywood blockbusters. Here’s OpenAI CEO Sam Altman introducing his. Here’s Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg introducing his. And here’s a deepfake video, apparently created with OpenAI’s software, of Altman getting caught shoplifting.

Optimists will see this and think that we’re entering a world where anyone can be a filmmaker. Pessimists like me will think we’re entering a world where anyone can be a filmmaker. (Have you met filmmakers?) Trump’s dumb AI videos of Jeffries were called “deepfakes” by some outlets, but I don’t think anyone is going to watch them and think that Jeffries was actually surrounded by a mariachi band of Trump clones with mustaches.

This new super-realistic AI, on the other hand, seems ripe for mischief.

My inner libertarian doesn’t like the idea of regulating an industry out of existence. But my even deeper inner film bro instinctively wants to protect film jobs from AI. My deepest self, that of a wise and caring young father, just wants everyone to get off their phones and enjoy the real life spectacle around us. The thing is, regulation probably wouldn’t even be possible here. As we’re constantly reminded, if we don’t make insane AI products, the Chinese will take over the world with their insane AI products.

Sadly, Nellic could have done much better, and I hope she’s back next week.

*Trump has given Hamas a Sunday deadline for Hamas to agree to a peace deal apparently proposed by both Israel and the U.S.  Otherwise, yes, “ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE.” I’ve outlined the main points of the plan before, but they’re reprised in this WSJ article:

For months, President Trump warned Hamas that it had to release all remaining hostages or face Israel’s wrath. On Monday, he issued an ominous message: Agree to a 20-point peace plan for Gaza, or suffer complete annihilation.

In effect, Trump threatened the prospect of more war in order to end nearly two years of fighting.

If Hamas doesn’t accept, or the plan falls apart, “Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas,” Trump said.

The move ranks among the riskiest diplomatic gambles for Trump, which he delivered alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House to show that at least one warring party agreed to his peace vision. If Hamas doesn’t support the proposal, then the U.S. would back Israel as it targeted the U.S.-designated terrorist group in its last remaining strongholds.

“Israel will finish the job by itself,” Netanyahu said during a joint statement following a meeting between both leaders. “This can be done the easy way, or it can be done the hard way, but it has to be done.”

Trump’s peace plan, if adopted, would see the president chair a “Board of Peace” to oversee the interim governance of Gaza. Aid would flow into the enclave and an Arab-led stabilization force would swiftly keep order. Israeli forces would, over time, withdraw from the battlefield while maintaining a security buffer zone around Gaza. And Hamas would lay down its arms while forever renouncing its leadership role.

In response to the Trump plan, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar and Egypt said they supported the U.S. efforts and called for full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, as well as for the enclave’s reconstruction. They said they would work with the U.S. to end the war and called for the renewal of peace negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state.

This sounds like a pretty good deal to me, and will end the carnage of the war, but it’s not close to a done deal:

To the world, Hamas said it has accepted major parts of President Trump’s peace plan. Internally, Hamas remains bitterly divided over how to proceed.

On Friday, the U.S.-designated terrorist group said it was willing to release hostages and hand over Gaza, a landmark statement boosting Trump’s push for an end to the war. But Hamas used hedged language that some observers saw as problematic to clinching a final peace.

A big reason is that Hamas hasn’t reached consensus about disarming and under what conditions to let the hostages go, said Arab officials from countries mediating with Hamas. Those are the two most important demands in Trump’s plan.

Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’s top negotiator, and several other senior political officials support accepting the proposal despite significant reservations, Arab mediators said. But those Hamas officials, based outside Gaza, have limited sway over the group’s armed wing, which remains in the enclave.

The problem is that Hamas will still be armed (earlier they said they’d give up all but “defensive” weapons), and it says it doesn’t know where some of the Israeli hostages are (give me a break!: it could easily find them if they’re in the hands of other people or organizations), the question of what a “defense weapon” is is problematic, and, above all, Hamas should play no role in forming or running the “day after” government.  Neither side is close to being ready for the vaunted “two-state solution,” so that should be off the table for now.

All in all, given Hamas’s hegemony over Gaza for the past 18 years and its funneling aid to build and maintain its tunnels, I’m not optimistic. (BTW, there shuld be a provision for destroying the tunnels, too). Hamas wants to run Gaza, and doesn’t want the Palestinian Authority to be in charge (most Gazas favor Hamas far more than the PA).  We’ll know by Sunday, unless, as happens so often, Trump’s “deadlines” are symbolic. (Remember how he said the war in Ukraine would be over on “Day 1 of my Administration.”)

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, the furred and furless share a joke (Hili detests cold weather).

Hili: Where did summer go?
Andrzej: To Australia.

In Polish:

Hili: Dokąd poszło lato?
Ja: do Australii.

*******************

All cat memes today. Here’s from Cats That Have Had Enough of Your Shit:

From CinEmma:

From Meow:

From Titania!  And no, transwomen cannot acquire a cervix, even via surgery (remember that Titania is a satirical character):

Re my post on Pinker’s semi-cancellation:

Gervais has a point here; I spent some time in Prague right after it opened up and it was gorgeous.  But I think it’s second to Paris (and I haven’t been to Budapest but hear it’s lovely).

This longish but eloquent lament for Britain’s treatment of the Jews was posted by author, historian, and t.v. presenter Simon Sebag Montefiore.

From my feed. LOOK AT THIS BIRD!

From Malcolm. For crying out loud, you don’t use geezers for a demonstration like this!

One I reposted from the Auschwitz Memorial:

This Hungarian Jewish boy was gassed as soon as he arrived in Auschwitz. He was one year old. Had he lived, he'd be 83 today.

— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2025-10-04T10:23:23.926Z

Two posts from Herr Doktor Professor Cobb: The first one is similar to yesterday’s post, and it HAS happened more than once, but with a different bird. Identification dead easy!

This only happens to you once

— Edward Elderman (@elderman.bsky.social) 2025-09-26T19:39:23.513Z

And this is quite striking:

The same thing happened in another patient following stimulation to the same location (in a different case study). She too was OK after the stimulation stopped.The fact that these complex emotional reactions can be triggered by stimulation is remarkable. http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1…

— Nicole Rust (@nicolecrust.bsky.social) 2025-10-02T20:12:08.723Z

52 thoughts on “Saturday: Hili dialogue”

  1. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
    Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over time, gain in political significance. -Vaclav Havel, writer, Czech Republic president (5 Oct 1936-2011)

  2. I loved the reader-added context below the Harpy Eagle tweet! I see the largest birds have weighed 27lb and can have a wingspan up to 88″.

  3. Yes, Niagara Falls was impressive, but a lasting memory of that trip is my discovery of cinnamon rolls. A cafe near our hotel made them, and we had one every day.

    I traced a US friends’ Scottish relatives after her mum was abandoned as a child. She was desperate to reward me, but I just joked that she could buy me a cinnamon roll. Later, a mysterious box arrived from the USA. It was a box of 8 giant cinnamon rolls that she had ordered from a cafe to be made freshly right before she boxed them up and express delivered them to me. Fortunately they froze beautifully.

    Some places here sell what they call cinnamon rolls, but they are not a patch on the ones in North America.

    1. Wasn’t it Oscar Wilde who said that Niagara Falls was the second greatest disappointment of the new American bride?

      1. 😂😂

        I did love the Falls. We flew over them, sailed up to them and walked behind them. I’d quite like to see them all iced up, but I’m not sure I could handle the cold.

        1. That’s what I was told after my underwhelming experience from the American side. After Canada becomes the 51st state, I shall go over to take a look. It’ll be stateside then.

  4. Yeah, I saw the harpy eagle clip too and first thought was what the WEIT-RWP readers thought, and second that it seemed legit / not AI / not from The Muppet Show (Sam the Eagle)! 😃

    1. … hang on … no, that’s a completely different one… X is issuing a note on it .. hmmm…

    2. There is no such thing as a Black Harpy Eagle, though I guess there could be melanistic normal Harpy Eagles. Harpies also have yellow skin between beak and eye, though again I suppose there could be melanistic skin. The scale is also off, and when the person’s head leans against the “bird”, his hat does not move.

      This is real though
      https://www.facebook.com/FundacionAguilasdeLosAndes/videos/black-and-chestnut-eagle-spizaetus-isidori-endangered-specie-remembering-atilas-/535409204299080/

      We have this same eagle in our reserves and we study their nesting behavior (photo courtesy Roger Ahlman).
      https://ecomingafoundation.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/157804947-dnt3whz3-blackandchestnuteagle4.jpg

      2. And the real one is smaller. Sigh I had a feeling it was AI but couldn’t put my finger on why. All too common, unfortunately.

        1. Yes, though it still looks huge when flying. It (and the Harpy as well) in flight remind me of how a giant battleship looks as it cruises by, huge and majestic, giving the illusion that it is moving slowly and sedately, when in fact it is going pretty fast but our brains can’t handle the size of the thing.

  5. I’ve spent a lot of time in Paris, Prague and especially Budapest. (Not long after the fall of the Berlin Wall, I was sent to work in Budapest where my telecoms company wanted to revamp an old JV. My job was to explore new business opportunities now that the region was opening up. I also found myself caught up in lots of political intrigue, being courted by local business people, government officials and even prominent political figures visiting from other countries who wanted in on the action. It still boggles my mind that my employer sent a relatively inexperienced youngster into that fray. But I had a great time over the year I was there.) Anyway, re Prague, its central area is indeed beautiful, but once you get out of that immediate touristy area, then it’s all Soviet-style housing blocks. Or at least it was in the early 90s. Budapest, on the other hand, was more like a smaller Paris, with interesting & beautiful neighborhoods/restaurants/cafes, etc., all over the place, not just in the well-known center of town. To me it’s a close second to Paris, but way ahead of Prague.

    1. Overall, I thought Budapest was much nicer than Prague when I visited both for a few days two years ago. Be sure to visit the Gellert Baths if in Budapest.

  6. Comment by Greg Mayer

    The eagle video is, as noted in Jerry’s OP, AI. It comes from an Indonesian AI enthusiast called Dio David, who dubs himself the “Maharajah of AI”. He devotes his Facebook page to his creations, many involving large birds, both real and imaginary species. The eagle in this one is imaginary (besides being too large); harpy eagles are not all black.

    This is one of his better (i.e. more realistic) productions, the eagle generally well-rendered, and not obviously a composite of other birds (such as his “King Royal Flycatcher“).

    GCM

    1. Yes, thanks for confirming that it is AI and not just playing with wide-angle lenses to get fake perspective. As I mentioned above, however, there is a very similar eagle (Spizaetus isidori) in our reserves.which is big enough to carry large monkeys through the air. Truly a magnificent bird. Who needs AI?

    3. I do some scrolling thru Facebook sites, mostly related to photography. The number of AI generated images is bugging the hell out of me. What I mainly object to is when the creator wants the public to believe that such fantasies are real, just to get clicks. And the worst ones are those who steal real pictures from professional photographers, create realistic fantasies from those, and post them. That seems to by-pass copyright laws.

  7. I say three cheers for International Vokda Day. Regretfully I cannot celebrate the day since I’m on medication that does not mix well with significant amounts of ethyl alcohol.

    Here is what the word “vodka” actually means. I know Russian and I think it works the same in other Slavic languages. The Russian word for water is вода (vodá). The suffix ка is a diminutive that is put at end of a word to indicate affection. Thus if I had sweet feelings for a girl named Tanya I would call her “Tanyachka” and she might call me “Mishka” rather than “Misha”. Thus водка (vódka) means water that you love.

    2. Yes, didn’t know you were a fellow Russian language enthusiast Mr. Cole.
      I studied it at uni for one year in 1989 and kept it up faaairly diligently. It is an excellent language, VERY good for swearing. I’ve never been to Russia, sadly.

      I’ll have that vodka on your account, until we can have one in person.

      spacibo,
      D.A.
      NYC

    3. As a Russian, I can say it’s a bit more complicated than that. For example, the short form of my name is Anya, and Anechka is indeed a diminutive and affectionate form. But you could also say Anka, which sounds less affectionate, and depending on the context, it can even feel slightly derogatory.

      1. Yes. I had a good friend Stepan. He utterly despised being called Styopka. He said the diminutive doesn’t work there.

  8. Re: the lawsuit re: partisan language imposed into federal workers’ automatic email replies and on department websites: the same thing in a recent Veterans Administration email to veterans:

    “President Trump opposes a lapse in appropriations, and on September 19, the House of Representatives passed, with the Trump Administration’s support, a clean continuing resolution to fund the government through November 21. Unfortunately, Democrats are blocking this Continuing Resolution in the U.S. Senate due to unrelated policy demands.”

      1. Jesus Tap-dancing Christ! He has a lock on this year’s Dunning–Kruger Award. Are you sure this isn’t a spoof??

  10. I took a look on eXtwitter for the Harpy Eagle clip I saw before, and in the process saw a few with the guy in this one. E.g. one is in a cold snowy environment. Those specific ones are being ‘noted’ as artificial. There are links to websites that give harpy eagle (a real animal) background.

  11. It’s one thing for Tufts or Harvard to hire Kareem Khubchandani to study and teach about “queer nightlife, global politics, ethnography, South Asian diaspora, and drag.” Whatever. But one doesn’t have to become LaWhore Vagistan to do that research, just like my colleagues don’t have to become nematodes or salmon or bumblebees in their own research.

    And why is it always some kind of misogynistic anatomical stage name? I bet none of his female colleagues teach and publish as, e.g., Dr. Rapey McPenistown. It’s only misogny that’s performed by these folx. wtf?

      1. I guess it’s “harmful” to embody toxic masculinity, but it’s somehow “empowering” to embody oppressed misogyny. Someone tell me if I’m doing it right?

  13. Will Hamas accept the agreement? As usual, they are teasing acceptance and buying time. They’re pretty well boxed in, given the many Arab states that favor acceptance, but Hamas thinks that they may still have more runway. So long as there’s more hate of Israel that can be squeezed out of the world community—which might score them more concessions—Hamas will keep everyone in limbo. I think we are nearing the end. Either Hamas will accept some version of this agreement, or Israel will finish them off. I am hoping for the former, as the former might bring back some of the hostages, but I am prepared for the latter.

    1. No, true, “she” said it.
      S/he said her ancestry is from Lahore, and it is a “very diverse place” – which is kinda true but not sexually diverse I’d argue. It is ethnically diverse so in indentitarian bingo that’s a win.

      She’s quite hilarious but if you think her “employment” there is anything but an epic (and clever) troll.. I got a bridge to sell you … in Lahore!
      cheers,

      D.A.
      NYC
      https://x.com/DavidandersonJd

  15. ““two-state solution,” so that should be off the table for now.”

    For now indeed.
    But … only for as long as Islam, Third Worldism, Socialism, the UN, UNWRA, “Palestinian” nationalism it all its genocidal murderous glory, and gullible useful idiots from amongst other places (embarassingly) Australia.

    When all these are solved, probably at about the time of the heat death of the universe… sure, bring on “Fwee Pawethine”. Can’t wait.

    D.A.
    NYC
    for more… witnesseth: https://x.com/DavidandersonJd

    ps Love PCC(E) and Pinker’s boots and would like to be one of the cool kids with them but I take Puppers downstairs several times a day and on-ing and offing them seems like a chore! Suppose I could get them for special occasions?

  16. The deep brain stimulation stuff is interesting and I’ve been following that field, in an amateur manner, for a long time. It is not a scam (like so much is).

    I think together with psychedelics there is a lot more we can be doing with many patients previously thought unfixable. Even “bots” doing therapy has many plusses.

    I wrote about the psychedelics in my column, syndicated, a few years ago:
    https://themoderatevoice.com/worlds-first-psychedelics-research-center-for-depression-addiction-and-anorexia/

    Incredible. “These are the days of miracle and wonder” (Paul Simon, 1985)
    D.A.
    NYC

  18. The brain stimulation probing is not new of course, IIRC Micheal Shermer recounts some experiments in one of his books. Music is an example, it can change your mood immediately.
    To me on some vague perception as I don’t have the clinical knowledge etc., on just how it works, points to confirming the ‘no free will’ aspect of our being.
    It’s biology all the way down and an uncritical, unconstrained illusion all the way up.

    A little off the subject but the “rat park” experiment came to mind for some reason.
    https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/what-does-rat-park-teach-us-about-addiction

    1. Not a problem; currently no-one has much knowledge about just how it works, only that it does. We’re basically in the beetle-collecting observational stage of understanding how a mind emerges from a brain.

  19. Re geezers on a lever (which rhymes, in Brit English) — as Archi said about the power of levers, “Give me a place to stand, and I will hope I don’t fall off”, or something like that.

  20. “In response to the Trump plan, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar and Egypt said they supported the U.S. efforts and called for full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, as well as for the enclave’s reconstruction. They said they would work with the U.S. to end the war and called for the renewal of peace negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state.”

    I was more than slightly surprised by this.

      1. Seriously, yes; but only if the deal succeeds (which, IMO, ain’t gonna happen). I’ll even applaud it. The Hamas fighters will not suddenly decide that God isn’t really on their side in this Holy War after all, and disarm and go into comfortable exile. Martyrdom is a much more attractive career option.

        (I will be absolutely delighted to be proven incorrect.)

        “If God be for us, who can be against us?”¹; and a bonus 72 virgins, each night, forever.

        . . . . .
        ¹ Yes I know, wrong Abrahamic delusion. But I can’t be bothered to search the Quran.

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