he recommends a moderate, selective, and prudent allocation to [WHATEVER]. Always a solid advice. Shows you how much value the guy brings to the discourse.

Iranian Jews. There is such thing as Iranian-Americans but they all live in Los Angeles.

Chess is imposing to the uninitiated. Most casual fans could spend their entire lives studying a library’s worth of chess theory, only to still be routinely humiliated by competitive players. Simply getting started is difficult, too. The basic rules require a decent amount of time to memorize before anyone can make their first moves, a hurdle that has stopped plenty of people from ever trying the game. But what if there was a way to quickly improve your abilities without spending hours hunched over the board? If the mental strain that comes with learning chess isn’t enough, will some actual, physical pain do the trick? That’s what YouTuber Fletcher Heisler, aka Everything Is Hacked, wondered before embarking on the monthsong, tortuous journey of designing, building, and playing a custom chess set capable of delivering a Taser-like shock whenever it detects an error. As recently highlighted by Hackaday, the results are as fascinating as they are sometimes difficult to watch. Link to video

She did it I again. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/veteran-airline-stowaway-arrested-again-newark-milan-flight-rcna260805 Svetlana Dali was taken into custody in Milan after, authorities alleged, she sneaked onto United Flight 19 at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, which departed at about 5:30 p.m. ET Wednesday. Dali made it past ticketing agents, and when the United in-flight crew realized she was aboard without a ticket, the Boeing 777-200 was already over the Atlantic Ocean, according to sources. She pretended she couldn't hear questions from crew members when she was asked whether she had a ticket or was traveling improperly, a source familiar with the matter said.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-us-air-force-pilot-arrested-providing-defense-services-chinese-military Former U.S. Air Force officer and pilot Gerald Eddie Brown, Jr., also known by the call sign “Runner,” 65, a U.S. citizen, was arrested today in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Brown was charged by criminal complaint for providing and conspiring to provide defense services to Chinese military pilots without authorization, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA). Brown is expected to have his initial appearance before a Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Indiana on February 26, 2026. “The United States Air Force trained Major Brown to be an elite fighter pilot and entrusted him with the defense of our Nation. He now stands charged with training Chinese military pilots,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “When U.S. persons – whether military or civilian - provide training to a foreign military, that activity is illegal unless they have a license from the State Department. The National Security Division will use all tools at its disposal to protect our military advantages and hold to account those who would violate the AECA." “Gerald Brown, a former F-35 Lightning II instructor pilot with decades of experience flying U.S. military aircraft, allegedly betrayed his country by training Chinese pilots to fight against those he swore to protect,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “The Chinese government continues to exploit the expertise of current and former members of the U.S. armed forces to modernize China’s military capabilities. This arrest serves as a warning that the FBI and our partners will stop at nothing to hold accountable anyone who collaborates with our adversaries to harm our service members and jeopardize our national security.”

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/48044958/brady-tkachuk-miffed-white-house-ai-doctored-video Brady Tkachuk, the Ottawa Senators captain and a Team USA gold medalist, said he didn't appreciate the AI-doctored video released by the White House that made it appear he was disparaging Canadians. The video, published Sunday by the White House's official TikTok account, featured doctored footage from a Tkachuk brothers' news conference at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February. While "Free Bird," the goal song for Team USA, played in the background of the video, Brady Tkachuk was made to say, "They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating f---s a lesson." The clip, which discloses that it used AI-generated media, has 11.1 million views on TikTok and has been widely viewed on other social media platforms.

More fun between the two countries. https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-pakistan-airstrikes-513791ef82fb8c2e4acce08c2b80c41a Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Kabul and two other Afghan provinces early Friday, Afghanistan’s government spokesperson said, hours after Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan in the latest escalation of violence between the neighboring countries that made a Qatar-mediated ceasefire appear increasingly shaky. At least three explosions were heard in Kabul, but there was no immediate information on the exact location of the strikes in the Afghan capital, or of any potential casualties. Government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistan also carried out airstrikes in Kandahar to the south and in the southeastern province of Paktia. Two senior Pakistani security officials told The Associated Press that Pakistan’s military carried out airstrikes targeting what they described as Afghan military facilities in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia provinces, allegedly destroying two brigade bases, but they didn’t mention any potential casualties. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media on the record.

The republics are running into the same problem the democrats did leading up to the 2024 election, but they have it for the 2026 election. The general perception of the economy is that it is in bad shape and heading in the wrong direction. That is not completely agreed by the data. I think it was @jolly who said that is was the perception that mattered, and he was referring to the status before the 2024 election. Wonder if he still thinks that?

What could go wrong when you have a petulant sore loser with nearly unlimited executive order power combined with his favorite narcissistic false reality topic of a stolen election?

Grok was asked for a one sentence summary, which is a neat trick.

Get out your popcorn. https://x.com/unusual_whales/status/2027153827292705201?s=20 An interesting question is why the DoD doesn't just go with Xai. I guess Claude really is better.

[image: 1772145662235-05576284-1083-427b-b1c4-392ed6a47d80-image.png] A snowmelter if there ever was one.

In a lot of ways, "birds of a feather."

They say alcohol won’t solve your problems. As if water will. At least alcohol tries.

@Doctor-Phibes said in Government bureaucracy at its finest: @Renauda said in Government bureaucracy at its finest: @Doctor-Phibes It’s been all over the news here for the last ten days. A lot of dual Canadian/British citizens affected and right vexed over it. I'd heard about it, but incorrectly assumed that with an ETA we'd be able to make short-term visits. I can understand the rationale if I wanted to live there permanently, but it makes absolutely no sense if we just want to go for a week or two. There are quite a few countries that have this requirement. I think, although I’m not certain, that the US requires it of its dual citizenship holders. I recall a former colleague who was born in New Jersey to a Finnish father and Canadian mother, having to maintain a US passport, so that she could travel without issue to into the US. Her family returned to their home in Finland when she was still an infant so she had no tie to the US other than being born there. She decided enough was enough a dozen or so years ago owing to a treaty between the US and Canada during the Harper years, that enables the IRS to requisition dual citizen holders banking and financial records from Canadian charter banks. She has since legally renounced her US citizenship at great effort; five years or more of sourcing proof of Finnish and Canadian residencies including all school and employment records in Finland and Canada to prove she was at no time an adult US resident or in the US in excess of 180 days in a given year. Legal fees and administrative costs totalled around $12k.

Link to video Symphony No. 1 for Orchestra and Organ, Opus 42 by Felix-Alexandre Guilmant Paul Jacobs played at the local music hall last week. I never heard of Guilmant before.

They squirt white sauce on the noodle and snack?

@Horace said in US Ambassador to France - French Will Not Meet With Him: This is TG’s area of expertise. Indeed, TG and I appear to share a lot in common.