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Handmade gifts are extra special when
they're for someone extra special.
Is your best gal Irish? She'd love these...
Click on the picture for more information on what's available today.
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Sunday, March 22, 2026
Saturday, March 21, 2026
Maybe one of the sickest cartoons I've ever seen...
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Click on the package for ordering information
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Where do the stars go when they go away?
The star, known as M31-2014-DS1, didn’t erupt in a spectacular supernova. There was no brilliant explosion lighting up space. Instead, its core appears to have quietly collapsed under its own gravity, forming a black hole directly. By combining new telescope observations with more than a decade of archived data, a research team led by Kishalay De at the Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute reconstructed the most detailed timeline yet of a star undergoing this silent transformation.
The pattern was remarkable. Around 2014, the star brightened in infrared wavelengths. By 2016, its visible brightness had dropped sharply. By 2023, it had dimmed to just one ten-thousandth of its original optical luminosity — effectively vanishing. Yet in the mid-infrared, a faint glow remains, coming from dust expelled from the star’s outer layers rather than consumed entirely.
Internal convection appears to have given the outer material enough angular momentum to orbit the newly formed black hole instead of plunging straight inward, allowing it to feed slowly over decades rather than in a sudden burst.
Only about 1% of the outer envelope ultimately fell into the black hole. And this wasn’t a one-off event - a previous case, NGC 6946-BH1, showed the same behavior. Some of the universe’s most massive stars don’t explode when they die. They simply fade away into darkness.
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You can find great gift ideas for her - and
you don't need a reason to buy one...
Click on the picture for more information on what's online today.
They're all simple, yet elegant - and come to you with free shipping!
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Planning on flying soon? Here's a couple ideas that might help...
Checking live wait times and using special programs intended to let passengers bypass the lines are key hacks, even with the delays which have plagued American airports since Feb. 14, when federal funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA, ran out.
Wait times for security checkpoints are posted on the TSA’s MyTSA app, but travel experts warn the data may be outdated during the shutdown. “Do not trust the TSA wait times right now, because the apps and websites are not updated regularly,” said Clint Henderson, a managing editor at the online travel website the Points Guy.Instead, check the real-time data on the airport’s website or app to get to the correct info.
Some other ideas?
- Finding another checkpoint with a shorter line. Passengers aren’t obligated to use the one closest to their gates.
- Use TSA PreCheck Touchless ID, a program that allows those who are enrolled to stop a moment for a face scan, then keep going toward X-ray machines. The downside? It’s only available from some airlines, including Alaska, American, Delta, Southwest and United.
- Another option is to join the $209 a year Clear+, the biometric security program that operates in 60 airports and lets travelers to jump to the front of the line and bypass the government’s ID-check step.
- The CLEAR APP also launched a “Know When to Leave” tool.
The Brits love 'The Old West'? Who knew?
Members dress in authentic clothing, adopt historical personas, and recreate everything from poker nights to staged shootouts, giving visitors a surprisingly immersive glimpse into the mythology of the American West.
What makes Laredo fascinating is how it reflects Britain’s long‑standing cultural fascination with the Wild West, which dates back to the 19th century when Buffalo Bill’s touring shows captivated European audiences.
Instead of being a tourist attraction, Laredo is a private passion project, built, maintained, and performed entirely by volunteers who gather every other weekend to “live” in the Old West for a few days. It’s a blend of craftsmanship, historical curiosity, and pure escapism, showing how powerful and enduring the frontier myth remains even thousands of miles from the real American West.
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Click on the picture for details.
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We tend to forget that WWII was also fought on North American soil...
A Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina Flying Boat of Patrol Squadron
VP-61 in flight during a patrol in the Aleutians.
March 1943 - VP-61 was based at Otter Point Naval Air Facility, Umnak Island, Alaska (USA), at that time. In the Battle of the Aleutian Islands (June 1942-August 1943) during World War II (1939-45), U.S. troops fought to remove Japanese garrisons established on a pair of U.S.-owned islands west of Alaska. In June 1942, Japan had seized the remote, sparsely inhabited islands of Attu and Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands.
It was the only U.S. soil Japan would claim during the war in the Pacific. The maneuver was possibly designed to divert U.S. forces during Japan’s attack on Midway Island (June 4-7, 1942) in the central Pacific. It’s also possible the Japanese believed holding the two islands could prevent the U.S. from invading Japan via the Aleutians. Either way, the Japanese occupation was a blow to American morale.
In May 1943, U.S. troops retook Attu and three months later reclaimed Kiska, and in the process gained experience that helped them prepare for the long “island-hopping” battles to come as World War II raged across the Pacific Ocean.
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This blog is supported by the meager commissions I get when you buy stuff
on Amazon going through a link you see here. It doesn't matter if you buy what
is promoted, or something else - it's all still credited to the blog. I am ever so
greatful when you guys do it, because that little I do make from Amazon is still
a big help now that I'm no longer working.
Long and short of it? If you're ever going to Amazon, do me a solid - come to
the blog first and use one of my links. Your help is greatly appreciated. Seriously...
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No this is my kinda HillBetty...
All of these HillBettys you see here come to us as a courtesy from
our friend at Twisted Hillbilly on Facebook. You should follow them
for all of the stuff he posts - not just the babes.
Just click on his banner to see his page.
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In light of what's happening all around us lately, you
might want to get one for your wife or daughter...
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How's that whole 'I hate Elon' thing working for you?
Elon Musk has offered to pay the salaries of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers during the ongoing partial government shutdown that is causing travel chaos nationwide. Wait times to pass security have stretched to more than two hours in some airports around the US after TSA workers’ pay was stopped, causing staffing shortages.
At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest in the world, lines reached up to 125 minutes on Saturday morning. In Houston, George Bush Intercontinental Airport saw delays of up to 150 minutes, while New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport topped 30 minutes.
TSA officers make about $50,000 per year on average, according to The New York Times. Musk, the richest man in the world, is valued at $814.3 billion. The partial government shutdown stems from a congressional deadlock over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees TSA.
As of Saturday morning, at least 1,350 delays and 80 cancelations had been reported across the country, according to FlightAware.
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Are you middle class - or maybe no class at all, like me...
The minimum income needed to be middle class ranges from $39.4K in Mississippi to $69.9K in Massachusetts. Northeastern and coastal states generally have the highest middle-class entry points. In much of the South, households can enter the middle-income range at under $45K.
What does it take to be considered middle class in the United States today?
The answer varies widely depending on where you live. The map above shows the minimum income required to qualify as middle class in each U.S. state, based on the lower bound of middle-income households. The data comes from SmartAsset, using U.S. Census Bureau median income figures and Pew Research Center’s definition of middle income as two-thirds to double the median household income.
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Birthday or Anniversary coming up?
Here's a great idea for a gift for her
Click on the picture for more information on this bracelet.
It's simple yet elegant - and comes to you with free shipping!
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The Garden State has gone full-blown California - or maybe Oregon?
Trenton, NJ – A newly introduced bill in the New Jersey Assembly would require firearm manufacturers to obtain a state-issued license and pay annual fees tied to the public health costs of gun violence, with proceeds directed to compensate victims. The proposal, known as the “Responsibility in Firearms Sales Act,” outlines a new regulatory structure affecting manufacturers, retailers, and compensation programs statewide.
The Bill would require firearm manufacturers to obtain annual state licenses to sell in New Jersey. Fees could total hundreds of millions statewide, based on gun violence-related costs. Revenue would fund compensation for victims of firearm injuries and deaths
The legislation, sponsored by Assemblywoman Ellen J. Park, would prohibit firearm manufacturers from selling or distributing products in New Jersey without a valid license issued by the Superintendent of State Police. Retail dealers would also be barred from selling firearms unless the manufacturer is properly licensed.
Just so you know, this is New Jersey's new Governor:
NJ Governor Sherrill wears hijab for Eid (whatever the fuck
that is). NJ doesn’t look anything like I remember…
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I've been wearing the LEE X MOVE jeans for a few
years now - Great fit, stretch waist, very comfortable.
Great prices here. Much better than department store prices.
Click on the banner ad - see for yourself.
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Tell me again how much they care about our miscomfort...
These motherfuckers don't even care enough about us to show up at their own jobs. Only 84 senators showed up for the fifth attempted vote to reopen DHS, which failed to clear a 60-vote threshold or even a simple majority - and fell largely along party lines.
Forty-six Republicans and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted to fund DHS, while 37 Democrats led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) opposed its reopening in protest of President Trump’s immigration agenda.
But guess what - when they go to the airport, they walk right through. They don't have to deal lwith the long lines and the bullshit. They're 'priviliged' people who get special treatment. Can ya blame 'em for not giving a fuck about you? Every single person who's stood in a three or four hour l;ine should remember that in November. But I'm sure they won't...
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California voters are resoundingly rejecting former Vice President Kamala Harris as a possible 2028 presidential contender - while Gov. Gavin Newsom faces an uphill battle, according to a new poll.
Harris trailed behind Newsom, as well as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, with just 9% of voters in her home state saying she would be their first choice for the Democratic nominee
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The top 10 unwritten rules of the Jersey Shore
1. The beach has enough room for everyone. Your tent does not. A reasonable umbrella and some chairs. That's all anyone needs. Blocking an entire family's ocean view with a canvas structure the size of a basecamp is not a beach setup. It's a land grab.
2. The boardwalk is not your personal obstacle course. Walk right, pass left, and keep moving. Standing five-wide with your group in the middle of a crowded boardwalk is not relaxing. It's a traffic jam with funnel cake.
3. Know where your teenagers are at night. This one is not negotiable. Shore towns are not babysitters. When teenagers run loose on a boardwalk at midnight without any adult in the zip code who knows where they are, it stops being a family vacation and starts being everyone else's problem.
4. Driving drunk at the shore is still driving drunk. The ocean air does not metabolize alcohol faster. Leave the car alone.
5. Clean up your spot before you leave the beach. The sand is not a trash can. It never was. It never will be.
6. The locals live here all year. Respect their neighborhoods. The rental house is temporary. The neighbors are permanent. Act accordingly after 10 p.m.
7. Beach tags exist. Buy them without the speech. The person selling you the beach tag did not set the price. They're just doing their job on a hot day in the sand.
8. Your music is not everyone's music. Bluetooth speakers are a privilege, not a right. If the family ten feet away can hear every word of your playlist, it's too loud.
9. The water is shared. Surfers, swimmers, kids on boogie boards. Everyone has a right to be out there. No one owns a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean.
10. Leave it the way you found it. This is the whole list, really, condensed into one rule. The shore is not just your vacation spot. It is someone's home, someone's livelihood, and for a lot of us, the place that shaped everything we love about summer in New Jersey.
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Birthday or Anniversary coming up?
Here's a great idea for a gift for her
Click on the picture for more information on this bracelet.
It's simple yet elegant - and comes to you with free shipping!
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Click on the package for ordering information
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The real 'soap box derby'...
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