Martin The Mess aka Big Brother
@martinthemess.bsky.social
Science Fiction, Science Fact, History and Alternate History, Humor and Political Philosophy. Always Watching. Formerly @Back2Babylon5 on that other place with the Musky odor.
Why is there a turkey behind them in the pic? I know it's American Thanksgiving Week, but still.
November 26, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Why is there a turkey behind them in the pic? I know it's American Thanksgiving Week, but still.
Over on this side of the pond, the plan tonight is for Sirloin Steaks and Baked Potatoes, Boiled Baby Carrots and Parsnips, a House Salad, Cantaloupe wedges, Dinner Rolls, and Ice Cream for dessert. Mint Chocolate Fudge or Chocolate Vanilla Fudge flavors available.
November 25, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Over on this side of the pond, the plan tonight is for Sirloin Steaks and Baked Potatoes, Boiled Baby Carrots and Parsnips, a House Salad, Cantaloupe wedges, Dinner Rolls, and Ice Cream for dessert. Mint Chocolate Fudge or Chocolate Vanilla Fudge flavors available.
Lithium's not particularly rare on the planet. Now we just need to figure out how cheaply and easily it can be extracted there; what sort of infrastructure you need to build to extract, refine, and transport the lithium; and how to minimize the environmental damage caused along the way.
November 25, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Lithium's not particularly rare on the planet. Now we just need to figure out how cheaply and easily it can be extracted there; what sort of infrastructure you need to build to extract, refine, and transport the lithium; and how to minimize the environmental damage caused along the way.
I'd recommend he start on something simpler, like unclogging chicken-soup nozzles in the replimat.
November 25, 2025 at 10:57 AM
I'd recommend he start on something simpler, like unclogging chicken-soup nozzles in the replimat.
Reminds me of this old meme.
November 25, 2025 at 6:06 AM
Reminds me of this old meme.
It was a mid-60s show coming out as Color TV's started to become affordable and popular, they were showing off the new technology and encouraging those still using black-and-white TV's to upgrade (and thus presumably spend even more time watching TV now that it looks cooler). See the Batman TV show.
November 25, 2025 at 5:43 AM
It was a mid-60s show coming out as Color TV's started to become affordable and popular, they were showing off the new technology and encouraging those still using black-and-white TV's to upgrade (and thus presumably spend even more time watching TV now that it looks cooler). See the Batman TV show.
Okay, Water Polo being a major spectator sport in the Archer's Enterprise era was silly enough, Curling being interplanetarily popular rather than a niche sport in basically Scotland and Canada and almost nowhere else, is even sillier. Not saying it ain't a cool sport, it is, but it's no pickleball.
November 25, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Okay, Water Polo being a major spectator sport in the Archer's Enterprise era was silly enough, Curling being interplanetarily popular rather than a niche sport in basically Scotland and Canada and almost nowhere else, is even sillier. Not saying it ain't a cool sport, it is, but it's no pickleball.
Only if married her, or boinked her in a very narrow timeframe.
November 25, 2025 at 5:38 AM
Only if married her, or boinked her in a very narrow timeframe.
Freejack. Emilio Estevez is a 90s race car driver, kidnapped into the future mid-fatal-crash, and Mick Jagger is the mercenary hunting him down so his young and healthy body can be implanted with the mind of dying tycoon Anthony Hopkins. Better than it has any right to be.
a person is holding a laptop with a picture of a smiling man on the screen
Alt: Mick Jagger clowns around on a video call via laptop, taunting Emilio Estevez in the middle of a life-and-death car chase.
media.tenor.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Freejack. Emilio Estevez is a 90s race car driver, kidnapped into the future mid-fatal-crash, and Mick Jagger is the mercenary hunting him down so his young and healthy body can be implanted with the mind of dying tycoon Anthony Hopkins. Better than it has any right to be.
What manufacturing we do have, gets a lot of their parts from overseas. And they're now subject to tariffs. Or they are high-tech stuff that does a decent export trade, which is now subject to reciprocal tariffs. Or both.
November 25, 2025 at 5:20 AM
What manufacturing we do have, gets a lot of their parts from overseas. And they're now subject to tariffs. Or they are high-tech stuff that does a decent export trade, which is now subject to reciprocal tariffs. Or both.
They're training an AI on datasets from all US-funded research? Five minutes later it spits out: "Climate Change is real and caused by burning fossil fuels, Vaccines work and do not cause autism, neither does Tylenol, and anyone with access to this data who says otherwise is lying."
Can't wait.
Can't wait.
November 25, 2025 at 1:18 AM
They're training an AI on datasets from all US-funded research? Five minutes later it spits out: "Climate Change is real and caused by burning fossil fuels, Vaccines work and do not cause autism, neither does Tylenol, and anyone with access to this data who says otherwise is lying."
Can't wait.
Can't wait.
Yep. I read somewhere once that something like a third of all French anti-tank guns were inoperable due to sabotage by either Nazi Sympathizers in the French army, or Communist Sympathizers under orders from Stalin to help his Nazi allies crush the Capitalist Imperialists.
November 24, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Yep. I read somewhere once that something like a third of all French anti-tank guns were inoperable due to sabotage by either Nazi Sympathizers in the French army, or Communist Sympathizers under orders from Stalin to help his Nazi allies crush the Capitalist Imperialists.
I've had grits exactly once. While in the hospital recovering from an appendectomy. Dunno if it was just the fact that it was Hospital Food or all grits are just awful, but I didn't like them one bit. Most Hospital Food I've had since then was actually pretty good, so it was probably the Grits.
November 24, 2025 at 12:58 PM
I've had grits exactly once. While in the hospital recovering from an appendectomy. Dunno if it was just the fact that it was Hospital Food or all grits are just awful, but I didn't like them one bit. Most Hospital Food I've had since then was actually pretty good, so it was probably the Grits.
...foreign governments should feel free to send "paid protesters" to try and undermine or overthrow the government?
Anyways, he clearly typo'd out a "for" between soil and color there, and thinks this is some kind of prep work for an astroturfed revolutionary movement of some sort. Dunno what sort.
Anyways, he clearly typo'd out a "for" between soil and color there, and thinks this is some kind of prep work for an astroturfed revolutionary movement of some sort. Dunno what sort.
November 24, 2025 at 12:55 PM
...foreign governments should feel free to send "paid protesters" to try and undermine or overthrow the government?
Anyways, he clearly typo'd out a "for" between soil and color there, and thinks this is some kind of prep work for an astroturfed revolutionary movement of some sort. Dunno what sort.
Anyways, he clearly typo'd out a "for" between soil and color there, and thinks this is some kind of prep work for an astroturfed revolutionary movement of some sort. Dunno what sort.
I usually pride myself on being able to understand right-wing nutjob talking points, but even I'm not sure what he's saying here. That the idea was to signal to foreign enemies that the US military was unstable and unwilling to fight or follow orders? That US troops won't shoot protesters, so...
November 24, 2025 at 12:55 PM
I usually pride myself on being able to understand right-wing nutjob talking points, but even I'm not sure what he's saying here. That the idea was to signal to foreign enemies that the US military was unstable and unwilling to fight or follow orders? That US troops won't shoot protesters, so...
Cue the Coldplay:
🎶I came along
I robed a bank for you
And we were all yellow🎵
🎶I came along
I robed a bank for you
And we were all yellow🎵
November 24, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Cue the Coldplay:
🎶I came along
I robed a bank for you
And we were all yellow🎵
🎶I came along
I robed a bank for you
And we were all yellow🎵
Good to hear. Like I said, it's something I was told, but I'm not really a car guy or even a driver, so I'm not personally qualified to judge.
November 24, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Good to hear. Like I said, it's something I was told, but I'm not really a car guy or even a driver, so I'm not personally qualified to judge.
Tip in American "Pancake House" breakfast restaurants. Avoid the Hash Browns. Go for the "Breakfast Potatoes". Bigger chunks of potato, fried in fat or oil with onions and peppers. Much better than shredded Hash Browns. If they don't offer both, go to a different breakfast joint.
November 24, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Tip in American "Pancake House" breakfast restaurants. Avoid the Hash Browns. Go for the "Breakfast Potatoes". Bigger chunks of potato, fried in fat or oil with onions and peppers. Much better than shredded Hash Browns. If they don't offer both, go to a different breakfast joint.
It's almost like her brain was fried by some sort of powerful psychoactive drug.
November 24, 2025 at 6:02 AM
It's almost like her brain was fried by some sort of powerful psychoactive drug.
What do you mean, "now"? That's been a huge piece of fandom interaction with anyone even mildly famous since the dawn of the internet and easy mass direct connection to the stars.
November 24, 2025 at 5:57 AM
What do you mean, "now"? That's been a huge piece of fandom interaction with anyone even mildly famous since the dawn of the internet and easy mass direct connection to the stars.
Reliable means it usually lasts long enough to be destroyed by enemy action; since that was usually less than six months for a tank or airplane, why build it to last longer? A better model will be available in like 18 months, tops, and the old one will be an obsolete deathtrap anyways.
November 24, 2025 at 5:55 AM
Reliable means it usually lasts long enough to be destroyed by enemy action; since that was usually less than six months for a tank or airplane, why build it to last longer? A better model will be available in like 18 months, tops, and the old one will be an obsolete deathtrap anyways.
I was once told that's why you never buy a Lexus. The company assumes everyone "buys" it on a 3-year lease, so it only has to last 3 years and then they dump it on the used-car market and it's someone else's problem.
November 24, 2025 at 5:54 AM
I was once told that's why you never buy a Lexus. The company assumes everyone "buys" it on a 3-year lease, so it only has to last 3 years and then they dump it on the used-car market and it's someone else's problem.
People were apparently fed up with boring politicians like Gordon Brown and wanted someone with a sense of humor. They figured the Yes-Minister bureaucrats would keep things working in the background like they always had, and the PM could be a fun distraction. That's the Royal Family's job, though.
a man in a suit and blue helmet is flying through the air while holding british flags
ALT: a man in a suit and blue helmet is flying through the air while holding british flags
media.tenor.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:50 AM
People were apparently fed up with boring politicians like Gordon Brown and wanted someone with a sense of humor. They figured the Yes-Minister bureaucrats would keep things working in the background like they always had, and the PM could be a fun distraction. That's the Royal Family's job, though.
A lot of people think the opposite. If I'm doing something because I want to do it, well, look at how a lot of my fellow Trekkies obsess over technobabble. If I'm doing something because I have to, or am supposed to do it, well, I'm slacking off at every opportunity, because I don't really care.
November 24, 2025 at 5:42 AM
A lot of people think the opposite. If I'm doing something because I want to do it, well, look at how a lot of my fellow Trekkies obsess over technobabble. If I'm doing something because I have to, or am supposed to do it, well, I'm slacking off at every opportunity, because I don't really care.