Malibu declares local emergency to clear homeless encampments as fire risk climbs
ktla | 08/14/2026 | Marc SternfieldThe city of Malibu has declared a local emergency, paving the way for officials to clear homeless encampments ahead of peak wildfire season.
Archive of entries posted on August 2026
Straight Line of the Day: Pros and Cons of Driving 406 MPH …
New world speed record of 406 mph set with hydrogen-powered JCB supercar in Utah
NY Post | 08/11/2026 | Lydia MoynihanA new land speed record was set today in Utah by British driver Andy Green, driving a specially designed JCB Hydromax car, which reached 406.320 miles per hour. …
The driver is a former Royal Air Force fighter pilot who is the only person to have broken the sound barrier on land, which he did when setting the overall land speed record, reaching 763 mph in a car powered by twin jet engines in 1997.
Friday Night Open Thread: When Does a Regulated Society Become a Prison? When Does a Prison Become a Gulag?
Quote of the Day
“If your life’s great passion is the study of bouncy castles, pole dancing or writing essays on autoethnography, there ought to be nothing to stop you from working at Toys R Us, a gentleman’s club or the Guardian. But these people have all chosen to pursue academia. They are attracted to the status it confers. This was the world in which Jason Arday thrived. His colleagues at Cambridge were carrying out research on how fairy tales can break the gender binary in playgrounds or writing ‘a self-portrait of an artist who teaches’. Is it really surprising that his error-ridden thesis didn’t stand out against this backdrop?” ~~ Lara Brown
Suspected Human Snuggling Ring Busted at IMAO
Straight Line of the Day: Would You Want Some GenZ Chick Parenting You?
Gen Z women say they’ve had enough financially supporting — and parenting — their boyfriends
AP Moneywise via Yahoo | August 8, 2025 | Victoria VesovskiNaomi is a 24 year old, lives on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and earns six figures working two retail jobs. Her boyfriend, meanwhile, spent much of his time at her apartment lying in bed and scrolling through Instagram Reels.
Naomi helped him fix his résumé, pushed him to apply for jobs and, while he figured out his next move, picked up the tab for nearly everything. But the money was only part of what bothered her. Naomi told The Cut that his lack of income seemed to double as an excuse to put little effort into the relationship, too. Romance, after all, does not require a six-figure salary.
“If you can’t afford something, write me a love letter,” she told The Cut. “He could have literally made me Kraft mac and cheese.”
Bond Girlathon Friday : Results from 8/7/2026 : New Matches for 8/14/2026
Hey, what ya’ll up to these days?
Results from 8/7/2026
| (6) Molly Peters | No Preference | Eunice Gayson |
|---|---|---|
| 140 | 3 | 24 |
| (9) Lana Wood | No Preference | Maryse Guy Mitsouko |
|---|---|---|
| 143 | 0 | 23 |
New Matches for 8/14/2026
Match 1
Mie Hama (Kissy Suzuki) vs Lola Larson (Bambi)
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Mie Hama | 0 – 7 – 0 | 280 – 9 – 1081 |
Kissy Suzuki
Actress: Mie Hama Nationality: Japanese Bond Movie: You Only Live Twice (1967) Synopsis:
Kissy Suzuki was a ninja working for the head of the Japanese secret service, Tiger Tanaka. She had a mock wedding with James Bond, who underwent surgery to disguise himself as a Japanese fisherman, so that the pair could explore a quiet village without being noticed.
Mie Hama
VS
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Lola Larson | 0 – 7 – 0 | 198 – 21 – 1005 |
Bambi
Actress: Lola Larson Nationality: American Bond Movie: Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Synopsis:
Bambi and Thumper were the two gymnastic bodyguards holding Willard Whyte prisoner in his Las Vegas villa. When Bond enters to rescue Whyte, he meets Bambi and Thumper, who introduce themselves, and then take it in turns to attack Bond, somewhat playfully.
Lola Larson
Match 2
Akiko Wakabayashi (Aki) vs Trina Parks (Thumper)
| Contestant | Reecord | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Akiko Wakabayashi | 1 – 6 – 0 | 411 – 9 – 906 |
Aki
Actress: Akiko Wakabayashi Nationality: Japanese Bond Movie: You Only Live Twice (1967) Synopsis:
Aki was a senior agent of the Japanese secret service, working directly under its leader Tiger Tanaka. She was confident and independent, and tricked Bond into walking over a trap door, which catapulted him down a steel slide leading to Tanaka’s office. She drove a Toyota 2000GT and saved Bond’s life on many occasions. Mid way though the film, an assassin tried to poison Bond, but Aki was poisoned by mistake.
Akiko Wakabayashi
VS
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Trina Parks | 0 – 7 – 0 | 77 – 6 – 1167 |
Thumper
Actress: Trina Parks Nationality: American Bond Movie: Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Synopsis:
Thumper and Bambi attack Bond, kicking him and using their martial art skills to overcome him. Bond was at a loss, the two girls too nimble for him. However, Thumper and Bambi then throw Bond into a pool, and they lose their advantage, Bond managing to push their heads underwater until they give in and reveal where Willard Whyte is being kept.
Trina parks
Quote of the day
The Lincoln / Oliver Wendell Douglas Debates
Democrat Agriculture Secretary Nominee Says Farming ‘Isn’t That Hard,’ Farmers Work ‘Only a Few Weeks’ a Year
breitbart.com | 8/12/2026 | Jasmyn JordanDemocrat Chris Jones, who is running for Iowa secretary of agriculture, was rebuked by Iowa Republicans after saying farmers are “wealthy,” grain farming is “not that hard,” and farmers are “only working a few weeks out of the year.”
The remarks were highlighted Tuesday by Iowa Field Report, which posted video from a 2021 interview Jones gave at the Iowa Ideas Conference, hosted by the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
“And a lot of this grain farming now, it’s not that hard. They’re only working a few weeks out of the year,” Jones said.
Think he’ll take on teachers next?
Straight Line of the Day: You May Have Seen This Before I Posted It
Strange quantum experiment shows “negative time” is more than an illusion
sciencedaily.com | 08/04/2026Photons traveling through a cloud of atoms can emerge so early that they appear to have spent a negative amount of time inside.
…
Our experiment used photons – quantum particles of light – and the against-the-odds journey they must undertake to pass straight through a cloud of rubidium atoms.
…
Based on the average time when the photon enters the cloud, one can calculate the expected average time it would arrive at the far side of the cloud, assuming it travels at the speed of light (as photons usually do).
What one finds is that the photon actually arrives far earlier than that. In fact, it arrives so early it appears to have spent a negative amount of time inside the cloud – to exit, on average, before it enters.
Cartoons and Memes
Quote of the Day
“Next month, Riverside Studios, a trendy “arts centre” in London, is proudly (what else?) presenting Romeo and Hamed, which it describes as ‘a bold, provocative queer reimagining of Shakespeare’s tragedy from debut writer Scott Horgan.’ It is likely quite provocative, and queer it certainly is, both in the old and new senses of the word, but bold? Nah. The play, you see, was originally called Romeo and Mohammed, but the leftists at Riverside Studios allowed themselves enough “Islamophobia” to realize that a production with a title like that could get them all killed, and they decided to tone it down a bit.” ~~ Robert Spencer
Straight Line of the Day: Turn-Ons and Turn-Offs
Bond Girlathon Wednesday : Results from 8/5/2026 : New Matches for 8/12/2026
We begin round 10.
Results from 8/5/2026
| (12) Olga Kurylenko | No Preference | Talisa Soto |
|---|---|---|
| 147 | 5 | 35 |
| (3) Eva Green | No Preference | Catherina Murino |
|---|---|---|
| 132 | 5 | 59 |
New Matches for 8/12/2026
Match 1
(2) Diana Rigg (Teresa de Vincenzo) vs Francoise Therry (Chew Mee)
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| (2) Diana Rigg | 9 – 0 – 0 | 1683 – 10 – 471 |
Actress: Diana Rigg Nationality: English Bond Movie: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) Synopsis:
Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo was the most important girl in Bond’s life, becoming Mrs Tracy Bond by the end of the film. Starting out troubled and suicidal, Tracy was rescued by Bond, who gradually fell in love with her. At their wedding, Bond vowed that they would have all the time in the world together. In a tragic twist of irony, Tracy was assassinated by Ernst Stavro Blofeld as the pair were stopped at a roadside to remove the flowers from their car.
Diana Rigg
VS
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Francoise Therry | 2 – 7 – 0 | 356 – 14 – 1296 |
Chew Mee
Actress: Francoise Therry Nationality: French Bond Movie: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Synopsis:
Chew Mee was a mistress of businessman Hai Fat. While visiting Hai Fat, Bond first saw sight of her while she was swimming naked in the palaces’ pool. Bond asked how the water was, and Chew Mee responded that he should come in and find out. Chew Mee had only a brief appearance, and Bond didn’t make it into the pool.
Francoise Therry
This poll is no longer accepting votes
(16) Sue Vanner (Log Cabin Girl) vs (15) Maud Adams (Andrea Anders, Octopussy)
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| (16) Sue Vanner | 5 – 4 – 0 | 1015 – 13 – 891 |
Actress: Sue Vanner Nationality: English Bond Movie: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Synopsis:
The log cabin girl, played by Sue Vanner, was a KGB agent, and a lover of James Bond. While Bond and the girl were curled up under some furs on the floor of an isolated log cabin, M sent a message to Bond’s wrist watch that he was needed at once at HQ. As Bond got up to leave, the girl said “But James, I need you.”, to which Bond replied “So does England.” After he left, the girl radioed to KGB henchmen that Bond had let.
Sue Vanner
VS
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| (15) Maud Adams | 7 – 2 – 0 | 1332 – 11 – 644 |
Actress: Maud Adams Nationality: Swedish Bond Movie: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) Synopsis:
Miss Anders was the girlfriend of Francisco Scaramanga, the $1 million a shot assassin, the man with the golden gun. She sent a golden bullet to MI6 with 007 engraved on the side, so that it would be thought that Scaramanga had Bond on his hit list. Miss Anders was hoping that Bond would respond to the threat and kill Scaramanga, freeing her from his possession. However, Scaramanga learnt of her betrayal and shot her through the heart.
Actress: Maud Adams Nationality: Swedish Bond Movie: Octopussy (1983) Synopsis:
Octopussy ran an all-women floating island, the girls of which were acrobats for a circus that was a front for a jewellery smuggling operation. She was a partner in crime with Kamal Khan, who stole the jewellery for himself and tried to kill Octopussy. Octopussy saved Bond’s life, and Bond repaid the debt by saving hers. After killing Khan, Bond and Octopussy sail into the sunset, with the acrobat girls rowing for them.
Maud Adams
This poll is no longer accepting votes
Quote of the Day
“Fetishizing distinctions between violence and nonviolence can lead to the indulgence of rhetoric about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ protesters, where ‘peaceful’ protesters are celebrated and ‘violent’ protesters–for example, those who engage in property destruction that disrupts profit–are viewed as disposable and disreputable, And when they refer to ‘peaceful protest,’ they are talking about cooperative protest that obediently stays within the lines drawn by the state. This licenses people to care about the cause being protested without caring about what happens to the ‘bad’ protesters. For example, even as significant numbers of people supported the uprisings following the racist murder of George Floyd, many fewer people vocally defended the rights of protesters who were arrested for acts of property destruction and funneled into the racist carceral system,” ~~ Abdul El-Sayed, the newly minted Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan