Heh.

Macrons to offer ‘scientific evidence’ to US court to prove Brigitte is a woman, lawyer says
BBC News | September 18, 2025 | Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty, Melanie Stewart-Smith, and Victoria Farncombe

Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, are planning to present photographic and scientific evidence to a US court to prove Mrs. Macron is a woman.

Their lawyer says the French president and Mrs. Macron will present the documentation in a defamation suit they have taken against the right-wing influencer Candace Owens after she promoted her belief that Brigitte Macron was born male.

I am amused by the obviously fictitious names of the authors. I can practically picture the actors playing them!

“… the OTHER kind of gas station.”

‘Dystopian’ toilets won’t give you loo roll unless you watch an advert first
Metro.uk | September 17, 2025 | Katie Bowden

In a move described as ‘dystopian’, some public bathrooms in China are forcing users to watch an advert in order to gain access to toilet paper.

A video shared by China Insider showed a person scanning a QR code on the loo roll dispenser and watching a short advert, before a few squares of paper are dispensed.

If that’s not enough paper, or if you don’t want to watch an advert, you can pay 0.5 RMB – about 5p – to skip the ads.

It’s been claimed the system cuts down on waste, with authorities suggesting some people had been taking excessive amounts of free toilet paper.

It’s inflation: Brits used to just have to spend a penny.

The might have to go back to the Hand Dynasty.

Han shat first!

“Bei-jing” is the sound that cash registers make.

I thought I was a little gaseous, but I didn’t know it was this bad.

Definition:
“Hybristophilia is the phenomenon characterized by sexual interest in and attraction to those who commit crimes.”

What’s up with that?

But, come to think of it, there is probably no human activity or state of mind that you couldn’t come up with a fancy name for, if one does not already exist.

Someone pointed out this week that an anagram of “senator” is “treason.”

As I remember it:

My gearless bicycle was a P-51, and the neighbor’s bike was a “Nazi Jap Zero.”

The neighborhood had Nazis around every outbuilding during war games with the neighborhood kids.

.

I was able to plump down in a chair with a drink in my hand without ever spilling a drop.

.

Kids made way on the sidewalk for older folks.

.

That guy in front of me in the post office line first arrived at the counter.

Questions:

1. Why don’t we have more of it?
2. Can it be cleaned?
   • [Is it paper or metal?]
3. Will retailers accept lucre in lieu of cash, checks, or plastic?

Saw an interesting comment last week, which sums up our political system:

The Democrats figured out a way to keep Robert Bork off the Supreme Court.

But the Republicans couldn’t figure out a way to keep Ketanji Jackson off the Supreme Court.

Typical.

Jackson was asked by Obama-appointed District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson about “what keeps [her] up at night.”

Pausing momentarily, the justice proceeded to give the answer of a stereotypical left-wing activist.

“I would say the state of our democracy,” Jackson said, eliciting applause from Magnus-Stinson and the audience.

Of course, the Biden appointee didn’t offer specifics, only adding that she is “really very interested in getting people to focus and to invest and to pay attention to what is happening in our country and in our government.”

…

“The threats and harassment are attacks on our democracy, on our system of government. And they ultimately risk undermining our Constitution and the rule of…”

… Blah, blah, blah.

So she really doesn’t know what our system of government is, and is on the Supreme Court.

Like all people, I appreciate a good job title.

Puts me in mind of a bit from the sketch comedy show “A Bit of Fry and Laurie”:

“No, not working for; more like working with. I’m more of an independently-targeted, highly-resourced free-ranging trouble-shooter.”

This one impressed me, in a recent article, and I’ll parse it here:

White House

Principal

Deputy

Press Secretary

Harrison Fields …

I loved him in Raiders!

But is there a Deputy Principal Press Secretary?

… Harrison Fields released a statement on the Bondi-Bongino clash.

“President Trump …

… blah blah blah etc. etc. etc. …

… pursuing justice for all,” Harrison Fields said.

. . . Harrison Fields said.

The author likes the name so much he, she, or it felt it profitable to state it at both the beginning and the end of the statement.

Harrison Fields Forever!

‘Lying Flat’

This movement, initiated by young people in China in recent years, is a response to societal burnout, where individuals withdraw from the competitive frenzy and adopt a slower, minimalist lifestyle.

A new term has emerged to describe individuals who take the concept of “lying flat” to the extreme: the “Five Nos” youth. These individuals consciously choose not to buy a house or a car, avoid making unnecessary purchases, and forgo marriage and children. Their focus is on minimizing expenses as much as possible.

As the economy continues to deteriorate, this passive withdrawal from societal expectations has become increasingly widespread. In essence, Chinese society seems to have lost its vitality.

— The 6 Factors That Describe China’s Current State | 07/10/2025 | Alexander Liao

When I try to convince interns to “Lie Flat,” I get the “Five Nos.”

Don’t want to interrupt the festivities, but you can post your independent thoughts independent of topic.

Well, no one’s really sure what went on and what the results were.

Of course, that would make a fine epitaph for a gravesite, too.

The more random your comment, the more effective.

It made me mad, but I am but mad north-northwest. When the wind is southerly, I know a hack from a handsaw.

 “I am eight times thrust through
 the doublet, four through the hose, my buckler
 cut through and through, my sword hacked like a handsaw.”

— Falstaff

“What a slave art thou to hack
 thy sword as thou hast done, and then say it was in
 fight! What trick, what device, what starting-hole
 canst thou now find out to hide thee from this open and apparent shame?”

— Prince Hal