Good morning, kids. Monday and fingers crossed this is working. A fire in Utah knocking us out sounds almost as wacky as a toilet backing up in Atlanta flooding six states on Election Night. Almost. Unfortunately there will be no editorial this morning. It took me about two hours to completely reformat everything for this site (feh). That said, everything is pretty much self-explanatory so talk amongst yourselves. Hopefully this will be fixed by tonight or tomorrow. You can always go over to my site as well in case this thing is a total FUBAR. I will repost there shortly.

Fingers crossed

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY

• Roger Kimball: "It’s easy to understand and reject the horrors of totalitarianism. It is much less easy to grasp its inexorable logic or its seemingly implacable attractions."  The Appeal of the New Totalitarians
• "A landmark report on race deals a major blow to woke fever dreams. But progressives want progress only when progress progresses their power."  White Privilege Doesn’t Exist
• "Even if we take the vaccine, we must fight for the rights of those Americans who do not want to take it."  Vaccine Passports to Hell
• "An NIH grant that involved the modification of bat-based coronaviruses and the transfer of $600,000 to the Wuhan Institute of Virology prior to the pandemic bypassed P3CO review because the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, led by Anthony Fauci, didn’t flag the project for review."  US Grant to Wuhan Lab to Enhance Bat-Based Chinese Coronaviruses Was Never Scrutinized by HHS Review Board, NIH Says

Posted by: Ace Open Blog at 07:40 AM | Comments (345)
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-- Pixy

Posted by: Ace Open Blog at 12:04 AM | Comments (80)
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Sorry to interrupt your Easter like this folks.

There was a power outage at our hosting company.  They switched over to generator power, but then one of the generators had a problem and now they have to check their electrical systems before they can bring things back online.

I had this site already built for testing so I'm pointing over to it until we can get the main site back online.

Posted by: Ace at 08:31 PM | Comments (427)
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Have to leave the bunker because social function. So everyone tonight enjoys an AoSHQ Premium early ONT.

Your Congress at Work

Here some of the current bills that have been introduced:

Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act: Would establish the Apollo Lunar Landing Sites National Historical Park on the moon. - Chief sponsor Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.)

Read the Bills Act: Would require legislation to be posted online one week before it comes up for a vote. The House version, sponsored by two Republicans, would exempt declarations of war. The Senate version, sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), would require that lawmakers sign an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, attesting that they "attentively" read the measure or were present throughout the entire reading. They do not have to sign the affidavit if they vote against the bill. - House Bill's chief sponsor Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-Mich.)

Department of Peacebuilding Act: Would establish a Cabinet-level federal department, headed by the secretary of Peacebuilding, dedicated to reducing violence domestically and internationally. - Chief Sponsor Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland)

(The idea of a Department of Peace had been championed for more than a decade by then-Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio).

District of Columbia-Maryland Reunion Act: Would address the District of Columbia's long-standing grievance over lack of representation in Congress by turning over the district to Maryland except for a "National Capital Service Area" that includes the Capitol, the White House and monuments on the National Mall.

SPA Act: Would prohibit the operation of the House gym during a government shutdown. The Shutdown Prioritization Act was introduced during the 16-day federal government shutdown in October.

The Beautiful, Cheerfully Optimistic Cynicism of Uncle Milton

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Not everything Seth McFarland touches smells like cow farts. This is actually quite clever:

Then there's this, which has nothing to do with McFarland, but definitely does not stink:

more...

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Or why your mom's grilled cheese tastes better than anyone else's. more...

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Open thread for all of your non-astronomy needs.

Posted by: CAC at 03:55 PM | Comments (135)
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[We Politely Request That All Off-Topic or Political Comments Be Directed to the Open Thread down page, Which Will Serve Officially as the Current "Active Conversation" Thread for All Discussions Not Related To This Topic. Enjoy!]

Welcome again to the Spaced-Out Challenge! Whether you have a question about equipment, a new astronomical discovery you want to expand on, or just want to kick back and enjoy the cosmos above, come one come all on our weekly astronomical journey.

With Saturn at opposition yesterday, now is a great time to observe the crown jewel of the solar system with even a small telescope. This week, we'll point it out, along with elusive Mercury, and expand on smartphone astrophotography tips. more...

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This Week's Post Is Dedicated To Moms With Guns

Tips

If there are topics you're interested in seeing in the gun thread, please send them to AoSHQGunThread at gmail. You can also send them to me on Twitter at @AndyM1911.

The owner's manual for your concealed carry permit: The Law of Self Defense

Defend the Second Amendment. Join: The National Rifle Association * Gun Owners of America * The National Shooting Sports Foundation * Your state's second amendment org.

Celebrate America's firearms heritage: participate in Project Appleseed.

Posted by: andy at 10:47 AM | Comments (133)
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We Politely Request That All Off-Topic or Political Comments Be Directed to the Thread Directly Below This One, Which Will Serve Officially as the Current "Active Conversation" Thread for All Discussions Not Related To This Topic.

Well, "Free-Form" means that the file on my computer labeled "AOSHQ Food Thread Ideas" is empty.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 12:00 PM | Comments (122)
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