List 3 things you can talk about for 3 hours with no prep:

1. The Baha'i Faith

2. Elon Musk's companies

3. Star Trek/The Orville/Star Wars

bonus: American history

“Now is the time to refresh the downcast through the invigorating breeze of love…”

—Baha’u’llah, Founder of the Baha’i Faith

Weird.

My wife and I are Baha'i, and we're teaching our daughter about progressive revelation, and about some things in the Bible.

'Abdu'l-Bahá quotes the Bible more than once in "Some Answered Questions."

yes Yes, I've verified the details in the image you shared—it's a real news story, though the headline captures the initial controversy rather than the final outcome. Here's a breakdown based on recent reports: The Event What it is: The U.S. Marine Corps is hosting a "live-fire Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration" at Red Beach, Camp Pendleton, as part of celebrations for the Marine Corps' 250th birthday and America's Semiquincentennial (250th anniversary). This includes firing 155-millimeter artillery shells from M777 howitzers eastward over Interstate 5 (I-5), a major north-south freeway in Southern California. The demonstration is scheduled for today, October 18, 2025, from around noon to 3 p.m. local time. Attendees and timing: Vice President JD Vance (a Marine veteran) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are expected to attend, drawing about 15,000 people. A test firing occurred yesterday (October 17) over I-5 to prepare. Safety measures: The freeway itself will remain open—no closures are planned, per Marine Corps statements after a risk assessment. However, Amtrak has canceled Pacific Surfliner train service in the area during the event hours, and the FAA has issued temporary airspace restrictions near the base. The Political Backstory This has sparked a public spat between California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and the Trump administration: Newsom's office initially raised alarms on October 15, citing reports of "live ordnance" (including potential Navy ship-fired missiles) crossing over I-5, calling it a "vanity parade" and a safety risk during a government shutdown. He considered closing parts of I-5 between Orange and San Diego counties as a precaution. Marine Corps officials quickly clarified it's routine training (not a "show of force"), contained to the base's east side, and won't impact public roads. Newsom backed off the closure threat on October 16 after federal assurances. The timing overlaps with nationwide "No Kings" protests against Trump policies (over 2,500 events planned today, including in nearby Oceanside and Los Angeles), fueling rumors of escalation. Some social media claims exaggerated it as missiles targeting protesters, but that's unsubstantiated. Is It Safe? The Marines describe this as "established and safe practice" at Camp Pendleton, their largest West Coast training site. No injuries or incidents were reported from yesterday's test. For real-time updates, check Caltrans for traffic or the Marine Corps' site. The image's headline aligns closely with the NYT's October 18 article, which emphasizes the over-I-5 aspect amid the feud. If you have more details or want me to dig into a specific angle (e.g., protest impacts), let me know!

Exercise, not show of force.

Not an attempt to intimidate; a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps. VP Vance and Secretary of War Hegseth will both be in attendance.

Shooting the rounds over I5 from Camp Pendleton is an established and safe practice.

x.com/i/grok/share...

This charmer also writes some, er, fiction.

Here's how Reed's fellow "trans" activists are handling the assassination of Charlie Kirk:

@elainawilliams.bsky.social We are not in control of the major plan of God.

At least for the moment we have seen wars brought to ceasefire in short order recently: India/Pakistan, and Israel/Iran. And Iran's nuclear efforts were set back the US with no lives lost.

‪Congratulations to the new leader of the Democratic Party @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social

You said it never happens, so when I provide proof it happens, you soothe yourself by trying to say it's no big deal.

Admit you're wrong.

The federal government under President Trump's leadership is going to end this mutilation of minor.

And I voted for this.

YouTube video by Is This Appropriate Treatment? KAISER-PERMANENTE: Mastectomy for healthy 12 (TWELVE) year old girl

As you say such surgeries have NEVER happened, one case and you're proven wrong.

www.youtube.com/shorts/E38o1...

But I've got two:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFCY...

And if you do a bit of Internet searching, you will find many more.

No, I don't.

Women have large gametes & the propensity to give birth.

Men have small gametes & the propensity to produce sperm.

IOW adult human females & males.

DSDs are rare, and nobody with a DSD can both father a child AND give birth. Therefore, they all lean towards one sex or the other.

You're a lawyer who's logged a few years in university, so this should be an easy one.

What is a woman?

I think protecting children from the wolves is a legitimate role of the federal government.

That includes ending federal financial assistance for mutilating drugs and surgeries, and criminalizing such surgeries, especially on children.

Weird that you think the Internet doesn't exist.

Disingenuous framing.

The Republicans are obviously not talking about fighting climate change.

They're talking about basic managerial competence, something entirely lacking at the state and local level.

OTOH, California could use a new state constitution.

It would give us a chance to undo decades of one political party stacking the deck against everyone else, which has led to corruption, complacency, and incompetence - not to mention stunning moral failings - in state-level leadership.

The fact that Scott Wiener is the most popular elected official in San Francisco tells us everything we need to know about San Francisco's twisted priorities.

Totalitarian regimes demand unquestioning fealty.

Democracies, not so much.

The current brouhaha on the right is actually healthy.

Team blue should try it. If they don't, they're gonna continue to get creamed.

Elon's done more for greening the transportation and energy sectors of the economy than a thousand Bernies or 10,000 AOCs, but you wouldn't know it by the way they treat him.

The left pretends to care about the environment, but as soon as someone with power - even someone who disrupted ICE in favor of cleaner BEVs - neglects to genuflect, he becomes enemy #1.

Enough voters saw through team blue's bs this cycle to give Trump the most popular votes.

... which led to a state legislator telling Elon to go F himself. He responded, message received loud and clear. He then systematically over a period of years moved almost all of his businesses to red Texas.

Team blue went lawfare on Musk, pushing him into Trump's orbit.

5. Weird that team blue was all-in on Tesla until Musk refused to bend the knee to the unions and the politicians. Started with him bucking the hopelessly-corrupt UAW; their failure to organize the Fremont plant was their own damn fault bc they wouldn't bend on stock options (dummies!)....

4. "Rifts," or differences on policy or tactics, are quite common in partisan politics. MAGA is not in lock-step with the GOP. Big whoop. Time was when progressives were not in lock-step with corporate Democrats, when Bernie and AOC weren't carrying water for corporatists.

Got about halfway through the linked piece.

1. Humanity's penchant for exploration well predates Musk.
2. Is anyone else anywhere near as far along as SpaceX in getting us to Mars?
3. Anyone who's not interested in staying on X can go elsewhere. Bluesky, Gettr, TruthSocial, Gab....

Bluesky is what Tumblr was Over the past several months I have watched carefully as leftists have migrated over to Bluesky from X/twitter.

Tumblr is where all sorts of wild degeneracy metastasized.

Jus' sayin'.

wokaldistance.substack.com/p/bluesky-is...

YouTube video by CBS Mornings Furious anti-Trump protesters clash with police in Portland, Ore.

Riiiiiight.

Here's anti-Trump violence in Portland, OR after Trump's 2016 victory.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWGR...

And here's footage of anti-Trump protests all over the country, including the lighting of fires.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=V84U...

"The prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. The investigators will be investigated."

So I guess the fear is that prosecutors and investigators in the Biden/Harris regime will be held accountable for their weaponizing of the DOJ???

media1.tenor.com/m/1lPyxKfiFY...

According to my favorite AI app, neither congresswoman has been especially effective at getting her own legislation passed.

This is pretty much a case of pot, meet kettle.

Ppl take sides based on whose politics they like better.

x.com/i/grok/share...