John

Could also be justified as part of the military budget: "it took the Dark Lord mustering an army the size you'll never see again to break these gates, and He still lost. What chance do you have? Now, let's negotiate."

It was actually just for the hinges, helps them swing easier /

Legolas imports trees and plants for greening up the city of Gondor proper, and Gimli brings smiths from the Lonely Mountain to make new gates of steel and mithril, so that might be a big cost there. There's also a lot of farmland and homes in the immediate area that were destroyed in the War.

The Guardsman was never found.

An astonishingly comprehensive list, with a great lede:

"Here are 50 examples of unhinged behavior by a man who possesses the nuclear codes. Donald Trump’s supporters and some journalists ignore or laugh off his individual bizarre actions. Taken together, they’re cause for deep alarm."

Republicans Are Much Much More Corrupt Than Democrats But most people either do not know this, or refuse to admit it.

I admired the spirit of @ossoff.bsky.social's line of attack against Donald Trump—that his "is the most corrupt administration of all time, and everybody knows it." The problem is, it's not actually true. Everybody does not know it. We should examine why. www.offmessage.net/p/republican...

The Epstein Files tell a horrific and heavy story of abuse and corruption. But power protects itself through the expectation that we will feel paralysed by the sense of powerlessness.

Their release is a seminal moment.

That's why our new Byline Times print edition delves into the deeper story 👇

An El Niño is brewing And with it the next, pivotal, chapter of the climate fight.

One thing that may dramatically shake up our political life on this planet is the advent of a strong new El Niño. (Also our, you know, life life)

billmckibben.substack.com/p/an-el-nino...

AOC being personable and friendly to other Dems isn't discussed as an asset the way for example Biden's senate relationships was but being pleasant and charming tends to get you places!

Honestly think that AOC would have a fairly easy time consolidating support within the Democratic establishment and that her real challenge is the media.

Ppl like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel rightly are seen as total villains but Zuckerberg really eclipses all of them but manages to be less known for that bc he's not a raving lunatic in public. Dude is just an absolutely soulless man dedicated to creating a dystopia of fakeness online.

His party put into power a woman who bragged about shooting a puppy. So I guess maybe he means this as a compliment?

And if you’re wondering “Why is there a blob in the back?” Well, that’s where the first woman president was supposed to go. More than a century later, it remains unsculpted.

Goldman: "If Trump wants to put his name on everything, as he does, then let's start calling this the Trump-Epstein files"

Yeah, Qanon (like "Earth is actually cooling!" climate contrarians John Christy & Roy Spencer) had a sign error in their code.

this is why it's so damn important that the Ellisons not be allowed to buy Warner Bros Discovery. if they're willing to do this to CBS and their portfolio of streaming & cable, imagine what they'll do if they're allowed to buy 3x the amount of channels they already have.

The Pain Is the Plan MAGA is actively seeking to immiserate the country in order to cement their power over the rest of us.

"MAGA Republicans gutting the social safety net isn’t a surprise if you were paying attention in the 2010s, but attacking the global trade system is transparently self-defeating. It’s a net loss for the country, but that might be the point." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-pain-is-...

Are we paying attention yet??

Death keeps claiming the wrong people.

Treat Big Tech like Big Tobacco The problem with TikTok and Facebook isn't their size

“Users are not organically coming across enraging, polarizing, and addictive content. It is being served up to us on a silver platter.“ open.substack.com/pub/theargum...

Thinking staff work is bad & incidental to what military officers are actually for is amateur hour stuff tbh. Though I'm probably not the guy to deliver that message and have it taken seriously, heh.

Both Eisenhower (West Point product) and Marshall (emphatically not) understood and embodied this.

A crucial fact too few Europeans know:

Ukraine produces far more drones and inexpensive cruise missiles than the entire EU combined, yet it still doesn’t have enough.

What does it say about Europe’s capabilities?

We urgently need to step up

A photo of Linda Davis, surrounded by a reef

Linda Davis, a K-8 teacher in Savannah, Georgia, was killed in a car crash by a man fleeing ICE

Local authorities said they were unaware of any ICE operations in the area. "We have a no chase policy," a county chairman said

www.wtoc.com/2026/02/16/s...

All nonsense: renewables are happening whether these idiots want them or not.

Every time you speak up - and every time you don't - there are people watching and learning about you and the world you help create.

The Pain Is the Plan MAGA is actively seeking to immiserate the country in order to cement their power over the rest of us.

"One of the best takeaways those of us on the left or the center can hold is that tariffs, the annihilation of the safety net, aggressive tax cuts, and all of their other fiscal policies are not about enrichment as an end unto itself: they’re about impoverishment as a means to reinforce hierarchy."

Unbelievably corrupt and disgusting. How long are Americans going to stand for this shameful shitshow?

One of my most sobering memories of Jesse Jackson was going to my civil rights veteran uncle's funeral, looking to my right and seeing Jesse Jackson sitting next to me, damn near inconsolable and in tears.

The French publication Intelligence Online reports that the country has formed an F-16 squadron that includes veterans from the United States and the Netherlands.
www.intelligenceonline.com/europe-russi...

my daughter got bitten by a donkey at a farm park and refused to walk back past its enclosure - which was the way out. i asked if she’d like to go and be mean to them and long story short she ran up and shouted “YOU’RE JUST A RUBBISH HORSE!”