Sparky

Some picts from ProgPower USA XXIV

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I’m re-reading Project Hail Mary now!

When the kid borrows a T-shirt for 80’s day and it’s one you got freshman year of college.. 🤯

Fiction: the Expanse series. Non Fiction: Chasing New Horizons or Skunk Works.

If you’re not outraged by this, you really should be.

Weather Forecasts Say It’s Going to Rain on Trump’s Parade The president’s $45 million parade might not go as planned due to potential rain and thunderstorms.

Trump parade: $45 Million

The chance to see that fake tanner melt off his ugly face on national tv: Priceless

Wow, Trump is dropping tariffs on China to 30 percent for 90 days. He would like credit for beginning to fix a problem he created.

I’d say cyclists, but I’m one of ‘em.

Morning walk

THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION WASHINGTON, DC 20202 May 5, 2025 Dr. Alan Garber Office of the President Harvard University Massachusetts Hall Cambridge, MA 02138 Dr. Garber, The Federal Government has a sacred responsibility to be a wise and important steward of American taxpayer dollars. Harvard University, despite amassing a largely tax-free $53.2 billion dollar endowment (larger than the GDP of 100 countries), receives billions of dollars of taxpayer largess each year. Receiving such taxpayer funds is a privilege, not a right. Yet instead of using these funds to advance the education of its students, Harvard is engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law. Where do many of these "students" come from, who are they, how do they get into Harvard, or even into our country—and why is there so much HATE? These are questions that must be answered, among many more, but the biggest question of all is, why will Harvard not give straightforward answers to the American public? Harvard University has made a mockery of this country's higher education system. It has invited foreign students, who engage in violent behavior and show contempt for the United States of America, to its campus. In every way, Harvard has failed to abide by its legal obligations, its ethical and fiduciary duties, its transparency responsibilities, and any semblance of academic rigor. It had scrapped standardized testing requirements and a normalized grading system. This year Harvard was forced to adopt an embarrassing "remedial math" program for undergraduates. Why is it, we ask, that Harvard has to teach simple and basic mathematics, when it is supposedly so hard to get into this "acclaimed university"? Who is getting in under such a low standard when others, with fabulous grades and a great understanding of the highest levels of mathematics, are being rejected? Harvard has even been embroiled in humiliating plagiarism scandals, exposed clearly and plainly in the media, with respect to your then…

running the institution in a totally chaotic way. Harvard alumnus and highly successful hedge fund manager Bill Ackman noted that, under her leadership, Harvard has become "a political advocacy organization for one party." Ackman has called for the resignation of Pritzker, concluding that the "[t)he mismanagement here is Penny Pritzker" and noting that any serious corporation would have removed her after a litany of recent failings and the fact that, incredibly, "Harvard is not in a good financial position." According to Ackman, one of the world's foremost finance experts, Harvard's so-called S53 billion endowment is "massively overstated as far as what it's really worth," and Harvard has irresponsibly taken out $8 billion in debt. If this is true, it is concerning evidence of Harvard's disastrous mismanagement, indicating an urgent need for massive reform-not continued taxpayer investment. If Harvard prefers not to change, then Harvard should have no problem using its overflowing endowment to fund its bloated bureaucracy. At its best, a university should fulfill the highest ideals of our Nation, and enlighten the thousands of hopeful students who walk through its magnificent gates. But Harvard has betrayed this ideal. Perhaps most alarmingly, Harvard has failed to abide by the United States Supreme Court's ruling demanding that it end its racial preferencing, and continues to engage in ugly racism in its undergraduate and graduate schools, and even within the Harvard Law Review itself. Our universities should be bastions of merit that reward and celebrate excellence and achievement. They should not be incubators of discrimination that encourage resentment and instill grievance and racism into our wonderful young Americans. The above concerns are only a fraction of the long list of Harvard's consistent violations of its own legal duties. Given these and other concerning allegations, this letter is to inform you that Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the fede…

Federal Agencies. The Administration's priorities have not changed and today's letter marks the end of new grants for the University. These requests will advance the best interests of Harvard University, so it can reclaim its status as a respected educational institution for the future leaders of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter! Sincerely, Linda E. McMahon Secretary of Education

🚨🚨 Deranged letter from Education Secretary Linda McMahon to Harvard’s president, cutting off federal funding for any new grants.

Worth reading in full. It is NUTS.

As we’ve said before now confirmed. FOIA requests reveal that DOGE employees are pulling in six-figure salaries, with many holding the title of “Expert,” a specific Office of Personnel Management (OPM) designation that pays around $190,000 a year.

Hill Country Ride for AIDS 2025 is in the books! Beautiful day to ride. Beautiful people. #hcra2025

Mike Waltz has left the chat.

If we’re serious about more efficient government and better everyday life in America - which we all should be - that means actually improving government, not cutting health care for poor people and slashing support for veterans.

A great weekend of metal. Delain, Xandria, Edge of Paradise, and Geoff Tate.

BREAKING: I have no intention of piloting an F-22

Sorry, I thought we were just declining to do things we had no real authority to do anyway

*Of course* advance information on US combat operations is classified. Pretending otherwise is an insult to our troops, who all know this.

The Secretary is unfit to lead.

Last time he told you not "not to worry" half a million Americans died of Covid.

Maybe we shouldn't have deleted those Navajo Code Talkers from the Defense Department after all.

Pm Private GIF ALT: Pm Private GIF

I would like to nominate Maxwell Smart for national security advisor.

Enjoy. Was introduced to Poets of the Fall and Delain at ProgPower USA (prog and power metal fest in Atlanta).

Always wondered how the Star Wars Emperor could start with a battle-hardened army and end up with an "entire legion of his best troops" being beaten to death by teddybears with sticks.

Then Hegseth ended up as US Defence Sec. And now yeah that makes sense.

Dream Theater, Within Temptation, Poets of the Fall. #4 would be Delain.

A defining policy battle is about to come to a head in this country. The Republican budget will force everyone - especially Congress and the White House - to make plain whether they are prepared to harm the rest of us in order to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest.

For fun, 70’s prog is alive and well… #morecowbell

Austin Fire Academy training the next generation of hero’s. Practicing vehicle extractions.