Cross-posted at Really?  Seriously?

Good morning to the one or two people who come here, and to the seventy or so people who click on their emailed newsletter subscription to read this idiocy.  This is almost enough to make it worthwhile to be here on two separate websites simultaneously.

I am here in my Hunker-Bunker this morning.  It is 0533, it 43 and partly cloudy.  It might rain today — it might not.  An asteroid could hit us today — or maybe not.  It’s the same forecast around here.

I was so excited to see IT show up yesterday to install my new SQL project on a couple of work stations yesterday for my beta test.  All that went to shit when we kept getting an error saying that our version of Microsoft Access was “too old”.  I am using Microshaft Access as the frontend client and an SQL-Server as the backend.  Our workstations have Office 2019 without Access, so I have to install Access Runtime 365 to run my frontend.  Access Runtime is the newest version of the Access shell, so getting an error that our version was ‘too old’, made no sense.  It was also beyond the scope of what IT could do for me, so I was left with a broken program trying to figure out what the fuck to do now…

Twelve hours later…  I figured it out.  I spent hours Googling and watching videos, reading Substack and even Reddit posts.  I used CoPilot, ChatGPI,  with no luck.  Then I looked at the Runtime file itself:  it was listing the 2016 version, when I had explicitly downloaded and installed the 365 version, which had some date formatting changes to work with SQL-Server.

I find out that Microshaft has never updated it’s Access Runtime file since 2016, because the basic program is the same.  The ONLY change between Access 2016 and Access 365 is that in 2019 they included the ability to run with or without the date format changes.  The new format is on by default, and you have to manually uncheck the option before you compile the code if you were going to run it as a standalone program with an SQL-Server backend.

Does Microshaft tell you any of this?  NOPE.  I found the solution buried deep in a discussion on a chat.  Now it’s working.  sigh  I’ll check back on Thursday.

And now…

Headlines That Caught My Eye This Morning

Some of these headlines are closely related, so I am going to consolidate them.

Item 1:  In re:  The Israel/Hamas Conflict

• Israel Gaza: Hamas says it accepts ceasefire proposal
• Hamas In Official Response: “We Agreed To Ceasefire Deal”; Israeli Officials Say Proposal Was Changed
• Text of the Gaza ceasefire proposal approved by Hamas
• Tough choices for Netanyahu after Hamas upends expectations
• Israeli troops take control of Rafah border crossing, angering Egypt

As I was heading home from my office in Bellevue yesterday, my Unicorn radio was blaring the news that Hamas had accepted a peace deal in Gaza that included releasing all of their Israeli hostages.  (Let’s just call them for what they are:  Prisoners of War)

BBC was reporting celebrations in Gaza.  Palestinians were happy.  There were celebrations among the Israeli protesters in Israel, as evidenced by the featured image here today.

Turns out, that most people in, or adjacent to a war zone, tend not to like being ‘at war’.  Whodda thunk it?

Yes, there is always that “but”…

Israel was never a party to these talks.  Even the word “talks” is not quite right.  These “talks” was nothing more than a deal cooked up by Egypt and Qatar, and presented by means of “shuttle diplomacy” to Hamas who publicly agreed to the ‘deal’.  The other end of that “shuttle” had barely gotten wind of the details, let alone studied it when Hamas made it’s announcement they would accept that deal.

But a deal isn’t a deal, until the deal is made and agreed to by all sides involved.  Up until that point, it is only a PROPOSAL to a deal.

But for Hamas to agree to a proposal that would include an end to the hostilities, a release of all prisoners of war, with some kind of goal towards safety and security for BOTH sides at the very least, is good news, on its face.  But that’s like buying a car on the internet:  there’s always more that you didn’t see.  It’s the details that are important.  Show me the deets.

The basic details of the proposal are listed above.  I know that at least some of you don’t like Al Jazeera, because they are ‘slanted’.  Sorry, but that was the headline on Drudge, so I took it.  I didn’t have time to go look for the transcript from one of your ‘approved’ sources.   It is, what it is, get over it.

Netanyahu — and his government — do have some tough choices to make here.  If he accepts the proposal, (or any proposal that doesn’t include first wiping out Hamas and anything else that moves) his Right flank will dissolve the government, and Netanyahu is out of a job forever.  If he doesn’t accept this proposal, and/or if he goes in and destroys Rafah like he’s been threatening to do, is Left flank will dissolve the government and he is out of a job.  Or at least that’s the reporting.

There seems to be a fairly large number of Israelis who have taken to the streets to demand an immediate end to this war and a return of the POWs.  This matches the demonstrations on college campuses globally, not just here in the US.  Does this make those Israelis demonstrating “antisemite” under the new House Republican definition?

I notice from my quick scan, there isn’t so much for what happens after this peace deal is accepted and concluded.  What then?  Do they go back to another twenty or thirty years of bullshit before the current crop of war-effected children grow up and become the next militant faction for Israel to have to deal with?

Or is there going to be an international effort to come up with some kind of solution,  if not a goal towards some sort of resolution of the underlying, unresolved issues that have plagued the land for over a hundred years, following the League of Nations mandate on Palestine.  (Not that there hasn’t been unresolved issues there going back thousands of years, but I digress)

Finally,

“Egypt vehemently denounces the Israeli military operation in Palestine Rafah, which has resulted in Israel controlling the Palestinian side of the border,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Israeli government insists that this is the “pressure” needed to make Hamas capitulate 100 percent to the demands of Israel.  The evidence so far is that Israel has adopted a “no quarter” approach to their stated goal of ‘wiping out Hamas’.  The problem is, they don’t care about the distinctions between Hamas and the Palestinian civilians, NGO aid workers, and journalists.  “Human shields” are collateral damage, it seems.  If it moves kill it.  These are “animals”, remember?

In case you were wondering why college campuses world wide are experiencing demonstrations and protests…

Item 2:  The Donald, The Gag

• Donald Trump being sent to Rikers Island would cause ‘civil unrest’
• ‘I’ll Do That Sacrifice!’ Trump Says He’s Ready to Go to Jail Over His Gag Order After Contempt Ruling
• Jail for the Chief? There’s a Better Punishment. – OpED

Ironically, I’ve been watching Misfits on one of the streaming platforms.

Misfits – TV series, 2009-2013

Donald Trump’s new reality show – 2024?

First, Donald Trump won’t be sent to Riker’s Island. Get that thought out of your mind right now.

You can bet that there has been a contingency set up in the event that a court feels the need to lock the former president up for his contempt of the court and the legal process in general.  This seems like a growing possibility every day, as he continues to violate gag orders of the court under the mistaken idea of those orders being “unconstitutional”.   He doesn’t seem to understand that being under the jurisdiction of an ongoing criminal litigation, he has had some of his rights curtailed or restricted until the entire matter is settled, and he is out from under the jurisdiction of this particular court.  That could be at an acquittal, or the end of any sentence — and beyond, in the case of the Second Amendment.

This is some serious shit, and I don’t think that Donald Trump has EVER had to think about being held accountable for his bad actions.  EVER.

Until now.  Now, it is fucking him up.

Item 3:  Trump mocks Sen. Tester’s weight, looks like ‘pregnant woman’

People who live in glass houses…

Neither I nor Donald Trump can claim any kind of superiority when it comes to someone else’s physical appearance.  Especially when it comes to having a belly.  Both Trump and I share about the same basic build, except he has  probably thirty more pounds on me.  We are both considered ‘morbidly obese’.  (I’m sure you’ve heard how “smelly” he is?  I can tell you the physical reason why, but it will not only disgust you, you will suddenly understand exactly how much sense it makes, when you consider the length of a man’s arms in relationship to where his asshole is.)

Ah, you got it.    If you didn’t, think about it some more…  Unless he has some help…

Oh, and why is he farting in court?  He won’t use the public toilets.

Item 4:  US soldier arrested in Russia was ‘visiting woman he was romantic with’

I have my usual stupid question:

Why is a US soldier (or any other American for that matter) going to Russia these days?

The US issued a travel advisory to Russia months ago.  Basically, you go there at your own risk.

Item 5:  Kristi Noem Attacks ‘Fake News’ for Questioning Fake Kim Jong-un Story

Here were a couple of other headlines:

Kristi Noem’s political career is imploding because she’s too MAGA-y for her own good.

MAGA Darling in Dog House

First of all, there is only one person who is able to be too MAGA-y for his own good, and that’s the MAGA OG himself, Donald Trump.  Everyone else is a cheap copy.  Everyone who has tried to out-Trump Trump has failed.  Those who hitch their wagon to Trump also tend to fail, eventually.  Even Trump will fail.  Eventually.

It’s one thing to have a political ideology.  It’s yet another to be nasty and exclusionary.  It’s not sustainable.

Item 6:  Russia Threatens UK With Strikes on British Targets

A bit of context:  UK is considering giving Ukraine weapons that can strike deeper into Russia.  Russia is threatening to strike the UK if that were to happen.

First:  Russia wants to be able to bomb the dogshit out of Ukraine, but doesn’t want Ukraine to hit back.  I say, Tough tittie.   Or Tit-for-Tat.  Don’t like it?  Stop bombing Ukraine.

Second:  If Russia were to strike UK, Moscow would be dust.  So would the rest of the planet.

Item 7:  Rising Number of Men Don’t Want to Work

I would be bored out of my mind, which would probably cause me to occupy my mind in the wrong ways.  Idle mind and all that.

Item 8:  The rise of white terrorists who set out to kill minorities and immigrants

If the shoe fits…

Need help with substance use disorder or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.

What In The Hell Did I Just Watch?

The Outlander – Netflix

Outlander is a historical drama television series based on the Outlander novel series by Diana Gabaldon. Developed by Ronald D. Moore, the show premiered on August 9, 2014, on Starz. It stars Caitríona Balfe as Claire Randall, a former Second World War military nurse in Scotland who, in 1945, finds herself transported back in time to 1743. There she encounters, falls in love with and marries a dashing Highland warrior named Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), a tacksman of Gabaldon’s fictionalized version of Clan Fraser of Lovat. Here, Claire becomes embroiled in the Jacobite rising.

I’ve seen the first four seasons, a few years ago, but now that season 7 just dropped, I figured that I would start it all over again.

Recommended Podcasts for Today

The Daily Blast – The New Republic

The Daily – The New York Times

The Journal – The Wall Street Journal

Post Reports – The Washington Post

Global News Podcast – BBC News

Memes From the Meme Box