The 'Weirder' Side Of News!

[BIAD]

Let's hope his wedding night will go off like a rocket!

OVER THE MOON Astronaut Buzz Aldrin marries Anca Faur, 63, on his 93rd birthday and
shares sweet wedding pics and tribute to new wife



'Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin announced his marriage to his longtime partner on his 93rd birthday.
Aldrin, who with Neil Armstrong was the first to walk on the Moon, revealed that he and Dr Anca Faur,
63, wed in a small private ceremony.

“On my 93rd birthday & the day I will also be honored by Living Legends of Aviation I am pleased to
announce that my longtime love Dr. Anca Faur & I have tied the knot,” read a tweet from Aldrin’s
Twitter account.

“We were joined in holy matrimony in a small private ceremony in Los Angeles & are as excited as
eloping teenagers.” The astronaut shared two photos of him and Faur with the bride seen in a beautiful
gown while Adrin was in a nice suit. Before his marriage to Faur, Aldrin was married three times - all
ending in divorce.

He has three children, James, Janice, and Andrew, from his first marriage to Joan Archer. Aldrin was
married to Archer from 1954 before the couple filed for divorce in 1974.

Friends, colleagues, and fans all congratulated the happy couple. “Congratulations Doctors Aldrin and
Faur!" one person wrote. "I wish you more love, peace, joy and happiness! So happy for you Buzz and Anca!”

“Congratulations that is absolutely amazing! Forever young,” wrote another.
A third person said: "Happy birthday, Buzz, and congratulations on your marriage.
"I’m thrilled for you. As always, you did it in style."

Aldrin made three spacewalks during his career and was the Lunar Module Eagle pilot for the 1969 Apollo 11
mission. He stepped on the lunar surface 19 minutes after Armstrong on July 20, 1969.
Of the three astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission, he is the only one who is still alive today. He spent a total
of 12 days in space before retiring in 1971...'

The Sun:

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Fourth time is a charm? Well, anyone who makes it to 93 and still able to walk, talk, and crack jokes, all the best.

Happy Honey MOON.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

New David Cronenberg movie...

Bill HD.3822

SECTION 1. Chapter 127 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following text after the word “petition”:-

Section 170. (a) The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall establish a Bone Marrow and Organ Donation Program within the Department of Correction and a Bone Marrow and Organ Donation Committee. The Bone Marrow and Organ Donation Program shall allow eligible incarcerated individuals to gain not less than 60 and not more than 365 day reduction in the length of their committed sentence in Department of Corrections facilities, or House of Correction facilities if they are serving a Department of Correction sentence in a House of Corrections facility, on the condition that the incarcerated individual has donated bone marrow or organ(s).

On second thought, remember the fake Afghan account connected to USCENTCOM headquartered in Tampa Florida that accused Iran of organ harvesting? 

One fake account posted an inflammatory tweet claiming that relatives of deceased Afghan refugees had reported bodies being returned from Iran with missing organs, according to the report. The tweet linked to a video that was part of an article posted on a U.S.-military affiliated website.

Centcom has not commented on whether these accounts were created by its personnel or contractors. If the organ-harvesting tweet is shown to be Centcom’s, one defense official said, it would “absolutely be a violation of doctrine and training practices.”

WaPo archived

Speaking of CENTCOM & Iran, look what just rolled in...


U.S. Central Command



https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1620851452293038080

In the Navy I did many search & destroy, err I mean seizures in the Gulf of Oman.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

The clown show continues:

The Royal Navy has ordered an urgent investigation amid claims that workers on a Trident nuclear armed submarine fixed broken bolts in the vessel’s reactor chamber using glue.

The faulty repairs on the cooling pipes aboard HMS Vanguard were found after one of the bolts fell off during an inspection, the Sun reported.

The bolt heads originally came off due to over-tightening. But, rather than replacing the damaged shafts, staff at the defence contractor Babcock implemented a quick fix and glued them back on.

Engineers at the contractor reported it as a procedural glitch after the problem was found, but did not mention the botched nature of the repair.

A navy source told the newspaper: “It’s a disgrace. You can’t cut corners with nuclear. Standards are standards. Nuclear standards are never compromised.”

The glued bolts held insulation in place on the coolant pipes in the nuclear reactor and were found just as workers were set to fire it up to full power for the first time, the newspaper reported.

Investigators will trawl records of repairs to find out when the bodged work occurred and who was ultimately responsible.

The Ministry of Defence spokesperson said that a “defect” was found on HMS Vanguard when in dry dock and that it was “promptly reported and fixed”.

The spokesperson said the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, met the chief executive of Babcock, David Lockwood, “to seek assurances about future work”.

Babcock is the MoD’s second-largest contractor and has multibillion pound contracts to maintain the navy’s Astute and Vanguard sub fleets.

A spokesperson for the company said: “Any quality-related issue is a huge disappointment, but our own robust inspection processes discovered the issue. There was no safety or operational impact from the work.”

The Guardian reported in December last year of safety fears as the submarines had been deployed at sea for record-breaking periods of five months each.

Rob Forsyth, who helped command Polaris nuclear submarines in the 1970s, said the lengthy patrol times could lead to “boredom, complacency and an inevitable drop-off in standards”.

HMS Vanguard is one of four nuclear submarines that form part of the UK’s continuous at sea deterrent. The vessels are always out on patrol and are poised to strike in the unlikely event that Britain is hit with a nuclear attack.

An MoD spokesperson said: “As part of a planned inspection, a defect was found from work done in the past when HMS Vanguard was in dry dock. It was promptly reported and fixed.”
The Guardian

But, was it super glue?? They had to get that last sentences in TWICE.

I guess they ran out of duct tape.

[BIAD]

Whatever you do, don't tell Colonel “Butch” Blanchard.

US tracking suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

'The US is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted flying over sensitive
sites in recent days. Defence officials said they were confident the "high-altitude surveillance balloon"
belonged to China. It was most recently seen above the western state of Montana.


A Roswell reunion?!

The military decided against shooting it down in case debris falls. China warned against speculation
and "hype" until the facts are verified.

Canada said on Friday that it was monitoring "a potential second incident" involving a surveillance
balloon, but did not say which country could be behind it. It said in the statement that it is working
closely with the US to "safeguard Canada's sensitive information from foreign intelligence threats".

The object flew over Alaska's Aleutian Islands and through Canada before appearing over the city of
Billings in Montana on Wednesday, officials said. A senior defence official speaking on condition of
anonymity said the government prepared fighter jets, including F-22s, in case the White House
ordered the object to be shot down.



Top military leaders, including Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley, chairman of
the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, met on Wednesday to assess the threat. Mr Austin was travelling in the
Philippines at the time.

Montana, a sparsely populated state, is home to one of only three nuclear missile silo fields in the
country, at Malmstrom Air Force Base, and officials said the apparent spy craft was flying over
sensitive sites to collect information. But they advised against taking "kinetic action" against the
balloon because of the danger falling debris might pose to people on the ground.

The defence official, however, said there was no "significantly enhanced threat" of US intelligence
being compromised because American officials "know exactly where this balloon is and exactly
where it's passing over". He added that there was also no threat to civilian aviation as the balloon
was "significantly" above the altitude used by commercial airlines. The official said the balloon is
unlikely to give much more information than what China can already collect using satellites.

US secures deal on bases to complete arc around China How US Marines are being reshaped for
China threat The US had raised the matter with Chinese officials in their embassy in Washington
DC and in Beijing, the official added.

China's foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing is currently attempting to verify the
reports of the surveillance balloon, adding that "until the facts are clear, making conjectures and
hyping up the issue will not help to properly resolve it."

During Thursday's briefing at the Pentagon, officials declined to disclose the aircraft's current location.
They also refused to provide more details of the object, including its size. "There have been reports
of pilots seeing this thing even though it's pretty high up in the sky," the unnamed defence official
said. "So you know, it's sizable."

They added that such surveillance balloons had been tracked in the past several years, but this one
was "appearing to hang out for a longer period of time this time around".

It confused social media users in Montana, with some posting images of a pale round object high
in the sky. Others reported seeing US military planes in the area, apparently monitoring the object.
Billings office worker Chase Doak told the Associated Press news agency that he noticed the "big
white circle in the sky" and went home to get a better camera.

"I thought maybe it was a legitimate UFO," he said. "So I wanted to make sure I documented it and
took as many photos as I could." Chinese state media has not reported on the incident, but it is being
widely discussed on Chinese social media, with many amused at the reported use of balloons for
surveillance.

"We have so many satellites, why would we need to use a balloon," wrote one user on Weibo. Senator
Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, slammed China's alleged balloon.
"The level of espionage aimed at our country by Beijing has grown dramatically more intense & brazen over
the last 5 years," he tweeted.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, a Republican, said in a statement that he had been briefed on the
"deeply troubling" situation. Speaking at an unrelated event in Washington DC on Thursday, CIA Director
William Burns made no mention of the balloon, but called China the "biggest geopolitical challenge"
currently facing the US.

The alleged spy craft is likely to increase tensions ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to
China next week. It will be the first visit to the country by a Biden administration cabinet secretary. The top
US diplomat will be in Beijing to hold talks on a wide range of issues, including security, Taiwan and Covid-19.
He will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, the the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

Balloons are one of oldest forms of surveillance technology. Compared to other air surveillance devices, they
can be operated cheaply without personnel, while remaining airborne for long periods of time...'

BBC:

[BIAD]

(Attached to above)

Later that day -in a similar situation of a confident guy hitting on his girlfriend's sister...

Spy balloon over US is actually 'civilian airship' that blew off course, says China

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing admitted the balloon had come from China
-but said it was for meteorological and other scientific research.


Son of Roswell returns!

'China has said a suspected spy balloon that has been flying over the US was in fact a "civilian airship"
that had strayed into American airspace. The US has said it believed the object was a high-altitude
surveillance balloon flying over sensitive sites to collect information.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing admitted the balloon had come from China - but said it was for meteorological
and other scientific research. It added it regretted it had blown off its course. However, a US official earlier said:
"Clearly the intent of this balloon is for surveillance."


Using the old 'eh America, your shoelaces are untied' ruse...? You decide.

The blimp was spotted over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday - close to one of the US's three nuclear missile
silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base. China has said a suspected spy balloon that has been flying over the
US was in fact a "civilian airship" that had strayed into American airspace.

It flew over the Aleutian Islands, off the coast of Alaska, and through Canada before entering the US.
The balloon is still in US airspace but officials declined to say where it is now. They acknowledged it was operating
above civilian air traffic and below "outer space", but declined to say how high it was flying. Military and defence
leaders have considered shooting the balloon out of the sky but decided against it due to the safety risk from falling
debris.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin convened a meeting of senior military and defence leaders to review the threat
profile of the balloon and possible responses, which were presented to US President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
The US has engaged Chinese officials "with urgency" and communicated the seriousness of the situation.

Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said: "The United States government has detected and is
tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now. "The US government
to include NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command), continues to track and monitor it closely.

"The balloon is currently travelling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or
physical threat to people on the ground...'

Sky News:

[Ninurta]

(Attached to above)

Later that day -in a similar situation of a confident guy hitting on his girlfriend's sister...

Spy balloon over US is actually 'civilian airship' that blew off course, says China

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing admitted the balloon had come from China
-but said it was for meteorological and other scientific research.


Son of Roswell returns!

...

Sky News:

Ah yes, the old "relax, it's just a weather balloon.... or maybe swamp gas..." ruse.

I've heard that it is "bigger than 3 busses", but given the fact that most commercial air traffic flies at around 24,000 to 30,000 feet (around 5 miles up), and "space" begins at 62 miles up, the altitude range is pretty large. So, to be seen from the ground, I'm guessing it's SIGNIFICANTLY "bigger than 3 busses"...

And they can't shoot it down because it might fall on someone's head? In MONTANA? Gimme a break! That's just another excuse. The ratio of acres of heads to acres of range land is vanishingly small in Montana.

.

[A51Watcher2]

Well if the chinese want a look at our nuclear missiles so bad, maybe we should give them one.

Up close and personal even.

Just sayin....

[Ninurta]

Just got word that the balloon is flying at about 60,000 feet - around 11 miles above the Earth. Imagine how big it's got to be to be seen at 11 miles away. Last reported position was just north of Kansas City, Missouri, heading east... but the balloon is maneuverable, could go in any direction, even against the wind.

They are saying that if it was shot down, it could leave a debris field of 400 square miles, which is a circle 22.5 miles across with a radius of 11.28 miles. I think that's pretty optimistic. I'd punch a .50 caliber hole in it and let it drop while deflating to minimize the area I'd have to search for wreckage to analyse, but what the hell do I know? I'm just a weird Old Guy.

ETA: current location over Cape Girardeau, Missouri, about to cross the Mississippi, heading east.


.

[A51Watcher2]

Well if the chinese want a look at our nuclear missiles so bad, maybe we should give them one.

Up close and personal even.

Just sayin....

Being a retired USAF Doberman I can say my bite is worse than my bark.
Just doin my job when an uninvited stranger enters my yard or airspace.

[BIAD]

Not be outdone...

(ETA: Just noticed 727SKY posted a similar post in another thread! Link:)

Second spy balloon spotted over Latin America, says Pentagon, as Blinken postpones China trip

Secretary of state calls the incident in US airspace a ‘clear violation of US sovereignty
and international law’

'A second Chinese spy balloon was reportedly flying over Latin America, according to the Pentagon, in comments
that came as the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, postponed a visit to China after the intrusion of a separate
high-altitude Chinese balloon into US airspace.



“We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America,” Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said, a day after
the first craft was spotted over US skies. “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.” The Pentagon
did not specify the balloon’s exact location, but a US official told CNN it did not appear to be currently heading
towards the US.

In South Korea on Friday, Blinken said he had spoken with Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, and “made clear that the
presence of this surveillance balloon in US airspace is a clear violation of US sovereignty and international law”.
A balloon, believed to be a Chinese spy balloon, flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, on 1 February 2023 in this
picture obtained from social media.

Blinken said, however, that he had told Wang that “the United States is committed to diplomatic engagement with
China and that I plan to visit Beijing when conditions allow”. “The first step is getting the surveillance asset out of
our airspace. That’s what we’re focused on,” he told reporters.

Channels of communication remained open between the two countries, a state department spokesperson said,
stressing that the trip had only been postponed and not cancelled. Blinken would have been the first US secretary
of state to visit China since October 2018, signalling a thaw after a period of friction under former president Donald
Trump. Last month, Blinken said he would use the trip to help establish “guardrails” to prevent the relationship from
escalating into all-out conflict...'

The Guardian:

Some suggest the mysterious balloon is actually this.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Pilots in multiple Russian planes reported a UFO buzzing Volgograd when Vladimir Putin visited the city on Thursday.

The extraordinary accounts say the unidentified object 'changed colour and height' in the sky.

A report by Telegram channel Aviatorschina said the UFO was seen and reported to the aviation authorities by the crews of four separate passenger planes.

Putin had flown to Volgograd under close security to attend ceremonies linked to the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad in the Second World War.

The incidents came as the dictator hinted that the conflict in Ukraine could turn nuclear following the West's moves to supply Kyiv with major supplies of tanks.

He said: 'We don't send our tanks to their borders but we have the means to respond, and it won't end with the use of armoured vehicles, everyone must understand that.

'A modern war with Russia will be completely different.'





Aviatorschina channel reported: 'The crew of an Airbus A321 of S7 Airlines, operating flight S72046 from Sochi to Moscow, 12 minutes before reaching Volgograd at an altitude of 10,000 meters, reported that they observed an unidentified flying object at right angles to the plane, on the left side.

'The object was changing colour and height, and the direction of movement.'

The channel monitors air incidents and added: 'Later, the crews of Aeroflot (SU1125), S7 Airlines (S73750) and Rossiya (SU6358) flights confirmed this information after flying near Volgograd.'

The Rossiya plane crew assessed the distance of the UFO at around 125 miles.

The sightings were reported to air traffic control and civil and military authorities.

'The competent authorities have been notified, since no flight plans were provided in the specified area at the time.

'Permission to use the airspace was not issued.'

The S7 crew reported the timing at 19:08 Moscow time [16:08 GMT] on Thursday.

The timing of the other sightings were not precisely revealed.

The 19:08 sighting was around three hours after Putin's arrival, and occurred as he took part in the commemorations which included his sabre-rattling speech.

It is known that laser displays linked to the 80th anniversary commemorations were taking place at 18:00, 19:00, 20:00 and 20:45.

Yet the pilots would be expected to be informed about this.

The Russian authorities have not commented on the UFO reports.

The flights reporting the strange sightings were S72046 - S7 or Siberia Airlines - from Sochi to Moscow, SU1125 - Aeroflot - also Sochi to Moscow, S73750 Istanbul to Moscow and SU6358 - Rossiya - from Mineralnye Vody to St. Petersburg.

The flight paths took the planes to the east of Volgograd, formerly called Stalingrad.

All the air routings show major detours to avoid flying close to the war zone in Ukraine before they flew past Volgograd.
Daily Mail

Not the first time Volgograd has had strange UFO activity.



More Than a Dozen Mysterious Carved Discs Found Near Volgograd, Russia

[EndtheMadnessNow]

High octane strangeness, bizarre, horrific!

Family found dead in Pennsylvania made a 'joint decision' to kill themselves over Trump's election loss, police say.

“They were just so hell-bent on Trump winning, like this could be in the end if he doesn’t.”

Sure that makes perfect sense 27 months later. Weird vibes of Kool-aid man & Heaven's Gate...

Family found dead in Pennsylvania made a 'joint decision' to kill themselves, police say (Feb. 3, 2023)

Morgan Daub, 26, and her parents, James Daub, 62, and Deborah Daub, 59, were found dead in the backyard of their home in York County, in what police say was a suicide pact.

A Pennsylvania family found shot dead in their backyard last week in what police say appears to be a suicide pact, included a mother and daughter who loved bowling and were devout Christian conservatives, people who knew them said.

Morgan Daub, 26, and her parents, James Daub, 62, and Deborah Daub, 59, were found dead on the ground in the backyard of their home in York County, Pennsylvania, on the morning of Jan. 25, after police responded to a request for a welfare check from a neighbor. 

The West Manchester Township Police Department has since said that notes left inside the house indicate that the family recently made a "joint decision" to end their lives. Police believe Deborah Daub shot and killed her husband and then was shot and killed by Morgan, who died by suicide. Police said there were no signs of forced entry or struggle and no evidence that anyone else had been present.

An investigation into the deaths has been closed.

People who knew the family expressed shock and heartbreak at the deaths. Morgan was described by members of the local bowling community as a shy, quiet young woman who was close with her mother and also a talented and avid bowler until she and her mother suddenly stopped visiting bowling stores and alleys in the area a few years ago, around the start of the pandemic. 

“Morgan didn’t have a lot of words to say,” said Bret Stabley, who operates the pro shop at Bowlers Supply in York, Pennsylvania, where the mother and daughter were longtime customers. Stabley said he believed Morgan, whom he described as “very meek and quiet” but also “very bright,” was homeschooled and her mother often spoke on her behalf.

Stabley said he gave Morgan many bowling lessons over the years, and she became more sociable as she grew older. She was also “quite a good bowler,” he said.

Stabley said the Christian, churchgoing family “was never shy about letting anybody know what their beliefs were” when it came to religion and politics. Morgan and Deborah “very, very huge” supporters of former President Donald Trump, Stabley said.

“They were just so hell-bent on Trump winning, like this could be in the end if he doesn’t,” Stabley said, referring to an instance when he saw them just before the 2020 election. He said he stopped seeing the two after that.

A neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of personal or professional retaliation in their town, said the family had a "preoccupation with religion, especially on the dad’s part." The family's front yard was also "littered" with Pro-Trump political signs during the elections, and anti-abortion signs when Roe v. Wade was overturned, the neighbor said.

Terry Miller, the owner of Suburban Bowlerama, said Morgan and Deborah came to his bowling center a couple of times a week. “She grew up here,” he said of Morgan.

“To me, just watching their interactions they just enjoyed it, they seemed to spend a lot of time together,” he said.

But Morgan and Deborah suddenly stopped coming by around 2019, Miller said.

Looking back, he said, it was “definitely, definitely weird” that the two stopped coming in.

Stabley said he was disturbed to see recent videos appearing to show Morgan on YouTube. In the videos, which the West Manchester Township Police Department has also said appear to show Morgan, the young woman speaks in stream-of-conscious fashion about God, the Antichrist and conspiracies about Trump and the 2020 election. Stabley said he is haunted by Morgan’s laughter in the videos.

“I never, ever, ever saw Morgan in that state,” he said.

Detective Timothy Fink said in a statement to NBC News on Friday that Deborah Daub left a written document, signed Jan. 19, in which “she speaks of a joint decision” by her and Morgan to end their lives. It refers to the "evil that has mounted against Morgan," but does not go into further detail, Fink said.



Morgan and her father also left notes indicating that the family had planned how to carry out the shootings and made other preparations, including what to do with the family dog and assets.

Those notes were dated Jan. 24, a day before the bodies of the family were found.

Police said that the positioning of the bodies, the two guns found at scene, the shell casings and other evidence “support the account put forward by the written documents left behind by the family,” that “all three family members decided to end their lives on 1/24/2023.”

Meanwhile, the neighbor said they are in "shock and disbelief" that something like this could happen "so close to home."

"When I interacted with them in person, they kept it under wraps," the neighbor said. "I didn’t see that break through the surface at all."

I'd be interested to know what specific "religion" they were into.

While it's still up, here's a claimed last (weird, creepy, sad) vid of her:
"I will not be crowned that one will force me to be crowned. I'm returning power to the people of the United Kingdom. I was next in line for the UK throne." WTF??? She sounds like she needed serious mental health help. (audio is weak)




Don't mix religion & politics.

[BIAD]

High octane strangeness, bizarre, horrific!

Family found dead in Pennsylvania made a 'joint decision' to kill themselves over Trump's election loss, police say.

“They were just so hell-bent on Trump winning, like this could be in the end if he doesn’t.”

Sure that makes perfect sense 27 months later. Weird vibes of Kool-aid man & Heaven's Gate...

Family found dead in Pennsylvania made a 'joint decision' to kill themselves, police say (Feb. 3, 2023)

Morgan Daub, 26, and her parents, James Daub, 62, and Deborah Daub, 59, were found dead in the backyard of their home in York County, in what police say was a suicide pact...

Meanwhile on the other side of the pond, a similar incident occurs.

5 Feb 2023
Epsom College tragedy: Headmistress Emma Pattison, daughter, 7, & husband found dead
on school grounds in tragedy

'The headmistress of prestigious Epsom College, her daughter and her husband have been
found dead on school grounds. Cops were called to the £42,000-a-year private school in Surrey
at 1am yesterday.



There they discovered the bodies of Emma Pattison, 45, her daughter Lettie, seven, and her
husband George, 39. Police believe this is an isolated incident with no third-party involvement.

Headmistress Emma has been described as a "wonderful teacher" and "delightful" person.
Her last social media post saw her celebrate a prestigious award won by school shortly after
she took the helm...'

The Sun:

[Ninurta]

Videos like that, and folks are surprised that the family offed themselves? "Batshit crazy" seems to be the operative phrase there.

.

[BIAD]

Yer' know when you hear a joke that's near the knuckle due to it coming close to the boundary of societal
acceptance but then feel okay because you know it is simply a play on a historical trope...? It seems that
ability is lacking in some cuisine-service quarters and they take it as real!

US school apologises for 'inexcusably insensitive' Black History Month lunch

'A New York school has apologised after serving what it called an "inexcusably insensitive" lunch
on the first day of Black History Month. Students at Nyack Middle School were served fried chicken,
waffles and watermelon on 1 February.


There was once, a day when food was just food.

The foods have been used as racist tropes against African Americans.
Officials from the school said its food supplier -Aramark -had changed the planned meal of cheesesteaks,
broccoli and fruit.

"We are extremely disappointed by this regrettable situation and apologise to the entire Nyack community
for the cultural insensitivity displayed by our food service provider," Principal David Johnson wrote in a
2 February letter to parents.

The foods the supplier picked "reinforce negative stereotypes concerning the African American community",
he said. Honore Santiago, a student at the school, said she was surprised when she saw the meal in her
cafeteria. "They were asking people if they want watermelon and I remember being confused because it's
not in season," the sixth-grade student told local news outlet WABC.

She said she told her mother when she got home and both were angered by the lunch. "I just hope that they
won't do it again, at a different school or my school," she told the BBC's US partner CBS News.

School food vendor Aramark apologised for the incident, which it called an "inexcusable mistake" that "never
should have happened". The food vendor has sparked a backlash over meal choices in the past.

In 2018, New York University severed ties with the company after a Black History Month lunch it offered at
the university included red Kool-Aid and watermelon-flavoured water as well as other foods that have been
used as racist tropes.

And in 2011, the food vendor served fried chicken and waffles to students at the University of California on
Martin Luther King Jr Day. Watermelon became a racist stereotype during the Jim Crow era in the US,
according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The fruit was once a symbol
of self-sufficiency among southern African Americans who grew and sold watermelons after emancipation,
but it was later used as a disparaging symbol...'

BBC:

[Ninurta]

Yer' know when you hear a joke that's near the knuckle due to it coming close to the boundary of societal
acceptance but then feel okay because you know it is simply a play on a historical trope...? It seems that
ability is lacking in some cuisine-service quarters and they take it as real!

US school apologises for 'inexcusably insensitive' Black History Month lunch

'A New York school has apologised after serving what it called an "inexcusably insensitive" lunch
on the first day of Black History Month. Students at Nyack Middle School were served fried chicken,
waffles and watermelon on 1 February.


There was once, a day when food was just food.

The foods have been used as racist tropes against African Americans.

BBC:

ROFLMFAO! Around here, we just call that "home cooking" or "stuff that came out of your garden and barnyard". It's just a Southern thang, Black folk don't have a patent on it.

.

[BIAD]

If there's an obvious failing in the legacy media, it's their inability to resist a story where they
can insert a gag-line and call it witty. This sometimes involves creating a tale to fit such a droll
offering!

LOST LIMB I was left gobsmacked when I discovered my late dad’s prosthetic limb on a beach

'A family thought someone was pulling their leg when they discovered their late father’s prosthetic limb
had washed up on a beach. Daniel Harris, 42, was gobsmacked when he saw a Facebook appeal asking
why the false leg had appeared on the sand — as he believed it belonged to his dad.

The building manager had put it in the sea along with the ashes of Michael in December after he died aged
66 of lung cancer. Michael, who served in the merchant navy, had lost his leg due to medical complications
and had requested his fake limb be set adrift with his ashes.

He had hoped it would end up “somewhere exotic” — but instead it washed up 40 miles down the beach at
Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, after being cast into the waters in Lydney Docks, Gloucs.
It was discovered by Ian Lancaster and his family during a shore walk.


Michael (no surname) with daughter-in-law Sarah (also no surname), the message and
the leg.

The limb had a plastic bottle attached containing a message asking the person who found it to “set me off to
sail again” and an email address. At first the Lancasters were convinced it was a body part. Designer Ian, 54,
said: “We’ve been watching a lot of crime dramas and thought about calling the police.
“But we looked closer and saw it was a false leg. I put it on Facebook and it’s all worked out.”

Daniel, 42, said: “It was lovely. Although it was only 40 miles away, Dad was born and bred around there, so
it’s good. "Dad would love this. He’d find it hilarious. He had quite a wicked sense of humour.
“I’m happy it’s back on its way.”...'

The Sun:

[Bally002]

Yer' know when you hear a joke that's near the knuckle due to it coming close to the boundary of societal
acceptance but then feel okay because you know it is simply a play on a historical trope...? It seems that
ability is lacking in some cuisine-service quarters and they take it as real!

US school apologises for 'inexcusably insensitive' Black History Month lunch

'A New York school has apologised after serving what it called an "inexcusably insensitive" lunch
on the first day of Black History Month. Students at Nyack Middle School were served fried chicken,
waffles and watermelon on 1 February.


There was once, a day when food was just food.

The foods have been used as racist tropes against African Americans.

BBC:

ROFLMFAO! Around here, we just call that "home cooking" or "stuff that came out of your garden and barnyard". It's just a Southern thang, Black folk don't have a patent on it.

.

Strewth mate.  Should have given them an Air Biscuit each and sent them on their merry way.

Bally)

[Snarl]

ROFLMFAO! Around here, we just call that "home cooking" or "stuff that came out of your garden and barnyard". It's just a Southern thang, Black folk don't have a patent on it.
.

Strewth mate.  Should have given them an Air Biscuit each and sent them on their merry way.

Bally)

Now that's funny as Hell, mate!!

---

U.S. Central Command



https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1620851452293038080

In the Navy I did many search & destroy, err I mean seizures in the Gulf of Oman.

Can you imagine the investment (read that as waste) of time laying all that equipment out dress-right-dress ... for a photo op?