TBoneTX

The Bee Explains: The Chimp Civil War As you've probably heard, there is a chimpanzee civil war in Uganda. The Babylon Bee is here with what you need to know so you sound educated when the chimp civil war comes up in daily conversation: [...] https://babylonbee.com/news/the-bee-explains-the-chimp-civil-war

This is a repeat of the 1974-1978 war. We are a Central chimpanzee, for the record. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two hundred chimpanzees are embroiled in a 'civil war' The world's largest-known group of chimpanzees recently burst into a lethal conflict. Much like in a civil war, the group fractured into two. Then one faction began killing their former group mates on the other side, researchers write today in the journal Science. It's an exceedingly rare event: scientists estimate that chimpanzee communities split, on average, every 500 years. The paper is "a tour de force," said Joseph Feldblum, an evolutionary anthropologist affiliated with Duke University, who was not involved in the study. The research relied on three decades of data dating to 1995 from Kibale National Park in Uganda, home to the Ngogo chimpanzees—a community of about 200 individuals. Social relationships here clump around two primary groups, named the Central and Western clusters. For decades, they formed a single community in which chimpanzees shared territory, changed which cluster they most often affiliated with and mated with individuals from the other cluster—until 2015 [...] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/two-hundred-chimpanzees-are-embroiled-in-a-civil-war/

Amazing what happens when the USAID funding dries up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pride Month Ain't What It Used to Be: Many Events Cancelled, Scaled Back Nationwide If you were to celebrate the Tucson Pride Festival this past February, you were out of luck. Organizers of Tucson Pride had to dissolve their organization and cancel the annual festival, which for some reason wasn't held during national Pride Month, which is in June. On a Facebook post, the organizers told their followers that, "This decision was not made lightly…We recognize the deep importance Tucson Pride has held in our community since 1977, serving as a space of visibility, advocacy, celebration, and resilience for nearly five decades." The group blamed poor financials, mismanagement, and lower attendance as the reasons for the demise of both the organization and the annual event. [...] https://pjmedia.com/tim-o-brien/2026/04/13/pride-month-aint-what-theythem-used-to-be-sponsors-are-fleeing-n4951743

Hezbollah Rocket Hits Byzantine Church Ruins Israelis Had Been Preserving Whenever a false accusation starts circulating that Israelis have deliberately bombed some religious building in Lebanon or Gaza, the West freaks out. But I have yet to see a firestorm of outrage over Hezbollah directly hitting a historic Byzantine church that Israeli authorities were working hard to preserve. The Times of Israel spoke with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) to report the few original details on the strike. The outlet stated, "The rocket hit a modern structure inaugurated in 2022 to preserve an impressive mosaic floor spanning over 500 square meters (nearly 5,400 square feet) and make it accessible to the public." [...] https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/04/13/hezbollah-rocket-hits-byzantine-church-israelis-were-preserving-n4951746

It's kind of you to think about your friend. What has she done within her employer's system to relieve the stress and reduce hours? Has she exhausted all such efforts, or is there more to try? Sometimes, a heartfelt talk with the right executive can start some positive movement.

Dang... ~~~~~~ Florida Shows the Way on Confronting an Out-of-Control Judiciary "Until you start holding these judges accountable, they are going to continue to find ways to benefit the criminal element," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said last week at a press conference in Tampa, addressing his "friends" in his state's House of Representatives. One of the judges in question is the Honorable Tiffany Baker-Carper, who in 2020 was elected to serve in the State of Florida's Second Judicial Circuit, the youngest woman and African-American ever to be elected to a judgeship there. At issue is the tragic fate of Melissa Mogle, a five-year old girl known as "Missy," who in May 2025 allegedly was beaten and smothered to death by her stepfather, Daniel Spencer, and mother, Chloe Spencer. Investigators found considerable evidence of long-term child abuse. [...] https://chroniclesmagazine.org/web/florida-shows-the-way-on-confronting-an-out-of-control-judiciary/

Insightful column, I think, especially the ending. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Playing the Trump card vs. Tehran A promising new stage in our six-week Iran "excursion" began Sunday with President Trump's announcement that the US Navy, together with allies, will immediately begin to blockade "any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz." In wrestling terms, it's a classic "swerve" move by the president, flipping the tables on his opponent. Iran thought it had the world over an (oil) barrel. Turns out it signed its own economic death warrant. The blockade is an inspired tactic pushed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and former Green Beret-turned-UN Ambassador Mike Waltz as the logical next step after the Chinese and Russians last week vetoed a UN Security Council resolution led by the Gulf States for international cooperation to reopen the Hormuz Strait. With half the US Navy positioned just outside the narrow strait, everything is in place to stop the ships Tehran needs to serve its biggest customer, China, which buys about 90% of Iran’s oil. [...] https://nypost.com/2026/04/13/opinion/playing-the-trump-card-vs-tehran/

Fascinating and encouraging. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/2043456536454836467.html

Scintillating Monday repartee, yawn man. ------- Thrilling Monday report, see man: Poor zzz again, man. Lunch was misc. leftovers donated by Mama T-B., ingest we man. Learned the hard way that one was half a Reuben sandwich, dispose of sauerkraut we man. 🤮 Slogged carcass around casa till ~2 p.m., slothful we man. Decided to visit Sam's Club for first time, actually get d member card after half a year man. Did thorough inspection of store, mentally compare with Costco man. It was far less mobbed than Costco typically is, probably because more Sam's than Costcos around man. We conclude that most prices are equal to or more expensive than are Costco's, sigh man. We conclude that there are probably more items than Costco has, conclude we man. We conclude that there are fewer 1- & 2-person food items than Costco has, conclude we man. We were pleased to see a "food court" of sorts, limited menu but serviceable man. We were thrilled to see a hot dog + drink for the same $1 + half a buck + tax as Costco's, man. Furthermore, the drinks were Pepsi products, equal to how Costco was but now ain't man. Sam's should advertise these facts, conclude we man. This combo was consumed as din-din, ingest we man. The hot dog was shorter than is Costco's, man. The drink cup was bigger than is Costco's, man. We refilled ours before out-checking and are slurping on it at this writing, F$WM. Otherwise, we bought 2 bags of store-brand cheaps and 1 bag of Frito's Scoops, F$WM. We see little reason to return to Sam's but for store specials or "closer than Costco," see and si man. Serviced demanding miu, Where Were You Daddy miu man. Took siesta, truncated by hip pain man. No party with the rubias tonight, no cavort we man. No particular plans or obligations for Tuesday, no and no man. And that was/is our thrilling Monday, report we man.

Well, this all sounds positive after all, then. Gracias, Pooky.

Swalwell Insists He Didn't Assault Any Of Those Chinese Spies He Slept With SACRAMENTO, CA — After being accused of multiple counts of sexual assault, Representative Eric Swalwell issued a fierce denial today, insisting that he never assaulted any of the Chinese spies he slept with. Swalwell, who is currently campaigning for Governor of California, has described all of his relationships with Chinese intelligence agents as "totally consensual." "You can ask anyone in the Chinese intelligence community," said Swalwell. "They will all tell you that I never assaulted one single spy that I slept with. I [...] https://babylonbee.com/news/swalwell-insists-he-didnt-assault-any-of-those-chinese-spies-he-slept-with

Battle-Hardened Drone Returning From Iran War Struggling To Re-Enter Life Of Delivering Amazon Orders CHARLESTON, SC — After returning from the frontlines of the war in Iran, a local drone has found itself struggling to adapt back to a civilian life of delivering Amazon packages. Like so many soldiers before, the drone has felt a deep void upon trying to re-enter civilian life, grappling with the meaninglessness of delivering boxes filled with knick-knacks. "What am I even doing," sighed the drone as it [...] https://babylonbee.com/news/battle-hardened-drone-returning-from-iran-war-struggling-to-re-enter-life-of-delivering-amazon-orders

VDH is on fire, and accurately! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Victor Davis Hanson: NATO Free-Riders Should Expect Brutal Reality Check, US Will Put In Same Effort As Canada Victor Davis Hanson suggested letting NATO "die on the vine" by putting into it exactly the amount of effort that Canada does, while making bilateral deals with European countries that support the U.S., in this video for "The Daily Signal." "Even though they have a $22 trillion GDP, apparently they don’t want to invest that in their own defense," he said. "And they don’t want us to use it when we need it." "What’s the future? Do we get out of NATO? I don’t think we do. I think we just let it die on the vine," he suggested. "We are one of 32 nations, so we’ll pay one-thirty-second of the budget. We’re tired." "Don’t cause any more trouble with them. Just say we’re going to treat you like you treat us." [...] https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/04/12/victor_davis_hanson_brutal_reality_check_for_nato_free-riders.html

The definition of chutzpah is a boy who murders his parents and then demands alms because he's an orphan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Democrats seek to punish voters fleeing their failed policies New York Gov. Kathy Hochul — a Democrat who's up for reelection this fall — has a message for people who've left her state and decamped to more successful, affordable, and functional places, like Florida: Come back, or at least cut us a check, so we can keep implementing "progress." "The fact is that I need people who are high net worth to support the generous social programs that we want to have in our state," Hochul said in an interview last month. She applauded "some patriotic millionaires" who "stepped up," adding that more of them ought to "cut me checks," and that for others, "maybe the first step should be to go down to Palm Beach and see who you can bring back home, because our tax base has been eroded." [...] https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/4522357/democrats-seek-punish-voters-fleeing-failed-policies/

Not good, but he did himself in. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hungary's Victor Orban, ally of Trump and Putin, concedes election defeat https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/hungary-s-viktor-orban-ally-of-trump-and-putin-concedes-election-defeat/ar-AA20HicL