NO UNITY. NO PEACE.
Erehwemos
Joined August 2024
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GeneModifiedCat retweeted
The warmest filling ever put inside a quilt cannot be farmed or made in a factory. It is left behind by a wild sea duck that has chosen, for about a thousand years, to nest next to one particular kind of person.
The eider breeds on the coast of Iceland, and the female lines her nest with down plucked from her own breast. Each tuft is a tangle of microscopic hooks that cling to each other and trap air. Nothing synthetic has matched it, and the people who make polyester hollowfibre have been trying since the 1950s.
Eiders are wild. They can nest anywhere on four thousand miles of coast. Year after year they come back to the same few hundred farms and settle within yards of the house, in old tyres, under upturned boats, against the doorstep.
They come because of what the farmer does. For the six weeks of nesting the family stops farming and stands guard. They shoot the foxes and the mink. They string flags and old CDs to keep the gulls and ravens off. Some sit up through the white nights with a rifle and a flask. A duck that nests on a guarded farm raises her brood. One that nests on the next headland feeds a fox.
When the ducklings have gone to sea, the farmer walks round and picks up what is left in the empty nests. It takes about 60 nests to make a kilo. Iceland gathers some three tonnes a year, most of the world's supply, and killing an eider has been against Icelandic law since the 1840s.
Nobody owns the ducks. Nobody feeds them, fences them or breeds them. Each side simply worked out that it does better with the other one there.
The polyester duvet on your bed was named after this bird. It is the only thing the two have in common.
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
Baen Books is anxiously awaiting your entry for the David A. Drake Memorial Award!
As with the two current writing awards sponsored by Baen—the Jim Baen Memorial Award and the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award—the "Drake" will seek to find new writing talent and will reward winners with professional publication contracts for their stories as well as a lovely trophy. In the spirit of military science fiction and fantasy written by David Drake, especially the Hammers Slammers and RCN/Lieutenant Leary series, the contest will seek engaging stories with military themes.
Contest opens for submissions on September 24, 2026 at 12:01am Eastern Time. (Entries sent before that date will be deleted unread. Any AI-generated stories will be automatically disqualified.)
Contest closes for submissions December 10, 2026 at 11:59pm Eastern Time.
Finalists will be announced no later than February 28, 2027.
Wondering what sort of stories we look for? Thoughtful works of science fiction or fantasy that consider war and all things martial as human activities, with characters you want to root for, and a military theme that is essential to the story. We refer you to Jim Baen’s editorial instruction to Keith Laumer on his BOLO stories: “I would like to see something that hints at the profound erudition possessed by the author and is driven by a plot imbued with the deepest philosophical insight into the essential tragedy of the human condition as it is and places it in the bathetic contract to what could, in a better world, be our birthright. Something with scope. Something with sentient tanks.” (Contest entries are not required to have actual sentient tanks, but we won’t say no to them either.)
To learn more and read the rules, head over to baen.com/drake-memorial-awar…
#BaenBooks #TheDrakeAward
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
George Floyd was a drug addled violent criminal hobo who died of a drug overdose and then was venerated as a literal saint while leftists burned down entire city blocks in revenge. Charlie Kirk was a political commentator who never committed any crimes and was gunned down on camera while speaking peacefully in front of an audience, and nobody responded by rioting or committing any acts of violence or reprisals anywhere at all. So, no, joking about George Floyd is not the same as joking about Charlie Kirk. The two men, and the circumstances around their deaths, and the subsequent reactions, have no resemblance at all. There is no comparison except that they both died, and that's it. Anyone trying to draw this moral equivalency is lying or stupid or both. And any conservative claiming that we have to tolerate the Charlie jokes because we criticized George Floyd is a submissive cucked shill and should be disregarded on this issue and every other.
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
In 1944, an American soldier attacked German machine gun positions almost entirely alone.
He captured 17 German soldiers, disabled a Tiger tank, and helped carry two wounded Americans to safety.
65 years later, at age 90, he would fight one final battle. This time, over the American flag.
This is the story of Van T. Barfoot.. 🧵1/5
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
@ABC News continues to lie, this time privately to their friends in the press. This was a coordinated influence operation planted by our competition, not "premature publication".
7:01 AM October 7th, story goes live. Within minutes, dozens of high-profile commentators, politicians, and news outlets are sharing it with tens of millions of followers. We immediately contact ABC and demand they correct their false claims - after multiple rounds of refusal, they finally make a single one-word grammar edit. The editors stand by the reporting and insist the false claims are true.
Finally, eight hours after I was forced to call them out publicly, they delete everything. The editors hide all the comments, the author deletes his X account, and the story is completely wiped from their website without any explanation, directly violating SPJ ethics standards and ABC's own internal rules.
ABC is currently running a coverup operation, ignoring all of our requests for correction/retraction while telling their buddies to spread the word that this was nothing more than a CMS publication timeline error.
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
In 1944, an American pilot landed his tiny two-man floatplane near a Japanese stronghold to rescue downed airmen.
He ended up with nine men aboard.
The plane was so overloaded it couldn't take off. So he used it as a boat, carrying the men across the water toward an American submarine.
This is the incredible story behind this WWII photograph..🧵1/5
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
🧵 6/6
Bob Hoover kept flying for decades.
In 1985, at 63 years old, he flew his P-51 from Daytona Beach to Los Angeles in just 5 hours and 20 minutes, setting a coast to coast record.
He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1988.
Chuck Yeager would later describe Hoover as the greatest stick and rudder pilot he had ever seen.
Hoover died on October 25, 2016. He was 94 years old.
Think about the life between those dates.
He flew dozens of combat missions. He was shot down. He spent almost 16 months as a POW. He escaped, stole an Fw-190 and flew himself to freedom.
Then he came home and spent decades testing some of the fastest aircraft in existence and demonstrating a level of aircraft control that made him a legend among other pilots.
The stolen German fighter wasn't the end of Bob Hoover's story.
It was barely the beginning.
I post a story like this every single day. Most people never see them. Follow so you don't miss the next one.
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
Quick question for Elon: If Starbase Louisiana will be used to put hundreds of thousands of orbital data centers into a perpetually sunlit polar orbit, wouldn't Starmind result in an all-night-long illuminated ring that be horizontal at sunrise and sunset and dead vertical at midnight? Because if Earth is getting a ring AND a Stardial that would be pretty cool. @elonmusk @SpaceX
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
Before I left Islam, I was debating a Sudanese Christian who challenged me to name one good thing about Muhammad. Just one.
I thought: easy. We Muslims practically worship Muhammad as the greatest man who ever lived.
So I tried to recall good qualities, honesty, compassion, mercy, love, anything, any single story, and I couldn’t remember one.
So I went to Google and typed: “the qualities of the Prophet.”
Islamic websites came up, and I thought, good, now I’ll have plenty of examples for this guy.
I opened them and was stunned: even the Islamic websites offered no good qualities in the sense he’d challenged me to find.
They praised his courage in spreading Islam, his fighting of Allah’s enemies, his physical strength, and his strictness.
Not one of the qualities the man had asked for.
Even the famous mercy at Mecca, sparing the people who had supposedly persecuted him, turned out to be for strategic reasons.
And when I started digging into the Quran and the sira for myself, I found that he married a child, he took Safiyya, a Jewish woman, the same day he killed her father, her brother, and her husband, trading his companion Dihya seven other captives for her, and posting a guard by the tent in case she tried to avenge them while raping her.
He had the men of the Jewish tribe beheaded, down to boys checked for pubic hair.
He raided trade caravans and took other tribes’ treasures.
He lied and broke truces he asked for.
He slept with all of his 9 wives the same night.
He killed anyone who mocked him.
He recruited raiders with the promise of other cities’ women.
And when his own fighters hesitated to touch married captives, because their husbands were alive and watching, Muhammad told them it was fine because allah said so.
Even the pagans of Arabia had higher morality than he did.
Every one of these acts was stamped with Allah’s approval.
He even married his adopted son’s wife by divine decree.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
I left Islam when I met this disgusting man, a man who turned his qualities into a religion, transmitted it to every generation of Muslims since, and made himself the ceiling of their morality.
This is the man Mamdani wants you to learn from.
Mawlid al-Nabi Mubarak to Muslims in New York City and around the world.
Today, we honor the life and enduring legacy of Prophet Muhammad (May Peace Be Upon Him), whose teachings of compassion, generosity, justice, faith, and service have inspired communities for more than 1,400 years.
Here in New York City, his example reminds us that caring for one another, embracing our diversity, and serving our communities, makes us stronger as we work to build a better New York City for everyone.
Wishing joy, peace, and blessings upon all who celebrate.
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
Global icon and humanitarian, Dolly Parton, known to the world as a beloved singer, songwriter, philanthropist, actress, playwright, and author died peacefully today in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80 years old.
Dolly is preceded in death by her beloved husband of 59 years Carl Thomas Dean (1942 – 2025), her mother Avie Lee Caroline Owens (1923 – 2003), and father, Robert Lee Parton, Sr. (1921 – 2000).
A rhinestone life that shone bright enough for the world to see, Dolly will forever stand as an inspiration not only through her timeless music and prolific songwriting, but also her wit, warmth, and kindness that made us all feel like family. Dolly Parton’s legacy is one of love, compassion, and resilience. With a seven-decade career, she inspired multiple generations of artists and fans with her music and an unwavering commitment to making the world a better place. Her songs will continue to resonate with people of all ages, and her philanthropic work will have a lasting impact.
At Dolly’s request, a small, private service will be held for immediate family. Dolly’s fans and friends from around the world are encouraged to pay tribute to Dolly on social media by tagging @DollyParton or by leaving a message at dollyparton.com
In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to be made to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library at imaginationlibrary.com
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
After Pearl Harbor, one of the most vulnerable places in the United States was Alaska. Isolated, barely defended, closer to Japan than to Washington, and with no road connecting it to the rest of North America.
Roosevelt ordered one built through 1,500 miles of Canadian wilderness.
They gave the Army eight months.
This is the story of the Alaska Highway..🧵1/4
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
When Eisenhower talked about the man who won the war, he named a boatbuilder from New Orleans that almost nobody had heard of.
Without his boats, he said, they could never have landed on an open beach, and the entire strategy of the war would have had to be different.
The Navy had turned him down more than once.
This is the story of Andrew Higgins..🧵1/4
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
Every so often I see a post from someone that didn't find an eclipse an incredible experience. They didn't seem to get the hype.
The sun turned into a black ball with glowing plasma shooting off of it. If that doesn't get you to feel something, nothing will 😆
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year.
It has been guarded, without interruption, since 1937.
In September of 2003, Hurricane Isabel reached Washington. The National Park Service, out of concern, gave the sentinels of the Old Guard permission to stand down for the storm.
They did not stand down.
The sergeant of the guard on duty that night refused the permission, calmly, and without further comment. He would later say, in an interview, only that permission was not the same as an order, and that in the absence of an order, the walk continues.
The walk continues.
Twenty-one steps. Turn. Face the tomb. Twenty-one seconds. Turn. Face the other way. Twenty-one seconds. Twenty-one steps.
The rain came sideways.
A tree fell in the cemetery a hundred yards to the east.
The wind lifted a portion of the roof from a nearby maintenance shed.
The sentinel did not break stride.
He walked. He turned. He walked.
At 3 a.m. the wind reached seventy miles per hour, and a sentinel weighing 175 pounds in soaked wool, carrying a rifle, and wearing sunglasses in the dark because the manual requires them, walked twenty-one steps, turned, and walked twenty-one steps back.
Nobody was watching him.
Nobody could have watched him. The cemetery had been closed. The public had been evacuated. The only witness was the storm.
He walked for six hours.
He was relieved at 6:12 a.m.
The tomb had not been left, at any point during the storm, uncovered.
There is no medal for this.
There is no ribbon. There is no citation. There is no commendation in his file.
The Old Guard does not require one.
The walk is the point.
The walk was the walk before there was a country to record it, and the walk will be the walk after everyone who remembers this night is gone.
Somewhere in America, at this moment, in whatever weather, a sentinel is walking twenty-one steps beside a marble slab, facing an unknown man whose name he does not know, for an oath he took to a country that will never see him take it.
That is what the promise looks like when nobody is watching.
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
He was 31 years old commanding pilots a decade younger.
They called him Pappy.
They called themselves the Black Sheep.
They shot down over 150 Japanese aircraft in less than three months.
Then their leader vanished.
This is the story of Pappy Boyington..🧵1/7
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
Looks like it is time to once again post my A to Z Guide to Anti-Gun Vulture Talking Points!
A. Gun owners are never trained enough so are dangerous and shouldn’t be armed at all.
B. Gun owners who do train are crazy psychos living out their wannabe fantasies itching to shoot someone.
C. Even though it takes orders of magnitude more effort to become marginally effective with martial arts than a gun, you are better off using martial arts and not having a gun.
D. *Real Men* use their hands. This is why your mom and grandma shouldn’t have guns either.
E. Twitter randos who have never been punched in the face are experts on real life violence, and whatever you have personally experienced doesn’t count.
F. No matter how trained you are, it is never enough for the hypothetical attacker they make up. Sure, your concealed handgun might be enough to stop a regular robber or rapist, but what about if you get attacked by 20 Chechen terrorists with AKs, huh? Huh? (we call this the Dracula Riding Godzilla rule)
G. If the anti-gun vulture was ever in the military, this makes them a Military Trained Expert. Even though most of the time this means they got to put 20 rounds through an M-16 once in 1992.
H. No matter how many certified MMA bad asses or combat vets go “lol wut, dork? I’d rather have a gun.” the anti-gun Twitter vulture will remain undeterred.
I. Goldilocks Rules apply. No matter how much you know about guns, you’re either too ignorant and dangerous, or you know too much and that makes you dangerous. Whatever amount the anti-gun zealot knows is Just Right.
K. Whatever stats they pull out of their ass are sacrosanct. If you cite any numbers they reflexively scream “SOURCE?!” and then have some reason they won’t accept that source when provided. “The actual FBI Crime Statistics? LAME!”
L. At some point they’ll need to talk about how big our penises are, because guns are for compensation. Obviously the female gun owners are compensating for their tiny uteruses.
M. “I believe in the Second Amendment BUUUUUUUUT-” (insert statist bullshit here)
N. If you insist on using terms correctly and words having actual definitions, clearly this demonstrates you are a fanatic. Words mean whatever they need to mean in that moment, especially legal ones.
O. “Castle Doctrine” is a secret right wing code word that means that you can just shoot whoever you want.
P. Get ready for a history lesson about “what the founders really intended” from some dumb motherfucker who was stoned through every history class in high school.
Q. Everybody knows big blue cities are way safer than the scary red state flyover country.
R. Gun control isn’t racist! Sure, historical gun control was all about keeping guns out of the hands of the “undesirables” like freed slaves, Indians, and the Irish, but that’s totally different now!
S. AR-15s are the most dangerous gun that’s ever existed. It can fire ten thousand ultra deadly murder bullets a second and each one can explode a moose from a thousand yards away. There is nothing this miracle death machine can’t do.
T. lol your AR-15s are utterly useless against a tyrannical government.
U. The NRA is an all-powerful, super evil entity which has tricked innocent Americans into wanting ultra deadly assault rifles, to satisfy their incessant blood lust. They do this through their ultra powerful marketing, like giving out free hats.
V. Anti-gun organizations are all totally innocent grass roots movements made up of moms, orphans, and kittens, funded entirely by bake sales, who just want the best for all Americans.
W. “I grew up around guns” makes you an unassailable subject matter expert on the topic.
X. The gun industry is made up of giant soulless mega corporations who make trillions of dollars off of selling Glocks to preschoolers. This message was brought to you by benevolent small businesses like the six companies that own most of the world’s media.
Y. Even though everything the anti-gunner proposes is ass backwards and would just make the problems they are crying about worse, and everywhere they get their way good people are disarmed while evil doers are empowered…they CARE HARDER than we do. So we’re the real bad guys.
Z. “You sound angry.”
GeneModifiedCat retweeted
My fellow citizens of the free world,
I stand before you not as a politician seeking power, but as a human being who still believes in something simple and sacred:
That every nation has the right — and the duty — to protect its own people first.
If I were British, I would vote Restore.
If I were German, I would vote AfD.
If I were Italian, I would follow Giorgia Meloni without hesitation.
And if I were American, I would vote Republican. Every single time.
Not out of hatred.
Not out of fear.
But out of love.
Love for the country that raised me.
Love for the culture that shaped me.
Love for the children who will inherit whatever we leave behind.
There is a force in this world — quiet, patient, and immensely powerful — that has decided our nations must be broken.
It does not come with tanks.
It comes with open borders, with endless guilt, and with the soft language of “human rights” and “equality.”
It uses people from distant lands as instruments.
It tells us that to resist is to be cruel.
It tells us that to prefer our own people is to be evil.
And so the left sings its beautiful songs of compassion…
while our cities change beyond recognition,
while our women walk in fear,
while our children are taught to be ashamed of their own history,
and while the very idea of a people, a homeland, a shared destiny is slowly erased.
They promise utopia.
What they deliver is something much darker.
A future where free nations collapse into managed chaos…
and where the only ones left standing are the strongmen who never believed in our soft illusions —
the Putins, the Xis, the Kims, and the African dictators who laugh at our self-destruction.
Is that the future you want?
To become the servants of those who never pretended to care about “diversity”?
I am not against the world living in peace.
I am not against friendship between nations.
I am not against human kindness.
I am against the deliberate destruction of the only homes we have.
A rational human being understands a simple truth:
First, a people must be secure in their own land.
First, a nation must protect its own children.
Only then can it offer genuine friendship to others.
You cannot share what you no longer possess.
You cannot welcome the world when your own house is on fire.
So I say this with all the force of my heart:
Defend your people.
Defend your culture.
Defend your future.
Not because you hate others —
but because you still love yourselves enough to survive.
That is not extremism.
That is not hatred.
That is the most basic, most human form of love there is.
And if we lose the courage to say it…
then we will lose everything else as well.
