Tag Archives: Florida

Headlines Du Jour ► Saturday, February 8, 2014

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s another weekend, the second of this shortened month. Before we get to today’s Headlines Du Jour, let’s take a look at some headlines from yesteryear:

• 1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

• 1879 – Sandford Fleming first proposes adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute.

• 1915 – D.W. Griffith‘s controversial film The Birth of a Nation premieres in Los Angeles.

Now, on to more recent headlines:

IN LGBT NEWS:

This drag queen’s brilliant response to homophobia
will move you to tears

Video: Gays arrested in Moscow`s Red Square,
singing national anthem


SO GLAD WE’RE LIVING IN A POST-RACIAL SOCIETY:

The history white
people need to learn

Anyone who wants “white history
month” should learn instead about how
whiteness has been used to discriminate


FOX “NEWS” IN THE NEWS AGAIN:


Greg Gutfeld Rags on
Bill O’Reilly: ‘How
Egotistical Is That?!’

Fox’s Juan Williams: It’s
Fair To Call Out Fox For
Their Benghazi Coverage

Hannity Attacks “Comrade De Blasio” For Boycotting
St. Patrick’s Day Parade Over Its LGBT Exclusion
Hannity: “This Is Him Being Prejudiced Towards
People’s Deeply Held Fundamental Religious Belief”


BOYCOTT THE SOCHI OLYMPICS:

Most corrupt Olympics ever: Why Sochi’s
“above and beyond” what we’ve seen before


THE “O” IN GOP STANDS FOR OBFUSCATION:

National Republican Congressional Campaign using fake Democrat websites to lure voters

THE “O” IN GOP STANDS FOR OLD, TOO:

850,000-year-old human
footprints found in Norfolk

MORE DISPATCHES FROM DETROIT, ‘MERKA’S FIRST THROWAWAY CITY:

Obama invites Duggan
to develop job creation
plan for Detroit

Bankruptcy In Action: Belle Isle Becomes A State Park Tuesday

Really? A ‘No Colors Allowed’ Sign at Bar Sparks Absurd Cries of Racism

Orr: Detroit’s turnaround is going to happen quickly


FREE THE WEED!!!

Uruguay’s President Nominated for
Nobel Peace Prize for Legalizing Weed


TODAY IN FLOR-I-DUH NEWS:

Florida Ordinance Makes It Illegal
For Homeless To Use Blankets


CRACK MAYOR CORNER:

Rob Ford wanted rainbow flag
removed from Toronto City Hall

Rob Ford to duck
World Pride parade, too

Rob Ford: ‘I’m not going to change the way I am’

WATCH: Robyn Doolittle appears on The Daily Show


FROM OUTER SPACE:

Curiosity Rover Sees Earth from Mars for 1st Time (Photos)


VIDEO DU JOUR:

/>

Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.

Headlines Du Jour ► Friday, January 31, 2014

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s the last day of the first month of the new year. Among those not celebrating their birthday today because they’re dead is Zane Grey, Isham Jones, Alan Lomax, Jackie Robinson, and Eddie Cantor. So, let’s get right to today’s Headlines Du Jour:

ANOTHER DISPATCH FROM DETROIT, ‘MERKA’S FIRST THROWAWAY CITY:

Detroit deadliest city for children due to prematurity, violence

TODAY IN INCOME INEQUALITY:

Why the rich are freaking out

FREE THE WEED!!!

Dueling Pot Billboards At
The Stoner Bowl: Marijuana
Is Safer Vs. Marijuana
Will Ruin Your Life

Deadly marijuana? Doctors weigh in on British woman
who supposedly overdosed
on cannabis


TODAY IN FLOR-I-DUH:

Poll: Crist Leads Scott in Fla. Governor’s Race


THE EARTH IS COMPLICATED:

Yellowstone Geyser Erupts For First Time in Years

EVOLUTION IS COMPLICATED:

Your skin and hair are probably crawling with Neanderthal genes, say scientists

OUTER SPACE IS COMPLICATED:

New map of the solar system’s asteroids reveals more diversity than previously thought
The map documents the size, composition, and celestial location of over 100,000 known asteroids within our solar system.

Jupiter May Have Once Been as Close as Mars, Discovery of ‘Rouge’ Asteroids Changes
Ideas About Solar System

CLIMATE CHANGE IS COMPLICATED:

Magellanic penguin chicks dying from climate change, study says

VIDEO DU JOUR:


Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.

Headlines Du Jour ► Thursday, January 30, 2014

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

While the Right Wing clutches its collective pearls over King Obama vowing to go around the obstreperous House of Representatives, Not Now Silly continues to bring you the best in news. Let’s get right to today’s Headlines Du Jour.

LGBT NEWS:

New Study: Anti-Homophobic School Policy
Reduces Suicide Risk—For All Students

FREE THE WEED!!!

Florida Will Be the Next
Medical Marijuana State

ANOTHER EXCITING EPISODE OF COPS GONE WILD:

Cop Arrested For Demanding
Sex At A Traffic Stop

THE “O” IN GOP STANDS FOR OLD:

Lindsey Graham: World
‘Literally About to Blow Up’

Senator Floats Idea To
Penalize Low-Income
Women Who Have Children

SO GLAD WE’RE LIVING IN A POST-RACIAL SOCIETY:

Rare photo of slave children found in North Carolina attic


CRACK MAYOR CORNER:

Brother-in-law beaten in jail to keep quiet about Rob Ford’s drug use, lawsuit alleges

Rob Ford hit with lawsuit alleging link to jailhouse assault


MR. CHRISTIE? YOU MAKE GOOD COOKIES:

Chris Christie update: Questions arise over
Christie brother’s real estate dealings


GLENN BECK IN THE NEWS AGAIN:

Beck: Obama Became ‘America’s First Dictator’ During State of the Union


From the Not Now Silly Archives
The Day I Shook Hands
With Glenn Beck

MARTHA MACCALLUM IN THE NEWS AGAIN:

Fox News host: Women don’t want equal pay,
they already get ‘exactly what they’re worth’

Cyber-bully Mark Koldys

BULLY CORNER:

Texas Parents Sue Six Bullies And
Their Parents For Cyberbullying Page

From the Not Now Silly Archives
The Mark Koldys-Johnny Dollar
Cyber-Bully Comments of the Day

BOYCOTT THE OLYMPICS, COCA-COLA, & MCDONALD’S

Olympic Sponsors Were Warned
About Sochi; Now McDonald’s and
Coca-Cola Are Having a PR Nightmare

AND THAT INCLUDES SANTA CLAUS:

Early Europeans had dark skin and blue eyes

ORANGE ALERT:

John Boehner Threatens President Obama With Impeachment Over Use
Of Executive Orders

TODAY IN RELIGION:

Virginia pastor: Women are
sinners if clothes ‘outline’
body ‘to make it noticed’

Arizona pastor offering tax-deductible exorcisms over Skype for $295 each

AMNESIA ON THE BRAIN:

Amnesiac Henry Molaison’s brain undergoes digital post-mortem

BEATLES CORNER:

Ringo Starr Talks Paul, Meditation
and Why He Loves L.A.

VIDEO DU JOUR:


Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.

Headlines Du Jour ► Monday, January 27, 2014

, , , , , , , , ,

As Not Now Silly continues to collect its own headlines, the concentration continues to be on Income Inequality.

WHY RADIO SUCKS:

Radio’s Answer to
Spotify? Less Variety
Stations Create More Repetition, Fearing Listeners Will Tune Out Unfamiliar Tunes

TODAY IN WTF? NEWS:

Oklahoma Lawmaker Wants To Ban All Marriages

ANOTHER DISPATCH FROM DETROIT, ‘MERKA’S FIRST THROWAWAY CITY:

Downtown Detroit apartment rents spiking higher, even pricing out middle class

TODAY IN FLOR-I-DUH NEWS:

Slaying casts spotlight on Miami’s world of pigeon racing

MORE ON INCOME INEQUALITY:

John Cassidy on Income
Mobility and Inequality

Education can resuscitate
the American dream

As US wages stagnate, food stamp use growing fastest among workers with some college training

The Super Bowl and what it teaches
about income inequality: Stephen Kimatian

From Income Inequality To Economic Imbalance

Republicans Need To Start Acting Like
Adults, And Embrace Income Inequality

Gap between rich and poor means unstable world for everyone
The global elite is quite rightly afraid of becoming a victim of its own success, says Stephen Donnelly

Editorial: Wide gap gets wider

Income Inequality and Raising the Minimum Wage

‘The Boss’ rocks against rising global income gap


VIDEO DU JOUR

Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.

Headlines Du Jour ► Friday, January 17, 2014

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Chris Christie in the headlines long
before he was NJ Governor.

Uh oh! My headline-collecting robot drones did not show up for the start of their shift. With no time left to hire interns, I had to go back to collecting the headlines by hand. While you read today’s Headlines Du Jour, I’ll ponder what this means.

NATURE IS COMPLICATED:

13-year-old inventor cracks
the secret of trees to
revolutionize solar energy


SCIENCE IS COMPLICATED:

Google developing smart contact lens


RELIGION CORNER:

Texas Public Schools Are Teaching Creationism
 


FREE THE WEED!!!

Florida Medical Marijuana
Supporters Claim Victory
Backers of medical marijuana constitutional amendment
have collected more than 1.1 million signatures

New Hampshire governor promises to
kill ‘historic’ marijuana legalization bill

‘I like weed, and I’m a good person’: Pot smokers fight stereotypes


TEABAGGED ENOUGH ALREADY?

Tea Party Candidate’s Ad Touts His
‘Sexy’ Wife And Large Testicles


WHEN YOU GOT TO GO, YOU GOT TO GO:

Final Exit: Group That Helps Suffering People Commit Suicide Is Active in Florida


STILL WORST SHOW SINCE MY MOTHER THE CAR:

Howard Stern: Fox’s The Five
Is ‘My Favorite TV Show’

◄ ◄ ◄ From the Not Now Silly Archives ► ► ►
The Five Is Simply Bad Tee Vee
— An Aunty Em Review —


ANOTHER EXCITING EPISODE OF COPS GONE WILD:

D.C. officer charged with prostituting teens
had been investigated as early as 2011, police


THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH:

Walt Disney’s Grandniece
Agrees With Meryl Streep:
He Was ‘Racist’


FOX NEWS IN THE NEWS:

Fox News host says Americans don’t know their history, flubs history of Boston Tea Party


IN OUTER SPACE:

Spanish researchers discover the first
black hole orbiting a “spinning” star

Pluto Has a Fifth Moon,
Hubble Telescope Reveals

VIDEO DU JOUR:


Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.

Headlines Du Jour ► Thursday, January 9, 2014

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good morning, Headliners. It’s time once again to take the pulse of the world and see what your neighbours will be talking about later today. So grab a cup of java, put your cell phone on vibrate only, and settle in with today’s Headlines Du Jour.

BEST HEADLINE DU JOUR:

Oklahoma man killed
stepfather with ‘atomic
wedgie,’ authorities say

LGBT NEWS:

Breaking: Utah Gov. Tells 1360 Legally Married
Same-Sex Couples Their Unions Are Invalid

FROM OUTER SPACE:

UFO Causes German Airport To Divert Flights

Fox Guest: Minimum Wage Is Just ‘Black Teenage Unemployment Act’

‘Gates of Hell’: Fox News
Pairs Ann Coulter with
Unfortunate Chyron

Colbert Calls Out Fox’s Hollow Climate Change Attack

TODAY’S COLD CASE:

Burglars Who Took On F.B.I. Abandon Shadows

GUNS, GUNS, GUNS:

Lawmaker fires handgun in Kentucky Capitol: ‘I am a gun owner… It happens’

I NEVER META-DATA I DIDN’T LIKE:

Graphs by MIT Students Show the Enormously Intrusive Nature of Metadata

MORE DISPATCHES FROM DETROIT, ‘MERKA’S FIRST THROWAWAY CITY:

16 Reasons to Go to Detroit Right Now

Detroit’s historic Brush Park may finally see a revival

Rebuilding Detroit’s first and last neighborhood

Nod to 1300 Lafayette

WHEN DO WE ADMIT THAT CAPITALISM HAS NOT WORKED?

Bring Back the WPA

Why we should give free money to everyone

TODAY IN FLORI-DUH NEWS:

Florida man bites neighbor’s
ear off over a cigarette

Toxic Tush Doc Oneal Morris to Begin
Prison Sentence (in the Male Population)

CLIMATE CHANGE, GLOBAL WARMING, & CHARLETANS

Linking Weather Extremes to Global Warming

Yes, It’s Cold — and Yes, Global
Warming Is Still Happening

RELIGION CORNER:

Pat Robertson: Global warming is a scam because there are no SUVs on Jupiter

America’s First ‘Pastafarian’
Official Sworn into Office

Pastafarian minister sworn into office

FREE THE WEED!!!

Fox News contributor Ben Carson: Marijuana causes flashbacks years after use

Chris Hayes: Bill O’Reilly Wrong On Pot Arrests

Jon Stewart blasts cable anchors panicking over legal pot: ‘You’re a f*cking idiot’

O’Reilly Fires Back at Jon Stewart, ‘Can’t Imagine’ Chinese Kids Being Addicted to Texting

Kevin Hart and Ice Cube Aggressively
Mock Nancy Grace’s Anti-Weed Comments

VIDEO DU JOUR:

Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.

Headlines Du Jour ► Monday, January 6, 2014

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Not Now Silly headline-collecting robot drones have been behaving oddly lately. While they have no heads, it sure seems like they are putting them together. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were talking about me. 

Let’s get right to today’s Headlines Du Jour.

HISTORY IS COMPLICATED:

How two archaeologists’ hunch led to
stunning claim about Buddha’s birth date

LGBT NEWS:

Gay Marriage Opponents Call For Uprising In Utah

TODAY IN CLIMATE CHANGE:

“Dark Money” Funds Climate Change Denial Effort
A Drexel University study finds that a large slice of donations to
organizations that deny global warming are funneled through third-
party pass-through organizations that conceal the original funder

FREE THE WEED!!!

The People of Florida
Demand Medical Marijuana
And they’re forcing a ballot measure
to legalize it in November.

Obama’s Pot Problem

Now that states have started legalizing recreational marijuana,
will the president continue the government’s war on weed?

Bummer: Colorado pot shops will run out of marijuana within days

FOX “NEWS” IN THE NEWS:

Fox News Sunday Guest: God Doesn’t
Want Nuns To Sign ObamaCare Waiver

Things Go Horribly Wrong For Fox News When
They Try to Use Mitt Romney to Smear MSNBC

THE “O” IN GOP STANDS FOR OLD:

A more progressive America is emerging, but Republicans won’t go down without a fight

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker doesn’t know
how to make Republicans more appealing

GUNS, GUNS, GUNS:

Fate of Fired Guns & Ammo Editor Shows
‘Little Room for Nuance’ in ‘Gun Journalism’

OH, CANADA!!!

Canadian libricide: Tories torch and dump centuries
of priceless, irreplaceable environmental archives

ANOTHER HOAX THAT’S GONE VIRAL:

Was a Local Fox Reporter Really Fired For
Saying On-Air He’d ‘F*ck’ Missing Woman?

WHAT IF THEY BECOME SELF-AWARE?

AI vs. AI:
Two chatbots talking to each other

TODAY IN RELIGION:

Christian Pastor Calls For Atheists And Gays To Be Put To Death

10 Worst Sex and Relationship Tips From the Christian Right
These holy tips on love, dating and marriage
will allow you to please yourself (not
that way), your mate and your Lord.

IS JUSTICE BLIND?

Trial by Twitter
After high-school football stars were accused of rape,
online vigilantes demanded that justice be served. Was it?

TODAY IN FLOR-I-DUH NEWS:

Miami Named One of America’s Ten Best Cities for 2013

IN OUTER SPACE:

Small Asteroid 2014 AA Hits Earth
Discovered on New Year’s Eve by a telescope in Arizona, a small asteroid struck Earth somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean — apparently unnoticed — about 25 hours later.

MEET THE BEATLES:

50 Years Later: The Greatest Beatles Performance of All Time
Months before the The Ed Sullivan Show, the band played a seven-song set for Swedish radio that settles any doubt about their electrifying live presence.

VIDEO DU JOUR:

◄ A Beatles’ Bootleg – Something ►

Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.

Headlines Du Jour ► Friday, January 3, 2014

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What makes a headline good enough for Headlines Du Jour? The biggest criteria is that it has to be interesting to me. I figure it’ll also interest at least one of my readers. Being funny, or absurd doesn’t hurt, either. However, more than anything else it has to be attractive to my robot drones, which do all my headline picking now. Let’s get right to today’s Headlines Du Jour.

RELIGION CORNER:

Mayor declares 2014 the ‘year
of the Bible’ in Texas city

SCIENCE IS COMPLICATED:

Dogs align themselves with Earth’s magnetic field when it comes time to poop

El Nino may be behind melting of Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier

How mysterious orbs could be used to predict earthquakes: Scientists link strange lights to movement in the Earth’s crust

ANOTHER DISPATCH FROM DETROIT, ‘MERKA’S FIRST THROWAWAY CITY:

It’s Official: A Peruvian Man Owns the Crumbling Packard Plant

UAW Trust: Fiat’s $4.35 billion deal for
Chrysler is ‘best possible outcome’ for retirees

Detroit Murders Drop, But City Recorded Same Number as NY

FOX “NEWS” IN THE NEWS:

Young Viewers Avoid Fox
News Like the Plague
as Ratings Drop 30%

Fox Business host Stuart Varney: Ice in Antarctica
proves ‘global cooling’

TODAY IN FLOR-I-DUH:

Florida expected to surpass NY in population,
Sunshine State embodies 21st century America

Miami’s got new city commission leaders

THE “P” IN GOP STANDS FOR PARTY:

Defying GOP Leaders, Rep. Trey Radel Won’t Resign After Rehab

Cocaine Congressman Trey
Radel Draws $1 Million
Super PAC Challenge

Partisan Evolution Gap? Politically Insignificant, GOP Says


TODAY IN OUTER SPACE:

New studies give strong boost to binary-star formation theory

VIDEO DU JOUR:

Headlines
Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.

Headlines Du Jour ► January 2, 2014

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I was recently asked, “What makes a Headline Du Jour?” The first line of defense, as always, is my army of drone robots. They spend the long nights traversing the innertubes, collecting only the best headlines — at the peak of perfection. The hardest part is keeping the robot drones from becoming self-aware, which is why I’ve limited their RAM. Let’s get right to today’s Headlines Du Jour.

SO GLAD WE’RE LIVING IN A POST-RACIAL SOCIETY:

Racism Literally Costs America $2 Trillion…Ready to Stop Payment?

FREE THE WEED!!!

This Iraq War Vet Was First to
Buy Legal Pot in Colorado

Six Things You Should Know
About Buying Pot In Colorado

South America May Be On the Verge Of a Marijuana Legalization Tidal Wave

THE “O” IN GOP STANDS FOR OLD:

On Christmas, Republicans Quietly Declare War on Themselves

FOX “NEWS” IN THE NEWS:

Watch: Party Girl Says ‘We’re Gonna
F*ck Sh*t Up!” Live on Fox News

Kelly Wright, Juan Williams Pimp Christian
Right’s America Founded On Faith Meme

GET THE DUCK OUTTA HERE!!!

Duck Dynasty Patriarch Hates On Chinese, Says Muslims Are ‘Famous For Murder’

Franklin Graham chides Christians
for not fighting beside Phil
Robertson in ‘religious war’

‘Suck Dynasty’? Reality stars fizzle in awkward Fox New Year’s interview

Watch the Giant Rubber
Duck Pop and Deflate

TODAY IN FLOR-I-DUH NEWS:

Law firm demands Florida man remove racist
‘commercial or whatever it is’ from Internet

WHOOOPS!!!

Customs officials destroy virtuoso flautist’s 11
instruments because they
were ‘agricultural products’

FROM OUTER SPACE:

NASA’s Hubble Sees Cloudy
Super-Worlds With
Chance for More Clouds

Video: Sun has ‘flipped upside down’ as new magnetic cycle begins

VIDEO DU JOUR:

Headlines
Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.

Headlines Du Jour ► New Year’s Day 2014

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2013 YEAR-ENDERS

Twelve Months Of Fox
News Race-Baiting

2013 a great year for U.S. stocks

2013: The year in whiteness

2013: The Best of Bad Astronomy

The Year in Racial Amnesia

Universe Today’s Top 10
(or so) Stories of 2013

2013 In Memoriam:
Musicians We Lost This Year

The 20 Worst Fox News
Moments Of 2013

The Seven Most Tiresome
Media Trends of 2013

In 1964, Isaac Asimov
Imagined the World in 2014

I’m sure it comes as no shock to anyone, but it’s a brand NEW YEAR!!! 

Not Now Silly is going to call it Two-thousand and fourteen when frustrated with it, but ’14 when pleased.

Let’s get right to today’s Headlines Du Jour, the very first of ’14.

CONSTITUTIONALLY YOURS:

Life, Liberty, and the Founding Fathers’ Pursuit of Hoppiness
The Constitution was written by men who owned breweries, imported whiskey, and humped cows.

Retired General Wants March on White House and Citizens Arrest of Obama

Dysfunctional Republican Christians Vow To Destroy the First Amendment

THE “O” IN GOP STANDS FOR OLD:

Oops! Republican Congressman Files Re-Election Papers For Wrong District

GUNS, GUNS, GUNS:

Christie declines to defend N.J. gun laws, sparking criticism

SO GLAD WE’RE LIVING IN A POST-RACIAL SOCIETY:

Knoxville drivers greeted by banners warning
that diversity is anti-white genocide

TODAY IN FLOR-I-DUH NEWS:

Judge strikes down Florida law mandating drug tests for welfare

OH! OH!! CANADA!!!

Passengers Ridicule Canadian
Airline For Sexist Ticket Policy

RELIGION CORNER:

Franklin Graham: Pope Francis is not the judge, God is the judge

Home Depot founder worries Pope Francis neither loves nor understands rich Americans

HIGH TECH CRIME:

Thieves In Europe Are Using USB Sticks To Clean Out ATMs

VIDEO DU JOUR:

◄ Best News Bloopers of 2013 ►

Headlines
Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.