Tick, tick, tick – we’re getting closer to number 1…do you know what it is? Did you cheat? Number 15: Blake’s 7 GorT has no pattern recognition here – never heard of it or saw it. Blake’s 7 featuresRoj Blake, … Continue reading →
The esteemed Borepatch writes in regarding Torchwood on the list: Two Borepatch household thumbs up on Torchwood. It’s interesting that this is a Dr. Who spin off with frequent gunfire, and also interesting that Captain Jack is American. Even in … Continue reading →
As we close in on number 1, you’ll start seeing some consistently strong contenders. However, still a few anomalies remain. Number 20: Starblazers / Space Battleship Yamato GorT watched this on Saturday mornings regularly. The article references both Speed Racer and … Continue reading →
Long-time reader and Thinker of Deeper Thoughts Mitch, who might be a full-time operative of ours in some department to which the Czar doesn’t pay much attention, wrote in on the recent discussions of Israeli demographics. Mitch is a bit … Continue reading →
Marching down the list, we get a few good ones here… Number 25: Max Headroom GorT watched this whole series and enjoyed it as a young lad – geeky science fiction, quirky humor (I was a young lad) and Amanda … Continue reading →
Ever Faithful Operative SMR writes in about the background of modern Israelis, and asks a good question. Dear Your Greatness, Operative BJ wrote in recently explaining the racial component of the Progressive view of Middle East relations, stating that, “Israelis … Continue reading →
“Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one’s … Continue reading →
Here’s the next installment of the countdown. Number 30: Battlestar Galactica (1978-79) A science fiction mish-mash of Mormonism (courtesy of creator Glen A Larson) and some mythology and we get the original BSG. As cheesy as it was, it … Continue reading →
Greetings, oh shiny one. I am minion #462.5, and I normally report to the Czar (may his shoes remained tied, and verily, not unto each other). I have been perusing the list of sci-fi shows, and it saddened me that … Continue reading →
Operative BJ offers an explanation as to why the American Left hates Israel: Your Majesty, Israelis are, for the most part, descendants of Europeans. White Europeans. Palestinians are, for the most part, Arabic, indigenous to the area, and are not … Continue reading →
Poor JAB—you know, the one from the Double-wide—has had this note sitting in the Czar’s mailbox for over a week. Dear Your Czarness: So I saw that our Pres. Obama had a meeting with the leaders of Honduras, Guatemala and … Continue reading →
The Czar does not have much more to add to Dr. J’s stammering but otherwise well-done review of Guardians of the Galaxy. Like his clan, the Czar war platoon loved this movie. Even the Царица, who did not initially want … Continue reading →
Number 35: Cowboy Bepop You think that Guardians of the Galaxy is the only mixed team that includes an odd cast of characters? Cowboy Bebop ran for 20+ episodes in the late 1990s and remains a fav in the … Continue reading →
Gentle Readers, Like Clan Czar, Clan J. took in the Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend. The four of us, Dr. J., Mrs. Dr. J., the Lil Resident and Lil Medstudent all loved it, This was no easy feat as … Continue reading →
Number 40: Life on Mars This was a short-lived BBC show where a detective was hit by a car and wakes up in the 1970s. Ok, maybe “science fiction”….or maybe just an interesting premise as the series focused more on being … Continue reading →
The next installment: Number 45: Knight Rider Blech. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. Ok, maybe a lot. GorT was never a fan of this show. Way too campy. Hasselhoff was over the top. Ugh. … Continue reading →
It’s been a while since GorT (or others here) did a multi-part post/series. We’ve had some memorable ones. While this one may not become one, it’s of interest to me and a few followers that I’ve traded emails with so … Continue reading →
‘Puter’s had it with the Left’s ignorance of Israeli history. ‘Puter suspects, however, that much of this ignorance is not ignorance. Rather, it’s rank bigotry affecting an ignorant guise. Great Britain controlled the territory that comprised modern Israel and Gaza … Continue reading →
The Czar wishes to report with personal sadness the passing of his beloved family member, Sally, whom a few of you emailed and tweeted to us about periodically. Sally, as some of you may remember, was a Shetland Sheepdog we … Continue reading →
Amazon Studios just quietly greenlighted the drama The Man In the High Castle. Based on Philip K. Dick’s Hugo Award-winning novel, The Man In the High Castle is written by Frank Spotnitz (of the X-Files) and to be directed by David Semel (Legends). It is set in … Continue reading →
Quick—what does the Russian incursion of Ukraine have in common with the Israeli strikes on Hamas in Gaza? If you lean to the Left, you might be inclined to say something about an offensive military power taking advantage of a … Continue reading →
It’s been some time since ‘Puter’s excoriated E.J. Dionne, America’s Foremost Mentally Retarded ColumnistTM. Frankly, ‘Puter got bored tearing apart Mr. Dionne’s “logic.” It’s not very challenging to do so. But Mr. Dionne’s column, run in today’s Washington Post,* piqued … Continue reading →
GorT is a manager of 20+ software engineers in two different cities in the United States. GorT has been in the software industry for 20+ years and this group is one of the highest performing and talented teams he’s seen … Continue reading →
St. Jerome, in his busier days, once wrote that pretty much nihil was novus under the solis, and that observation is pretty true in politics. Know all those stupid tropes that Democrats keep throwing out about their Republican rivals? You … Continue reading →
Gentle Readers, Dr. J. saw this casting news this morning. Lucy Lawless will be joining the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cast this fall in an unspecified role for an unknown duration of episodes. Dr. J. would like to make a casting … Continue reading →
Gentle Readers, Dr. J.’s thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the Malaysian Airline that appears to have been shot down in the Ukraine by Russian or pro-Russian forces. President Obama gave an odd forty second acknowledgement yesterday … Continue reading →
Since 2006 or so, when David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett decided America needed was an untested, uninterested community organizer as president, we’ve been told America’s conducted its foreign affairs wrong since its inception. What America truly needed was “smart diplomacy,” a … Continue reading →
GorT got this delivered via the autonomous mail delivery system we have here at the Castle…mostly because the denizens of the moat don’t play nice with our regular postal carrier. We love our postal carriers, but it’s pretty hard to … Continue reading →
Gentle Readers, As you are aware, The Czar is, among other things, our Grammarian-in-Chief, a title Dr. J. will never own. Weird Al is back! He’s putting out parody videos like he’s back in the ’80s. Dr. J. suspects that … Continue reading →
GorT came across a brief post by Seth Godin regarding autonomous cars and tends to agree with his broad assessment. His summary: Self-driving cars are going to be a huge transformational disruption, and they’re probably going to happen faster than … Continue reading →
On the one hand, we get a note from Boneman: Oh powerful and feared Czar, Your minion, Boneman, humbly suggests that those who think Dear Leader somehow doesn’t understand or appreciate the ongoing southern invasion and how to deal with … Continue reading →
Gentle Readers, Happy Bastille Day! This is just a friendly reminder as to how quickly democracy can transform into mob rule, and ultimately tyranny 2.0. and In the words of the greatest president in our lifetime, if not the 20th century, … Continue reading →
The following essay is a guest post from Operative BG. We remind our readers that you are welcome to submit your thoughts either as an email or as a complete essay. Every year, the weekend after Independence Day, the city … Continue reading →
What has Barack Obama accomplished as president? Permit ‘Puter to rephrase the question. What has Barack Obama accomplished as president that has been good for America? ‘Puter would argue that Obama has accomplished exactly nothing that has made America a … Continue reading →
Following up on yesterday’s essay on the Quinnipiac poll of best and worst presidents, the Czar wanted to take the opportunity to provide his rankings. Agree or disagree as you wish, but here are some thoughts on best to worst. … Continue reading →
The Czar, you loyal readers will note, has long maintained that history’s judgment on President Obama would be particularly harsh. Evidently, history is not waiting. Last week, despite the intense suppression of the main stream media, the generally pro-liberal Quinnipiac … Continue reading →
Dr. J. loved GorT’s tribute to Nikola Tesla, however, GorT didn’t quite get it right with regard to Tesla’s fan base. Back in the 1980s, the ladies loved Nikola, and indeed, Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark (OMD) made a video … Continue reading →
Today marks the 158th anniversary of Nikola Tesla’s birth. GorT has a bit of a bias and feels that Tesla is probably the greatest inventor in the modern age. Aside from being most famous for developing the modern Alternating Current … Continue reading →
No, not that change of life! Dr. J. spent a good amount of his training time in research related activities, and actually held a grant or two from the NIH at various times in his career. At a critical juncture … Continue reading →
It’s been a while since GorT has done a mailbag dump (man, that sounds like something ‘Puter would say). Item 1 – maybe shockingly to the Czar, Borepatch writes into the silver robot with the followin: Great writeup. I completely … Continue reading →
GorT told his friends and family a few years ago that the whole “cupcake industry” as it were has 3 to 5 years of viability. Then people will tire of it, there will be some new trendy thing and all … Continue reading →
As you know, DC Comics is locked in an epic battle for domination of the superhero movie genre with Marvel Comics. DC has not fared so well; as they try to figure out how modern audiences will adapt to the … Continue reading →
Operative BJ writes to opine: Your Highness, This lowly one has been watching the recent reaction to the deaths of 3 teens unfold in Israel and wishes to make an observation. The child-king Obama spoke to Israel and asked for … Continue reading →
Like GorT, ‘Puter has enjoyed many of his liberal friends’ logic free, overwrought Facebook rants on the Supreme Court’s decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby et al. Unlike many of his friends, ‘Puter has actually read the Court’s decision and … Continue reading →
Sigh. GorT has been trying to ignore the Facebook deluge that those opposed to the recent SCOTUS ruling a/k/a the “Hobby Lobby case” are causing. Most recently, GorT came across this post referenced in his timeline by a friend of … Continue reading →
XKDC.COM posted this cartoon today: It shows the surface area of all of the solid celestial bodies in the solar system. Just like on heart, some real estate is better than others for building a home, it nevertheless is pretty cool. … Continue reading →
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Human_Fertilization.png One of Dr. J.’s hep-cat progressive friends from on teh Facebook posted this article from the Atlantic during her wailing, rending of garments and gnashing of teeth as a consequence of the narrow-in-scope Hobby Lobby decision. The article tries, like so many, … Continue reading →
So the Czar is goading GorT (and maybe ‘Puter) a bit with his latest post about soccer being tiresome. Aside from his clever title the post is a bunch of mis- or uninformed babbling. Yeah, I’m calling out the Czar … Continue reading →
The Czar is glad Americans are watching the World Cup in such numbers, because since last week the number of people claiming baseball is way more boring than soccer has dropped to nearly nothing. No matter how tiring you feel … Continue reading →
It is all as Dr. J. has foretold. The Supreme Court upheld the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 5-4. Dr. J. expected more intellectual honesty from the ladies (and Mr. Breyer) of the court, resulting in a 7-2 or … Continue reading →
Evidence is a strong teacher. Children will hear their parents tell them to wear heavy coats when it is cold outside but argue and refuse, only to find out that the advice makes a lot of sense. Based on the … Continue reading →
The Czar’s day-to-day annoyance level is pretty typical, and normally we shrug off morons who put political bumper stickers on their cars. Bumper stickers are written by and for people with a shallow understanding of the topic, but feel they … Continue reading →
‘Puter’s been busy herding cats and doing other folks’ jobs for them over the last several days. As such, he hasn’t had much time to cogitate on current events. In ‘Puter’s own inimitable, ADHD addled style, here are a few … Continue reading →
If you haven’t seen this piece yet, it’s worth it. The NYT ran an Op-Ed by Timothy Egan about Walmart and its payscales for employees – clearly advocating for a higher wage. Walmart, in a very non-traditional corporate response, posted … Continue reading →
So, President Obama dropped a new one on us yesterday that was so bad, even the Washington Post is calling out his blunder. In a response to a question, “Do you wish you had left a residual force in Iraq? Any … Continue reading →
Here’s what’s rattling around in ‘Puter’s head this morning, in no particular order. ‘Puter agrees with GorT. There’s precious little chance the IRS inadvertently “lost” Lois Lerner’s emails. To so thoroughly erase all traces of such emails requires more than … Continue reading →
From the Fox News link on the Redskins Trademark ruling, this quote from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: “Daniel Snyder may be the last person in the world to realize this, but it’s just a matter of time until he is … Continue reading →
Today, the US Patent office ruled 2-1 that the Washington Redskins’ trademarks are patently offensive. What his means is that folks can make legally make Redskins memorabilia without paying royalties to Dan Snyder, the Redskins and the NFL. The Redskins, … Continue reading →
Dr. J. wrote on this subject over a year and a season ago, that is that new life begins at conception. That is scientific fact. It has stronger evidence than global warming, and certainly stronger evidence than man-made causes of … Continue reading →
While we’re on the kick of pointing out the lies that the Obama Administration has foisted upon the country, how about this one: Now pop over to this great piece on Forbes.com where they cite an analysis of 3,137 of … Continue reading →
Operative SMR writes in the following: To the Puissant and Metallic GorTechie, Please do not allow the red herring of the “lost” emails. Remember Occam’s Razor. The emails are not “lost.” The administration is flat out lying. Again. Your trembling … Continue reading →
GorT has been in the IT business as a full-time career for over 20 years and in and around computers since 1980. The whole “IRS lost Lerner’s emails” is such a crock of shit that I’m not sure where to … Continue reading →
Operative BJ writes in with something that has been bugging a lot of people, including your Czar, regarding the alleged loss of every critical Lois Lerner email—to and from—regarding the IRS scandal. Your Majesty, Even I, a lowly minion, am … Continue reading →
Just a quick mention that largely through the hard work of the Volgi, we are releasing a Visitor’s Guide to the Castle. Many of you might not be aware of all the references made, the categories/hashtags of the posts, etc. … Continue reading →
The other night, Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) was soundly defeated in his primary by Virginia citizen David Brat. The punditosphere proceeded to navel gaze and read the tea leaves as it is not everyday, or even every primary, in which an … Continue reading →
Yeah, ‘Puter knows House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA7) lost his primary, but that’s not the most important political development from yesterday, and not by a long shot.* Less noticed but more important is Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rolf … Continue reading →
Gentle Readers, Superbusy is evolving into the new normal for Dr. J. Today’s mailbag has three letters. The first comes form Operative Run SMC regarding the Apple/Dr. J. Axis: Dear Dr. J., So, I think Apple knows who you all … Continue reading →
The FIFA 2014 World Cup starts Thursday and the talk of soccer in the United States is heating up. Of course, most of the discussion centers around two topics: (1) how unlikely it is that the United States’ Men’s National … Continue reading →
As everyone knows,* student loans are the sole reason today’s college graduates are unable to enter adulthood. This ginormous debt burden forces grads to decamp their college digs for their parents’ basements. We are told by our media betters that … Continue reading →
The Czar’s post reminds me that we did in fact discuss some grilling/smoking stuff during the ad hoc Gormogonicon earlier this spring. Much like the Czar, GorT has grilled all sorts of things. As far as smoking in my vertical … Continue reading →
Curiously perhaps, but all six of the Gormogons who write on this site have some sort of skill with food. Some of us are better in the kitchen and some of us are better out in the backyard, but each … Continue reading →
Your Czarness: Loved the analysis of girls’ volleyball! The Bubbas and I were watching SEC softball last week and I observed a lot of differences compared to SEC baseball, and it was not just the ponytails with team-color-ribbons in the … Continue reading →
A lot of folks are going rightfully nutso over a recent image taken by the Hubble telescope, which is aged and obsolete by all accounts. But boy, it can take some pictures. This is the photo that’s tearing it up … Continue reading →
Gentle Readers, One of Dr. J.’s colleagues posted this meme on his Facebook page. It is emblematic with the problems of environmental leftists in particular and leftists in general. Their point is obvious. The pollution in cities in the early … Continue reading →
America negotiated with terrorists to secure the release of a soldier* who, based on the facts available as of this posting, is likely a deserter. Not only did America break one of its most rigid rules to secure this soldier’s … Continue reading →
Just so we are clear, the Veterans Affairs problem still exists, but thanks to Shinseki’s resignation, they’re now one person short. So imagine this email we received from a doctor with inside information. What follows is not for the faint … Continue reading →
GorT normally covers kids playing sports—and trust your Czar on this one, but he has a cannon ready to fire on that—but the Czar quite by chance found himself attending a regional volleyball tournament over the weekend. No, the Czar … Continue reading →
The Czar cannot decide which sentence in this email is more amazing. Oh great and powerful Oz Czar, Your humble and trembling minion on the plains recently saw this and thought it was particularly applicable to many calamities currently occurring … Continue reading →
The President is very busy these days. As the economy proves his policies have prolonged a stagnant economy for longer than the Great Depression, the President announced that he is very working to draw attention to youth sports concussions. While … Continue reading →
The Czar was loath to publish this on or just before Memorial Day, but cannot delay any longer. Some time ago, the Czar proposed eliminating the Department of Veterans Affairs, and rolling its functions into the Department of Defense—after stripping … Continue reading →
Thanks to long-timer Mark Spahn of West Seneca, New York—who suffers under the illusion that the Czar is the proprietor here and not a mere contributor—we heard back from Professor Eugue Volokh himself on the subject of intentionally posting improper … Continue reading →
Now they’ve gone and done it. ‘Puter’s finally had enough. Enough of the hypocrisy of our media betters. Enough of the dipshittery masquerading as trenchant commentary. Enough of the unearned self-esteem. Enough of the asshattery of certain voters. The following … Continue reading →
Our beloved Archivist, the one and only Marie writes: I’m catching up on lackadaisical reading; my apologies. Re: April 18th, “The Science of Contraception”, I think you nailed the 4 associations on the continuum quite fairly. As a Millenial Catholic, … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin received this dispatch attached to a brick thrown through one of the windows at the castle. This irritates your Mandarin for two reasons, the first being that the door was open, and second, well you can figure it … Continue reading →
The internationally famous drummer, author, and academic swimsuit model (truly one of our best disguises ever), Professor Mondo himself (@ProfMondo) writes in to add some spin to a recent topic here on the site: Hail, O Inspiration for at least … Continue reading →
Operative BJ swung by the Castle the other day, and the subject of the VA debacle came up. He mentioned to us: And now we hear – yet again – that the Veteran’s Administration has failed to administrate the care … Continue reading →
GorT has recently attended a number of professional presentations by members in the Software Development community advocating “lean” management approaches and “self organizing” teams. The interesting thing is that when professionally presented there is some meat behind these concepts and … Continue reading →
The Czar was interested to learn that Chipotle restaurants are no longer allowing guns on their facilities. Illinois has legalized concealed carry, and there are now thousands of license holders throughout the state enjoying, at last, the last-denied Constitutional right. … Continue reading →
Sorry we missed you, but there was such a secret meeting of the minds of the Gormogons in Chicago yesterday, that we could not tell you about it. Or ‘Puter. But GorT, Volgi, and your Czar got together at the … Continue reading →
The more your Mandarin listens to the media try to cover for Hillary Clinton, the more he is reminded of Nathan Thurm. Enjoy: The MandarinThe Mandarin, whose real name is 吏恆, joined the order in 1309, and introduced the Gormogons … Continue reading →
Today’s New York Times calls conservatives “stupid, poopy-headed America haters”* for daring to challenge the procedures under which a Democrat Congress crammed Obamacare down America’s food hole. The editors are exercised because conservatives dare to claim: (1) Congress enacted Obamacare … Continue reading →
Dr. J. took in the documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune last week. The movie discussed director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s attempt to make the movie Dune in the early 1970s. Dr. J. highly recommends the movie if you are a film junkie and/or are curious to … Continue reading →
The Czar writes a nice little something, expects that he will receive angry letters about it, but typically gets richly thought-out responses by really smart people. Case in point: the Czar wrote a feel-bad piece about whether Protestants are really … Continue reading →
Rep Trey Gowdy takes the press and the Obama Administration’s defenders to task. The video is three minutes long as is worth watching. Can you answer any of these questions? Does it bother you? GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from … Continue reading →
Everyone’s favorite Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman takes to the pages of the New York Times to announce the Left’s new position on global cooling global warming climate change. “Government has no choice but to regulate every sector of the … Continue reading →
Aiden Braeden Clayton Dayton Eaton Faedin Gaetan Hayden Jayden Kreighton Leyden Maiden Nayton Odin Peyton Queyton Rodan Satan The Czar of MuscovyБожію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes … Continue reading →
To all our spouses, mothers and mother-in-laws, the Gormogons wish a very Happy Mother’s Day. We hope you have an enjoyable day in the mode that you wish to celebrate. Mrs. GorT is coming to watch replicant #2’s soccer game … Continue reading →
The Great Scott O, whom you should follow on Twitter because he is highly regarded by people who could destroy you with a mere caprice, send the Czar his thoughts: Your Immenseness, As always, thank you for a well-thought-out exposé … Continue reading →
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Town of Greece v. Galloway on Monday, ‘Puter posted his thoughts on his Facebook page. ‘Puter’s got some very liberal friends, and one friend who is an avowed atheist. ‘Puter’s post … Continue reading →
