You don't need to see his identification. These are not the power converters you're looking for. You should go to Tosche Station.

I could feel the love tonight but I choose not to.
British HMS Iron Duke Is Retired, Only Five Frigates Left To Defend the Island
May 4, 2026

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
I think everyone calls him "old Ben."

He says "Son, can you get me a fast ship?
I'm not really sure how this goes
I've got credits to pay" then his hand waves away
And somehow everyone knows

La, la-la, di-dee-da
La-la, di-dee-da da-dum

Sing us a song, the jizzwailer band
Sing us a song tonight
Well we all have to deal with the empire
And look for excuses to fight

Now Han is a freighter ship pilot
As dashing as anyone can get
But he shows no respect
And his ship is a wreck
And he always seems drowning in debt

He says "this time I know it'll work for me!
This time I'll finally get paid
I can finally start taking my own orders
And be more than twelve parsecs away"

Oh, la, la-la, di-dee-da
La-la, di-dee-da da-dum

Now the Tuskans are hunting for victims
And the Jawas are looking to sell
Everyone has a task
And they all wear a mask
And feel like they're living in hell

And Greedo is searching for someone
And Chewy is trying to avoid
They all might be cut
By Jabba the Hut
But at least no one brought in a droid

[Chorus]

It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
But Imperials are lurking around
There's drinks and there's crime
We're just taking up time
Watching the twin suns go down

But the band will keep playing forever
As the audience looks for a fight
Two guys stare at me
And don't like what they see
I guess more will be dying tonight

Oh, la, la-la, di-dee-da
La-la, di-dee-da da-dum

Taxpayer-Funded Texas Waterpark Announces “Muslim Only” Day – “Dress in Accordance with Islamic Values,” Serve Only Halal Meat
May 4, 2026

□ [“US Sinks Seven Iranian Small Boats Harassing Cargo Ships in the Strait of Hormuz"]

Well that was quick.  It was a nice ceasefire we had .  Then Trump announced that, since no one else was going to it, we'd protect ships in the strait and so Iran started going after them.  This does provide a nice view to the world of what US protection actually means.  I support the US as 'world policeman' but that's not to say other nations couldn't be protecting themselves.

Iran even fired missiles at the UAE, hitting a 'fuel facility.'  Now how do you get to that, being so mad at the US that you strike someone who isn't the US?  They probably qualify as an ally but not exactly a close one.  In some ways, this seems so planned that you could argue Iran is working with Trump.  They'd been able to make it through the ceasefire this far and then it was over.

It'll be interesting to know if Trump can restart the 60 days or if there are other rules in place for situations like this.  Haven't heard anybody in Congress speak out, especially Democrats.  This supports my theory that they were all informed about this so if the choice is being honest about this to their voters or ignoring it altogether, they'll pick the latter every time.

Iran is saying all ships trying to go through the strait must clear it with them first.  Trump says he's ready to wipe Iran off the face of the earth.  I didn't see a specific quote so I'm not sure how he phrased it but I'm sure you get the point.  And it's Trump so it's not like he hasn't said these things before.

Los Angeles City Councilman Wants Illegals to be Able to Vote in City Elections
May 1, 2026

Driver Plows Car Into a German Market Crowd in Leipzig – Two Dead, Several Injured
May 4, 2026

□ [“Trump Warns US Will Cut ‘Much Further’ Than 5,000 Troops in Germany"]

Another aspect of the war.  Maybe in several years, we can really look at all the different parts going on.  I still worry that Trump is more interested in negotiations than in the results.  He has decades of experience so he's very good at it but the goal should be more important.  That's just a generic comment, he's got the advantage over Europe.

Germany, and probably the rest of Europe, is trying to figure out what to do.  They really thought they could just degrade the US and nothing would change.  The PM of Poland has spoken up that NATO is disintegrating.  They're the ones who put themselves in this situation so they'd better start working on a way to fix things.  I would love to think that this is where sensible European politicians can call out for those who will fight for their countries and that means the EU is one of the enemies.

It's not clear what will be done with the troops who are taken out.  It's also a valid question what authority the POTUS has for this.  Commander-in-chief, sure, but Congress must have been part of deciding what countries to send how many troops to.  I assume there's a goal being aimed towards here, not just pissing off Europe, but it's not clear what that could be.

DOJ Investigates 36 Illinois School Districts, Pushing Trans Ideology and Gender Transitions on Kids Behind Parents’ Backs
May 4, 2026

One clue that Spider-Man was always intended to be the center of the Marvel franchise is to look at how their other new characters were designed.  The Fantastic Four was obviously the starting point.  It's generally realized that there were just another version of Jack Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown but ignore that and just look at the team as the new stars of Marvel comics, supposedly bringing back the superhero genre.

But there were some notable differences.  Other superheroes have secret identities, this team didn't.  The whole world knew who Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben were.  Superheroes are supposed to have costumes but the FF didn't get theirs until #3.  There's usually a love interest but it was very minimal here.  Reed and Sue were not an attractive couple for a while.  Ben wouldn't meet Alicia until #8 and it would take even longer for Johnny to get his first girlfriend, Dorrie.

Then there's the lack of supervillains.  There were none.  Even Dr. Doom's first appearance, his goal was to send the FF back in time to steal from pirates.  That's not the Dr. Doom we know.  The FF fought monsters, aliens and Russians, nobody who just robbed a bank with their super powers.

The Hulk was a monster book, the difference being that the monster was the title character so he couldn't be killed or even defeated at the end of each issue.  Other than the FF, he was the only Marvel character to start off in his own title until the X-Men and Daredevil.  Everybody else started off in the anthology books.  And Hulk didn't sell so after the series was cancelled, he would be moved to one of those.

Thor was probably based on Jack Kirby's interest in mythology although it would be a while before it was really shown in the series.  He and the Hulk did have secret identities but as completely separate people.  My guess is that at least one reason was just needing to avoid the 'Superman wearing glasses' stereotype.  They also had love interests but very stereotypical, to the point where one gets the impression Lee and Kirby weren't remotely interested in this, they just felt obligated to include a female character like this.

Ant-Man was a very strange example.  Technically he was the second Marvel superhero character, his first appearance cover-dated January 1962.  Fantastic Four #1 was cover-dated November 1961 and Hulk #1 was May 1962.  But Ant-Man's second appearance wasn't until September 1962, a month after Spider-Man's first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15.

If he was such a good idea for a character, why did it take so long to bring him back?  And why did it happen the same time they're putting out this other 'bug character'?  There's no answer for this and it just seems bizarre.  Just a theory and there's still no explanation, but I wonder if publisher Martin Goodman had something to do with it.  Stan Lee always took as much credit as he could and I have no clue where I saw this, but I would swear that at least once or twice, he cited Goodman as the one who wanted Ant-Man to return.  This would explain why Kirby did it, otherwise he had no interest in Ant-Man at all.  And Stan would just be following the boss's command, if he wants Ant-Man back, so does Stan.

He didn't have a love-interest either, it would be months before the Wasp shows up.  He didn't have a secret identity either, he was an arrogant scientist who made it known that he'd found a way to shrink himself and talk to ants.  Looking at that sentence, it doesn't look something creative people would be interested in so it probably wasn't Stan and Jack pushing this.

None of them fought super villains, they fought aliens, monsters and Russians.  They really didn't have costumes either.  The Hulk was his costume, Ant-Man was just wearing his suit he had built and Thor dressed the way all his people dress.  So none of them were really following the standard superhero model.

Then there's Spider-Man who was supposed to be different from all the other superheroes.  Did he have a secret identity?  Yep.  Did he wear a costume?  Yep.  Did he have a love interest?  Not for a while but the kids at school and Aunt May filled in the story requirements.  Did he fight supervillains?  The Vulture, Doc Ock, Sandman, Doc Doom, the Lizard, Electro, Mysterio, Green Goblin and Kraven, just in the first 15 issues.

So despite what Marvel was promoting, he was actually the most stereotypical new character they had up to that point.  I still can't figure out how or why they intended him to be the center of the franchise but this looks very deliberate.  They might just have been looking for a way to appeal to teenage readers, that certainly makes sense.  But whatever it was, Jack Kirby didn't see a way to make that work so Marvel would turn to its other main artist.

Putin Announces Victory Day Truce for May 8 and 9 - Russia Will Strike Kiev if Ukraine Disrupts Celebrations
May 4, 2026

□ [“Eric Swalwell Sent Pervy Videos of Himself to Various Women Online"]

Here's someone we haven't expected to hear from again.  I don't think it's been even a month since he was one of the most popular Democrats out there.  But the tables have turned.  Now it's coming out that he's been posting sexual videos of himself in online discussions.  It's not clear how many of the women actually consented to these vids but even if the answer was 'none of them,' they sure waited a while to speak out about it.

This also raises another issue, members of Congress are, at least in theory, important people.  They have access to classified information so aren't they being watched over 24-7 for this kind of thing?  Or can he really just put out sensitive info on a sexchat and the government will only find out later?  Seems like a really bad way to handle this.  Which leads me to wonder how many other members of Congress do this sort of thing if nobody is paying attention to them.

Or even worse, people are paying attention to them.  If we're lucky, it's the American security forces.  Or it could be China, Russia, Epstein's successors.  But no matter who it is, they'd have a lot of opportunities for blackmail.  You'd think someone in the media could ask current members of Congress how many of people are enjoying the same sort of thing Swalwell does and if there are any plans to fix this problem.  But then we'd get into how many in the media are doing this too.  It really does get disturbing how far down the line this goes.

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger Considering a New Tax on Gym Memberships
May 4, 2026

Zohran Mamdani Allocates $500,000 for ‘Reparations’ as He Claims City is in Historic Budget Crisis
May 2, 2026

Towson University Hosts Second “Drag” Event In Slightly Over A Month
May 3, 2026