85 Comments
User's avatar
M. Trosino's avatar

Pigs in Space? I'm all for that. If we could just send a few select terrestrial porkers on a one-way trip there, the world would be a better place.

But sadly, after bellying up to the news trough a little while ago, I discovered the latest "product" from an as yet earth-bound swine who's been using the current "Epstein files" conspiracy re-birth to garner attention by using the issue of them - whatever they may or may not contain - to throw shade at his former partner-in-slime, who's now wallowing in the White House for a second time.

I'd say that I find this latest offering from Musk beyond disgusting and a lot more than problematic as it relates to *children*, but that wouldn't even begin to cover the new-found level of cosmic loathing I now have for Anything For A Buck Elon...

< XAI launches pornographic AI 'companions' >

"On the same day that xAI bagged its Pentagon contract, Musk announced the release of pornographic AI "companions" on Grok 4. Ani, one of the companions, is a voluptuous anime character who will strip down to lingerie after users engage with her enough. There's even a progress bar to indicate how close users are to watching the chatbot undress. The male companion, named Valentine, was programmed to have a personality "inspired by Edward Cullen from Twilight and Christian Grey from 50 Shades," according to Musk."

"Despite the overt sexual nature of Grok's companions, they are available to users *as young as 12 years old* and come with a "Kid Mode" that can be activated. They also have an NSFW mode." (emphasis mine)

"XAI is offering up to $440,000 to hire an engineer who can develop what will essentially be AI girlfriends."

https://www.muskwatch.com/p/grok-ditches-hitler-launches-anime

I remember back in the day when there was a brief and very on-point PSA regularly aired on TV:

"It's 10 PM. Do you know where your children are?"

I suppose if there were a the 21st century digital age equivalent it should read:

"It's later than you think. Do you know who's trying to exploit your children?"

Expand full comment
Phil H's avatar

Good Sunday Morning. 77 here and cloudy with a high in the 80s and chance of rain later.

The mothership has a Sunday "Faith" article on national grief, which Cynthia may have referenced in one of her posts this morning.

Expand full comment
CynthiaW's avatar

Placido Domingo, everyone. My husband and I both defeated Thor and Vlad at Wingspan last night. Thor made an apple crumble, and he says we're out of brown sugar and butter now, so I guess I'll need to go to Walmart. No camp today. I hear the Drama Queen family is coming over later.

Expand full comment
C C Writer's avatar

Desserts are good. Especially when someone else does the work of making them.

Expand full comment
Jay Janney's avatar

Just a thought on Europe v USA and digital privacy. Over here, every time I go to a new web page I have to accept all sorts of conditions. But I am offered the choice of a dozen individual choices or not. So I generally reject accepting them. But I have accepted a few.

I've noticed that in the MS Edge web browser that I get stories related to what I have clicked on before, that's fine. But I noticed that after posting my CSLF posts that my stories are related to it. I never looked up Bologna's leaning towers, but I get articles about them. 🤔

Maybe just a coincidence.

Expand full comment
CynthiaW's avatar

"I think it is okay just to be sad when tragedy occurs; I think it is crucial we recognize others may be grieving, and to give them time and space to do so, with our support, even if we don't feel it ourselves. I don't grieve nationally, I grieve personally."

Thank you for writing this, Jay. This and the rest of your post lift (from everyone) the specter of needing to over-emote about literally freepin everything. It's hard enough to deal with your own immediate-life stuff without the obligation to summon deep emotion over every person who dies in a disaster (why just in a natural disaster, why not every car accident or fall?) let alone "grieving" over the 2008 financial panic. GAAAH.

I'm really not a sociopath, although I play one on the interwebs (and in real life), but puh-leeze.

Expand full comment
LucyTrice's avatar

We are confusing grief and sympathy.

Expand full comment
Phil H's avatar

Mr W could not be reached for comment. 🙂

Expand full comment
CynthiaW's avatar

He went to English Mass with Vlad.

Expand full comment
Jay Janney's avatar

Thank you for your kind words. I've never seen you as a sociopath! In reading comments I see your concern with others grieving impersonal events. My GAAAH moment was our minister announcing a grief group for the results of the 2024 election. 🤦‍♂️

Expand full comment
CynthiaW's avatar

Oy.

Maybe in some subcultures, "grief" has social cachet, while "being really annoyed that things didn't go my way" doesn't.

Expand full comment
Jay Janney's avatar

Yeah, a bunch of people here don't know the difference between meeting for worship and an NEA convention.

Expand full comment
DougAz's avatar

At a depth of **20,000 feet** (about **6,096 meters**) in seawater, the pressure is immense due to the weight of the water above.

- 🌊 **Pressure in psi (pounds per square inch):** Approximately **2,650 psi**

- 🌬️ **Pressure in atmospheres (atm):** Roughly **175 atm**

At 20,000 feet below sea level—roughly 6,000 meters—you’re in the abyssal zone, where pressure exceeds 2,650 psi or 175 atmospheres. Only a handful of sea creatures can survive here, and even fewer can traverse the full vertical range from surface to abyss. But there are some remarkable contenders:

🐙 Deep-Diving Sea Animals

Animal Depth Range Adaptations

Bigfin Squid Up to 20,300 ft Gelatinous body, no swim bladder, long elastic arms

Dumbo Octopus 1,000–23,000 ft No ink sac, soft body, strand-like suction cups

Cusk Eel Up to 27,000 ft Flexible skeleton, sensory barbels, slow metabolism

Mariana Snailfish (Pseudoliparis swirei) 20,000–26,000+ ft High TMAO levels, no gas-filled organs, pressure-adapted proteins

These animals don’t necessarily migrate from surface to abyss regularly, but they can survive at those depths and have evolved to handle the crushing pressure.

⚙️ Structural Mechanisms That Enable Survival

Here’s how they pull off this deep-sea feat:

• No Gas-Filled Spaces: Unlike surface fish, deep-sea species lack lungs or swim bladders, which would collapse under pressure.

• Water-Filled Bodies: Their tissues are mostly water, which is incompressible and balances internal and external pressure.

• Flexible Skeletons: Bones are reduced or cartilaginous, allowing compression without damage.

• Pressure-Stable Proteins: Molecules like TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide) stabilize enzymes and proteins under extreme pressure.

• Gelatinous Tissues: Soft, jelly-like bodies deform without breaking—think blobfish or deep-sea jellyfish.

• Slow Metabolism: Conserves energy in low-oxygen, low-food environments.

• Specialized Cell Membranes: Stay fluid under pressure thanks to unsaturated fats

Expand full comment
DougAz's avatar

With a statistically unusual proportion of our CSLF readers and authors, hailing from or having hailed from, Ohio, PA, WV, VA, NC -- the JD Vance Memorial Appalaicha momma and poppa mountains - :)

I hope you are all safe - and I'm sure folks know that staying away from getting home is the right thing to do when confronted with a swift moving wash across a road. Be safe

A Level 3 of 4 flooding rain threat was in place for parts of northern and southeast Virginia and northeastern West Virginia, with Level 2 of 4 risks covering portions of the mid-Atlantic, Ohio Valley and Midwest, according to the Weather Prediction Center.

The mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley have been hit by round after round of soaking rain this summer, leaving the soil less able to absorb additional rain and area waterways swollen. And a stalled storm front draped across more than half a dozen states dumped multiple rounds of rain in the Midwest throughout the day.

Portions of western Virginia were already seeing significant effects. Two people were recovered and taken to the hospital after being swept away by floodwaters in Dickenson County, after heavy rain hit the area, according to Sheriff Jeremy Fleming.

Expand full comment
LucyTrice's avatar

I got rained on in Arizona and saw a rainbow over I-40 near Winslow.

The temperature and humidity are delightful right now!

Expand full comment
DougAz's avatar

That's awesome! Are you visiting the Petrified Forest east of you? Gallup is cool Original Navajo hand woven rugs as well

Expand full comment
LucyTrice's avatar

The Petrified Forest is on tomorrow's agenda, Grand Canyon on Monday.

Expand full comment
DougAz's avatar

Nice!!

Expand full comment
Phil H's avatar

some areas near us had flash floods but nothienr serious. I'm well away from the Appachians.

Expand full comment
DougAz's avatar

..buuutttt... don't ya live East of the Indiana-Ohio border? 😀

That's Vancallapicia

Expand full comment
Jay Janney's avatar

I'm 11 miles from the border of Ohio/Heaven, errr, Indiana. But we're a 30 minute drive from Middletown, which is probably 15-20 minutes from the edge of Appalachia.

Our house sits on a hill--3/4ths of Eaton Ohio will be under water before it reaches us.

Expand full comment
Phil H's avatar

I never voted for him. 🙂

Expand full comment
DougAz's avatar

ah.. my comment was not about voting.

It was satire on the faux man Vance and his mythology of Appalachia.

Expand full comment
Angie's avatar

My bed has been delayed till Oct 1st, supply chain issues, I was told...Sigh, I am not happy. I have to sleep on my decrepit bed for two extra months, though the other furniture is still being delivered next Saturday, so I can start moving things out of my living room and deciding where I am going to put what.

Expand full comment
Jay Janney's avatar

I hate when that happens, but at least you're not sleeping on the couch until then!

Expand full comment
Angie's avatar

Ha, if I had a comfortable couch, I would be sleeping there...But, I have a weird couch, my side is just a slightly expanded seat, then there is a console separating the couch, and the other half is Ricks, which is basically a recliner...lol

Expand full comment
Kurt's avatar

Off topic.... Having discovered Arnold Kling in the recent past, I've been reading his stuff. He doesn't seem to have a sense of humor.

Expand full comment
Angie's avatar

Cool, if unusual-looking creature. I marvel all the time about the variety of animal life that exists and how they all evolved with specific attributes to help them survive.

Expand full comment
C C Writer's avatar

Whoa! It's not a pig. Nor a vegetable. It's a critter that cleans up the yuck. Very obliging of them.

Regarding the title, I have a "Pigs in Space" lunchbox. It's not in tip-top condition, but it's a cool thing to have. Might still be worth something, who knows?

Expand full comment
Angie's avatar

It is worth something, anything Muppet, especially older stuff has a value. You can always check eBay and find out just out of curiosity.

I have a Pigs in Space enclosed scene with the characters made of cloth that is also cool

And I have a Jungle Book lunch box...lol

Expand full comment
C C Writer's avatar

I want to get organized to sell some collectibles. Not everything, but there is stuff (a lot of which I got at antique stores and flea markets over the years) that I'm not especially attached to, and that I've been holding on to with this idea in mind.

Expand full comment
Angie's avatar

Yeah, it is worth checking out. I just got rid of some of mine that were part of the collection, but weren't special, or I was not attached to them anymore.

I donated some, and will sell others that have a bigger value.

I have a lot of stuff from the same places, plus, we have a couple of collectible toy stores here that I got some stuff from, too. And some straight off of eBay.

Expand full comment
C C Writer's avatar

I've never sold or shopped on eBay. But I would like to find out more about 1) How to get stuff I have appraised; 2) How to sell it without having to do things I prefer not to do, like get a smartphone or be on social media or compromise my online privacy. But I'm not in a huge rush yet.

Expand full comment
Angie's avatar

PS: You can also get a feel for what it would sell at by looking for it on there...collectors are the best at knowing what something is worth and what the market is willing to buy.

Expand full comment
Angie's avatar

Well, I don't have a smartphone; I use my computer. E-Bay is a marketplace, not a social media, and your privacy is very well protected; you can even use avatars or make up a name.

I have used it for years and never had an issue.

Expand full comment
DougAz's avatar

I would suggest two things -

a. Look at comparables on eBay and Etsy - put in your item, and look to buy it.

b. Ask CoPilot - it can give decent estimates - and its also free !

Expand full comment
C C Writer's avatar

I don't use AI. But I will take your advice to look at comparables.

Expand full comment
Kurt's avatar

I'm still marveling at the fact those things can live >20,000 feet below the surface...well, 19,500+ feet anyway. The Titanic is "only" at 12,500-ish feet. How do these things equalize pressure? Fascinating....

Expand full comment
Jay Janney's avatar

due to the depth, I suspect the rent is cheaper there. That and the free food which falls like manna from heaven...

Expand full comment
CynthiaW's avatar

Some deep sea animals have pressure resistant fluids in their bodies, and others have a cellular structure that resists pressure.

Expand full comment
Kurt's avatar

“Pressure resistant fluids".... I wonder if they have similar properties as hydraulic fluids.

Expand full comment
CynthiaW's avatar

I couldn't say. Blobfish are a species that can't survive surface pressure: they turn to mush.

Expand full comment
Kurt's avatar

Blobfish. Another good band name.

Under surface pressure, a lot of people turn to mush too.

Expand full comment
C C Writer's avatar

I am somewhat resistant to pressure, and I am less than 600 feet above sea level. But then I'm not talking about air or water pressure.

Expand full comment
The original Optimum.net's avatar

Tiny little Oxygen tanks

Expand full comment
Kurt's avatar

That's ridiculous. It's obviously tiny little digital pressure regulators tied to their onboard computer system.

Expand full comment
The original Optimum.net's avatar

Wow! They are more high tech than I realized!

Expand full comment
C C Writer's avatar

Wait until you see their version of AI.

Expand full comment
Angie's avatar

Giggle

Expand full comment
Phil H's avatar

Good morning. 67 here and some fog, with a high in the 80s and chance of rain.

This Saturday, commemorating the new Superman movie, the mothership features an essay on “Superman and the American Way”. The FP features an article by Madeline Kearns: “What I Went Through to Meet My Daughter”.

Expand full comment
CynthiaW's avatar

I read Madeleine Kearns's article. I have strong opinions on how the medical industry treats women's reproductive health. Consider that both "reproductive health" and "women's health" are used to mean "contraception and abortion," which are literally anti-health: breaking what was working.

Expand full comment
BikerChick's avatar

So many women have endometriosis, I had no idea doctors do not routinely try to remedy the disease but rather just push IVF. Gross.

Expand full comment
Kurt's avatar

"I have strong opinions on how the medical industry treats women's reproductive health."

That would make for an interesting essay...with the emphasis on the "how" part. The opinions on treatment will always be all over the place. Since I'm not a medical professional or a woman, I stay out of opining.

What are the means and methods for HOW the industry addresses the issue?

Expand full comment
CynthiaW's avatar

The most common "how" is to prescribe birth control pills for any symptom, without even attempting to identify the symptom's cause.

Expand full comment
Phil H's avatar

As Kearnes notes in her article, the flip side of that "how" is recommending IVF to women for any infertility problem, rather than trying to correct it.

As I'm sure you know, IVF has serious moral problems (like leaving "extra" human embryos in its wake, in freezers or just tossed out) and pracitcal problems (high cost -- IVF is a very lucrative business).

Stacy Trasancos, a Catholic scientist and philosopher (and mother of 7) has published a book "IVF Is Not The Way" which you can read about and order on her Substack. I've read it, and it lays out all the objections and problems with IVF.

https://stacytrasancos.substack.com/p/out-now-ivf-is-not-the-way

Expand full comment
CynthiaW's avatar

There's so much money in IVF, when interventions as simple as better nutrition and cycle awareness can be sufficient for many women to conceive naturally. In other cases, as with Ms. Kearns, surgery to cure an illness is necessary. Others need hormone supplements or management of an incompetent cervix.

All these practices provide better odds than IVF.

Expand full comment
Phil H's avatar

From that article:

"The most important thing, she said, was that Veritas focused on restoring her health, whereas IVF felt like bullying her body into submission."

Expand full comment
Angie's avatar

I was never prescribed birth control pills, but I did take them on my own for the obvious reasons. The upside was that he pills made my periods less painful , and shorter, which was a relief.

Expand full comment
CynthiaW's avatar

Yes, the hormones in birth control pills can ease some symptoms. However, if you have endometriosis, polycystic ovaries, or many other conditions, it doesn't improve them.

Expand full comment
Angie's avatar

The consensus is that since I had to have an emergency hysterectomy later on, that all the trouble I was having ( also very heavy periods) was due to the fibroid tumor growing in my uterus that got as big as an orange and had to be removed immediately at that point ( not to be gross, but blood was running down my legs at this point.)

I tried telling the family doctor for years that I had all these symptoms and lots of pain, but he dismissed it as hysteria and normal, and I was just being a baby.

I wish he had listened.

Expand full comment
Kurt's avatar

Yes. I'm interested in "the machinery" for how these messages are developed and distributed. The emphasis on prescription drugs for any and all concerns is a big problem. When those drugs disrupt body functions, it creates entirely new problems, and not just physical. There's a mental and emotional component that gets whacked out of shape.

Expand full comment
CynthiaW's avatar

Traditionally, the academic medical profession was not very interested in low women's bodies work, when they're working well, or what causes pain, dysfunction, or illness. It's as if women start out wrong, because they're not men, so there's no point in trying to get things back to how they should function.

Expand full comment
Kurt's avatar

Right. It was 1850-ish before any women were licensed to practice medicine in the modern era. It hasn't even been a couple hundred years.

Expand full comment
Jay Janney's avatar

Oh sure Marine biologists don't think they need protection, but what if it was their kid? I bet they'd change their mind then! 😡

Although, as a camp counselor at times I thought my campers breathed through their anal opening. Blessed be the inventor of Fabreeze!

Expand full comment
Kurt's avatar

I was struggling to come up with something humorously disgusting regarding breathing/anal openings/humanity....but came up short. I'm going with your contribution for now.

Expand full comment
IncognitoG's avatar

Since they’ve been in brine so long, wouldn’t it make more sense to call them “sea pickles”?

Expand full comment
CynthiaW's avatar

Pickled sea pigs' feet?

Expand full comment
Angie's avatar

My dad loved pickled pig's feet, but I thought they were gross, though I like pork generally.

Expand full comment
Phil H's avatar

And so it begins — 🚪

Expand full comment
Jay Janney's avatar

I bet you relish being the first to do that pun!

Expand full comment
Phil H's avatar

Monkey Jay see — Monkey Jay do — 🚪

Expand full comment
The original Optimum.net's avatar

Weird. Weird. Weird.

Expand full comment