SirBootis Flicks I'm Brandon, and I’m obsessed with the movies that most people forget (or pretend to). Here on this channel, I dive into the wild world of B-movies, horror, sci-fi, and everything in between. From ru...

If you're in need of a little bit of joyous enthusiasm, the Youtube channel www.youtube.com/@SirBootis is a series of fond looks at stop motion animation and movie monsters.

Making you smarter than a cabinet member:
"Conclusions: DNBI remains the leading cause of morbidity in conflicts involving the U.S. Military over the last 20 years..."

Disease and Non-Battle Injury in Deployed Military: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis - PubMed Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Level III.

Of relevance:
Alcover KC, Howard K, Poltavskiy E, Derminassian AD, Nickel MS, Allard RJ, Dao B, Stewart IJ, Howard JT. Disease and Non-Battle Injury in Deployed Military: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Mil Med. 2024 Aug 19;189(Suppl 3):21-30. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39160823

Quoting (5/x):
And in India, emissions were flat for the first time since the 1970s, excluding the pandemic years. Wind and solar installations in India jumped nearly 60 percent last year, the largest increase among major nations...

Quoting (4/x):
In China, carbon dioxide emissions fell by 1 percent in the final quarter of 2025...
That likely will result in a slight overall decline in annual emissions, meaning that the world’s biggest polluter has managed to keep its CO2 emissions either “flat or falling” for nearly two years

Quoting (3/x):
In the European Union, greenhouse gas emissions fell 3 percent between 2023 and 2024. With that drop, the E.U.’s total emissions are 40 percent lower than 1990 levels, even as the population and economy have grown substantially.

Quoting (2/x):
“The economics of clean energy are now on our side,” said Manish Bapna, chief executive of the [NRDC]. “Today, clean energy is the cheapest and quickest way to meet our growing energy demand. As a result, we’re seeing bright spots of hope all over the world.”

Quoting (1/x):
For the first time, a renewable source — solar — was the biggest single contributor to new energy supply worldwide, accounting for more than 25 percent of energy growth last year, according to data released this week by the International Energy Agency.

For Earth Day, a Few Signs of Hope for Our Planet

Happy International Mother Earth Day!

Sharing:
New York Times (22 April 2026)
"For Earth Day, a Few Signs of Hope for Our Planet:
"In a year of grim climate and environment news, we’ve compiled several hopeful signs about our planet’s future."
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/c...

Sharing --
Potentially of interest

CONSENT (2/2):
Planned Parenthood's Freely given, Reversible, Informed, Enthusiastic, and Specific consent (FRIES); or IDC's Considered, Reversible, Informed, Specific, and Participatory consent (CRISP).

BUT GET CONSENT.

Note:
I didn't specify gender.
So don't "not all men" at me.
(Check stats.)

CONSENT (1/2):
DON'T DO ANYTHING WITHOUT COMPLETE CONSENT.

To quote myself elsewhere, I am happy if you use the BDSM community's Safe, Sane, and Consensual (SSC) or Risk Aware Consensual Kink (RACK) approaches; or Prior's & Christensen's Caring, Communication, Consent, and Caution (4Cs); or...

Exactly. 😞

OhEmGee.
(Also, YOINKING!)

Reasonable. ^_^

I don't usually attend commencement ceremonies, and my university changed our humanities' regalia in the four years between my anthropology and history MAs, so I am thinking of skipping the third one! ;)

Unsolicited thought:*
(*And worth what you paid to read it! 😜)

If you plan to use your Master's for academic purpose, do the thesis route (and YOU write it, not AI or some company).

OTOH, if you are like me and taking classes for fun, then ask yourself why you'd give up classes to do a thesis? 📚

Tax credits and deductions for education | Internal Revenue Service Tax Tip 2026-21, March 12, 2026 — The costs for continuing education can add up quickly and get expensive.

As I understand it, this is different from the tax credits to help taxpayers reduce education costs: the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) and the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC).

Ask someone qualified in that topic (tax prep or tax law) if you want to know more!
www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax...

Frequently asked questions about educational assistance programs | Internal Revenue Service FS-2024-22, June 2024 — This fact sheet provides answers to frequently asked questions related to educational assistance programs under section 127 of the Internal Revenue Code. a section 127 educatio...

I'm not "smart."
I just get free tuition for academic classes, and taking one a semester is fun and keeps me below the IRS additional income limit of $5,250 per calendar year for educational assistance (I am no lawyer nor tax prep person, BTW!):
www.irs.gov/newsroom/fre...

Just blocked an Insta follow from someone who helps Masters and PhD students with their theses and dissertations. I have no desire for a doctorate (who wants ANYTHING "terminal" in their sixties!?), and I didn't do theses for my first two MAs and the current one uses an internship instead, so... 😀

Neat!
Artemis II Wake-Up Songs (on Spotify):
open.spotify.com/playlist/0WO...

💯

Holly Humberstone - To Love Somebody (Official Video) YouTube video by HollyHumberstoneVEVO

An earworm for me, I fear.
And while it may not be Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux's Le Fantôme de l'Opéra (Ben Garnett is credited as Death, not Erik), I may now envision Christine Daaé as Humberstone.

Holly Humberstone - To Love Somebody
youtu.be/9hWa9w0njxE?...

The notable historian who authored Bloodlands, etc. gives a terribly succinct analysis of our plight in three lines. :(

You rock. 😀

Whole lot bigger than the Tea Party Movement was. But billionaires and millionaires made a big deal about backing the Tea Party, yet are mum now.

Why was that, do you think?

Today!

Yo --
Be safe if you're out and about today.

Also, do y'all have my cell number?

Good to see, in my view.

3/3
(You can find that 2008 article on the Academia or ResearchGate sites.)

In times of trouble, some people let leaders get away with anything. So some bad people try to create times of trouble to break laws, spread hate, and swindle other people. We are there now.

2/3
As Rutgers University's Dr. R. Brian Ferguson says in point 9 of his "Ten Points on War," "Point #9: Leaders Favor War Because War Favors Leaders."

Authoritarians WANT chaos.

Ferguson, Brian R. "Ten Points on War", Social Analysis 52, 2 (2008): 32-49.
www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journal...