My house looks weird

A photographer is coming to my house tomorrow so we can list it on Tuesday. To prepare for this, I've removed about 30 boxes of stuff from the house, mostly books and movies, plus some bookcases and other furniture. Just now after lunch, I removed or put away most of the things I use daily in the kitchen and took everything off the fridge. The house looks great for real-estate photos but it doesn't really feel like my house anymore. Even my normally-cluttered office looks spartan.

Meanwhile:

• Defense Secretary Pete "Cushions" Hegseth does not like unflattering photos of himself, though somehow he doesn't mind when reporters publish the actual words he says out loud.
• Speaking of stupidity, the Defense Department continues its war on intelligence, both the human and artificial kinds.
• They also cut the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, an internal DoD office tasked with limiting civilian casualties and avoiding targeting mistakes like the one that killed over 100 schoolgirls on February 28th.
• Matthew Yglesias understands that no one wants a quagmire in Iran, but can't see how the war we started there will go any other way.
• Adam Kinzinger wants to know why the department spent $15.1 million on ribeye steak last September while cutting the $20 million required to keep our RC-26B counter-terrorism aircraft flying.

Sorry, I hadn't planned on highlighting just how idiotic our Defense Department had gotten under Hegseth. Here, let's look at two more stories that have nothing to do with how badly our government is run under this administration:

• Two really good breweries, Half Acre and Maplewood, have announced they are merging to reduce materials costs and "amplify founder-led brands."
• The New York Times Magazine explores the world of "Sync Music," which you hear all the time and have no idea why.

OK, back to the mines. Which are eerily uncluttered and depersonalized this afternoon...